If you think social media is nothing but a distraction that takes you or your employees away from productive work, think again. It opens up opportunities for your business that cannot be ignored and numerous studies demonstrate that, in order to be competitive these days, you need to be using social mediaeffectively. Here are five of the main benefits.
-    Engaging with your current clients ….
Chances are most of your customers are using some sort of social media most days, and many times a day. Posting about your products and services on facebook, tweeting, posting pictures on Instagram and Pinterest are fantastic ways to inform and engage in a friendly way.
-    …..and their friends and contacts
We are all aware of how quickly things can ‘go viral’ these days and even if your business message doesn’t quite achieve that, if your clients like w hat you have to say they will share with their friends and so on. Some of the most successful start-up companies have become so by creating a buzz about what they offer, making the thing everyone is talking about so people want to find out more.
- Â Â Â Increasing awareness and sales
Most small businesses gain new customers through social media, especially facebook and Linkedin. Linkedin claim that 82% of its users report that it is effective for lead generation.
-    It’s free! (Well almost)
Probably the best part about social media marketing is that, if a business handles it on their own, it costs nothing but the time of the person doing the updates. Compare this to the cost of using any other media for marketing and advertising and it’s easy to see the cost-effectiveness of using social media.
- Â Â Â Get feedback
You can use social monitoring tools and research to find out what people think about your business, especially if you give them an incentive to give feedback. This in turn can help you build better customer relations. Knowing how many complaints came through Twitter last week, or how many ‘likes’ a page got on facebook is information that can be used to drive business decisions.
