There is little argument that social media is now one of the most important aspects of marketing. We live in a digital world, where most people are online in one form or another, including your customers.
We all want to reach more leads, engage more customers. Along with increasing funds and managing time, it is a leading source of frustration and challenge for most small business owners. If we handle our Social Media right, it can greatly help with the other two.
But “How does that work?” I hear you ask… Well, if you have a strong social media strategy, where you are scheduling posts and building a content calendar that is easy to roll out, you’re saving time. If you use social media to build your online presence, and increase your audience, you will in turn increase your leads, and with conversion, your income.
There are many good reasons to focus on social media if you want to build your business. Let me name a few:
Build Your Brand Awareness
It really doesn’t matter how good your product or service is if you are not getting in front of clients. It’s a bit like having a great shop that is hidden down a back alley and trying to compete with someone on the main street. The traffic is not going to come to you, you have to go out and draw it to you. A strong social media following will draw people to you. When they ‘like, share, or comment” on your posts, they are increasing your traffic for you.
Get to Know Your Customers
When you have say, a Facebook or a LinkedIn page and you are engaging with your audience, you are learning more about them. You get the opportunity to ask them the right questions, and learn from their responses. You get to know what they like, and what they need, and you can manage or create your products and services so you can meet those needs.
Build Your Authority
By being active on social media, and engaging regularly with your current and potential clients, you are given an opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise in a natural, authentic way. As people post questions on your page, and you provide honest, helpful answers, and even value add downloads for them, you will be seen as a go to expert who can help them.
Build a Loyal Fan Base
When customers buy from you in the real world, they leave your office or shop, and you don’t interact with them again until they return. However, if you are engaged with them online, you can continue the conversation, build your relationship and offer further value and support to them. This not only builds trust, it increases the likelihood that they will buy more of your products, and happily refer you to others.
There are other benefits to having a strong social media strategy. None more important than it is a leading way to grow your business. Your Social Media strategy should include all of the above points, at a deeper level. If you would like more information in a guide that shows you how to build a social media strategy that works, I will post a link to a free eBook in the comments.
Just a quick question before you go… Have you heard about our Facebook Group? We’re building a terrific community of small business owners who are building and growing together. There are lots of great tips, quotes, support and freebies to help you build the success of your small business. We’d love to see you in there with us! Click here to join!