6 Reasons Why Social Media is Important

Is social media really that important to businesses? According to a recent survey, 86% of marketers answered this with an astounding, “Yes!” As we venture further into the digital era, people are engaged with social media now more than ever before. In fact, the average consumer spends 37 minutes a day on various networking sites. For Companies neglecting social media, they’re missing a window of opportunity to create brand awareness, and are quickly falling behind their competitors. Be social, no matter what industry you’re in No matter the industry you’re operating in, utilizing social media is important. Now, the key is to focus on a single platform that you feel will best utilize your time and represent your product. In addition to this, when selecting a social media site, your industry determines what social network to focus on. Now, if you’re still on the fence about whether social media is right for you, consider these five benefits of social media: 1. Brand loyalty Consumers love their brand named items. We’re all willing to pay a little extra for the same product with just a different name attached to it. The brands we love are easily accessible and attainable. One study in particular, showed when companies engage in social media, they have higher brand loyalty. Being active on social media makes your product accessible and allows your consumers to keep up with their favorite brands by following your company’s updates. 2. Customer experience Social media is not a tool to push more sales. Essentially social media is a channel that allows consumers to know that behind the brand, there’s a true and honest human who cares about them. Consumers want to know their needs and problems matter. Social media allows businesses to respond to complaints, issues, or concerns right away. With Sixty-three percent of purchasing decisions influenced by Amazon reviews, it’s important to create a strong connection with your consumers who rely on reviews left by other consumers. 3. Recruiting The only way to grow a business is to hire high quality talent. The problem, however, is making the wrong hiring decision. On average, a bad hire cost companies $50,000. Social media provides a cheap and affordable way to find high-quality candidates. Websites such as LinkedIn are free to use (unless you purchase their premium package) and allow you to quickly zone in on top talent. This not only saves money in the long run, but saves you time from having to skim through hundreds of resumes. 4. Understanding your consumer Would you like to know how many users are visiting your site, who’s viewed your page, or which links produce the most traffic to your site? If so, then social media is the tool you need! Various social media websites illustrate the number of comments and buzz that your site is obtaining. This, in turn, will help with deciding what type of content yields your best results. 5. Lower marketing costs Social media levels the playing field in terms of how well a small company can compete with a large company. Products like Orabrush can essentially become an overnight hit with a small budget. Sites like YouTube make it easy for small startups to create digital videos and reach a niche market. Consider this before you spend money on that television commercial you’re thinking about: Average cost of a television advertisement: $50,000 – $750,000. Average cost of a YouTube video: free With YouTube free of charge, now is a great time to begin creating digital content, as 13 – 24 years olds watch YouTube more than TV. In addition, over the past few years, YouTube has begun to surpass television in viewers. 6. More sales Finally, and most importantly to the health of your business, social media increases sales. Social commerce is expected to hit $14 billion in sales by the end of 2015. Before making purchasing decisions, consumers begin their search on social media sites. This is especially true for the housing industry where 94-percent of homebuyers start their search online. Even though more men are beginning to use social media, women still outnumber men on social sites. This should come as good news for any business, as women make the bulk of the purchasing decisions. What better way to reach the strongest purchaser of goods that on social media! Final thoughts So is social media worth it? Yes, and it should be utilized by all businesses. As we venture further into the 21st century, the old methods of marketing are becoming outdated. Social media is also an important ranking signal for Google’s ranking algorithm, particularly when it comes to engagement and social reach. If you’re making great strides in your social media effort, your search engine optimization efforts will benefit as well. Studies show SEO leads have a 14.6-percent closing rate compared to a 1.7-percent close rate to print or direct mail advertising illustrates the change in consumer behavior. With this change in consumer mindsets comes a need for you to adapt your business and rethink the ways you market your products.