Social Media And Your Business

Grow your business using social media

There are many ways to grow your business. By far the most effective is word of mouth. A trusted recommendation from a friend or colleague does still hold the most influence.  Before the internet became popular, word of mouth meant chatting to friends on the phone or over a coffee. Now that social media is everywhere, every business needs to use the social media platforms so as to get people talking about them to help promote the business.

What is social media?

When you think of social media you probably think of the most popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest. However there are many more out there including phone apps that work equally as well when it comes to spreading the word about your business

Social media is just a modern way for people to interact. It is much more powerful than word of mouth because users can speak to thousands or sometimes millions of people at a time. With this kind of powerful communication opportunity, your business needs to get involved as part of it’s marketing strategy.

How to use social media in business

There are lots of ways to use all of the social media platforms to build your business. The 2 main ways are:

• Having your business presence on each platform that are relevant to your industry
• Encouraging your satisfied customers to talk about you to their own social networks.

Both of these are important in your business strategy and both can be very effective tools in building a business of any size.

There is no point in having a social media presence if you are not going to promote the fact that you have it.

Make sure you have all the popular symbols on your website so that people visiting your site can get to your social media with one click. But don’t forget about putting the address of your social media on leaflets, business cards, letterheads and invoices. This costs you nothing and it makes people aware of where they can find you online.

You might even consider putting a QR code on your printed material. This way people don’t need to type anything. All they need to do is install an app then point their phone camera at the QR code to be taken directly to your web page or social media page.

Choose the right social platform for your business
One of the most important things to consider when you are looking at using social media to build your business is what social media platform(s) your customers and potential customers might use.

The things to consider are mainly age and gender.

According to Statista the below is the reach of selected social networks in the United States as of February 2017, by age group

Do your own research on what social media your customers use as every business is different. Once you have done this then you make sure your business uses the same ones.

Build a community

The best way to build your social media community is to focus your attention on those interested enough to join your group or like your page. Don’t go for trying to get lots of people. Yes of course you want as many people as possible but it is way better to have fewer people who are really interested in your product than lots who are not.

Nurture and communicate with the real people and don’t be shy in asking them to share your information with their own social following.

Engage with your audience

Setting your business up on social media is just the start. Once you begin to get a following by posting regular content, you need to engage with your followers.

Make sure your posts are not all about trying to sell them your goods or services. Give them value and ask how you can help them. This will build trust and trust is vital if you are going to get someone to buy anything from you.

Remember, if they have decided to like your page or follow your business profile, they already are interested in what you do. Don’t put them off with a hard sell.

Answer questions quickly

When someone posts something on your social media page remember it is not only you who will see it. Everyone in the group will too. It is vital that you keep on top of your social media by answering any questions promptly and politely. Just as the question is seen by everyone in the group so too is the answer.