The year is 2020 and social media is the king of the Internet. With 79% of the U.S population having at least one social media account and over half of them having two or more, it’s impossible to deny the impact it has on consumers. The Digital 2020 Global Overview Report estimates that number to increase to 81% this year. So, odds are most of your own customers are attached to a social media account. Why not use this to your advantage as a business to leverage communication and promotion?

Check it out: Social Media For Businesses (Video)

For many businesses, social media is one of the most effective ways to acquire new customers and keep existing ones. While the millennial generation is growing into the workforce, it’s best for businesses to stay relevant in the social media aspect of technology. By 2020, it is estimated that millennials will make up 75% of the workforce (Pew Research). Social media is comprised of several big players, each of them representing a unique platform on the Internet that can assist your business in different ways. Utilizing these platforms to their fullest potential will not only expand your technical skills but also expand your customer list, if executed correctly.

Customer Insight

With millions of people across the various social media channels, a large amount of data is generated every minute about your own customers. Tweets, photos, videos, page likes, etc., are updated constantly. All of this data contains potentially valuable information about your customers such as who they are, what they enjoy, and even how they feel about your service or product.

If you are actively engaged in the online community, you can gather all of this kind of information to make better business decisions. Social media lets you in on the real-time conversation that it promotes.

You can use social media to gain customer insight by:

• Monitoring conversations to see if customers are talking about your brand and in what context.

• Asking questions or creating polls for your followers. You can also go live and hold Q & A sessions.

• Taking your customer service to the next level by responding to questions, comments, concerns, and reviews on social profiles.

Increase Traffic

Google is the go-to option to search for all types of information including businesses and content your business may be linked to. Social media is a great way to help move your business up in the Google search ranking.

Check it out: Modernize Your Agency's Website

Not only will your business appear higher in search rankings, but you will notice more traffic to your website as well. More traffic to your website generated by the content you’ve shared across social media and your search ranking means more people are paying attention to your company and their interest is sparked.

 You can use social media to gain increase traffic by:

• Posting links to content on your website.

• Joining groups or forums - You can respond to questions and comments and then reference your related blog post or podcast episode with the link.

Grow Awareness

When you begin to make a presence on the social media accounts your customers are on, it will be easier for people to find you and learn more about who you are. Social media is great for communication and by making connections online with customers, you will only bring your business closer to them and increase retention and loyalty to your brand.

A study conducted by Social Habit showed that 53% of Americans who follow brands on social media are more loyal to those brands.

  You can use social media to grow brand awareness by:

• Interacting with users and creating content they want to see - That’s the whole reason you follow someone, right? You care about the content they post.

• Creating Facebook communities or LinkedIn groups based around your brand/product/or service.

• Showing social proof. 88% of consumers conduct research online before making a purchase (ECommerce Foundation).

Targeted Ads With Real Results

Advertising can get pricey, but the great thing about social media is that it’s incredibly inexpensive to promote your business. You can distribute content to tons of people very easily while saving money. By running ads on LinkedIn or Facebook, you’re able to segment certain targets by a company, location, age, job titles, etc. You are even able to segment based on connections and behaviors through certain social media platforms such as Facebook.

Check it out: Google Like a Boss: Tips For Effective Google Searching

By using social media to target certain types of customers, you will be able to reach the audience you need to in the most effective and cost-efficient way possible.

 You can use social media to see better advertising results by:

• Advertising on social profiles allows you to target by demographics, but also by users’ interests. In turn, this can lead to more specific targeting and better click though rates for your ads.

• Reach more people than other forms of advertising. As mentioned earlier, 80% of people have social profiles now!

Customer Experience

Because the majority of consumers have a presence on social media, they also expect you to have one as well. 67% of consumers go to social media for customer service. With that being said, meeting your customer’s expectations and maintaining an online presence will greatly improve the experience your customers have when interacting with your business online.

For the sake of convenience, many consumers expect a fast, 24/7 response time and support. The businesses that are able to deliver on these expectations are often the ones that succeed with customers in the end.

Check it out: Social Media Trends In 2018 (Infographic)

 You can use social media to see improve customer experience by:

• Being available. Responding to consumers on social is typically more convenient than email or phone.

• Responding to people on social media also provides proof to other people that you are responsive and care.

Get Ahead of The Competition

Just as you’re able to gain valuable knowledge about your customers through social media, you can do the same for your competitors. By tracking their social media accounts and keeping up with their content and responses, you can use the information to make strategic business moves and plan ways to get ahead of them.

You can use social media to get ahead of your competition by: 

• Knowing and understanding your audience better than your competitors do. This will help you make better decisions in the future.

• Monitoring your competitors strategies to see what works and what doesn’t for them.

Use the results you collect to develop offers, content, or product enhancements that they may be lacking.

SHARE BLOG POST