6 key benefits of social media for a small business

Social media is a vital way for any small business to advertise and grow their business – regardless of your business industry. It has changed from a platform for personal socialization into an active marketing venue for businesses of all sizes. You might already have a strong social presence but you want to learn about the benefits of expanding that to a social media marketing tool for your business. Today, social media marketing is a must-have for any small to medium size business. Learn more about why social media marketing is vital to your business success.

1. Expand your business BRAND awareness.
2. Increase search ranking and website traffic.
3. Provide cut-above-the-rest customer service.
4. Acquire leads in a very affordable way.
5. Learn analytics and demographics about your customers.
6. Affordable social media managers to do this for you.

1. Expand your business BRAND awareness.
A strong BRAND awareness is the key to building credibility for your small business – and it is a great way to create that awareness. Social media allows your business to share its brand across a variety of media platforms while creating a consistent brand look and feel. A consistent brand is the foundation for building a credible brand for your business. By using the same logo, brand colors, font and slogan you will create a memorable online presence…and a brand that is remembered is the key to building trust with your customers.

2. Increase search ranking and website traffic.
Search ranking and website traffic is a key benefit of social media for business. Always include your website URL in the bio of all of your social media profiles, so prospective customers can quickly find your site. Also include a link to your website whenever you post on your social media channels. This will increase website visits and grow awareness for your business!

Very importantly, social media improves your search ranking. When your social media post links to your website or blog article, the links will help search engines see that your website is active, credible and this will also help your website rank for specific keywords. Google’s algorithm is continually evolving to appropriately rank legitimate websites and identify spam websites and weed them out of the ranking. When incorporating social media into your marketing tactics and strategy, you can absolutely influence your search ranking without being a search engine optimization genius.

3. Provide cut-above-the-rest customer service.
Our world now requires immediacy in business customer service and social media is an effective venue for delivering on those demands. When social media followers comment or ask questions and your business responds quickly and informatively, it shows your business’ commitment to customer satisfaction and creates s a great experience for your current customer or potential customer. This interaction will grow loyalty and make a positive impression on your followers.

It is important to follow-up on comments in a timely manner so your customers know you are active on your social media platforms and that will also convey that you will give them a great product as well. However, you don’t have to be available 24/7. Let customers know when they can expect a social media response by including your service hours and availability in your social media bio.

4. Acquire leads in a low-cost way.
You’re probably always looking for low-cost marketing options – social media is an effective venue for a small to medium size business. Most social media platforms are free, and many business brands have grown successfully through organic social media marketing. You can also pair organic growth with paid ads on social media platforms with a small marketing budget. This is an effective way to grow your business on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Another low-cost way to build your social media following is by incentivizing people to follow you. For example, offer 10% off of a customers’ order when they follow you or give them a small gift with their purchase when they “connect” with you on your business Facebook page. These offerings are an effective way to build strong relationships with your existing customers and generate more awareness for your brand.

5. Learn more about your customers.
Invest some time in understanding your target audience and creating your posts, aesthetic, and even platform presence through the basic analytics and demographics provided by social media platforms. Many social media platforms have tools that make it easy for you to get to know your audience. You will have a lot of data provided to help you so you can learn more about your customer. Whether it’s gender, location, age or interests you will have a lot of data provided to help you target your audience with your posts. This information can help you tailor your social media marketing strategy to your specific audience, ultimately creating a stronger following.

6. Affordable social media managers to do this for you.
Today there are very affordable social media managers to do this for you so you don’t have to. You are busy running your business and that is where your heart is! Social media managers can handle this so you can run your business. You’re already busy, don’t add this to your schedule when it is affordable, effective and will pay for itself, above and beyond what you could imagine!

If you are interested in a social media manager for your business and want to ask some questions about this for your business call [425] 890.7271 or go to www.akbranding.com to learn more about the social media manager packages that are available for you.