When hosting social media training sessions, I always ask the ‘WHY’ Question ~ “Why to do want to launch your business into the social media arena?”
Invariably, the reply is ‘because everyone else is doing it!’
Now is that really a good reason?
It evokes memories from my childhood, when my mother would remind me: “just because …….. did it, doesn’t mean you had too” (ah the wisdom of our mums!)
Social media IS important for business, but it’s equally important to understand why it’s essential to business growth. Given the time and resources it takes to run a successful social media marketing strategy, it really needs to be a viable and rewarding option.
Here are my five reasons why social media should be an essential part of your marketing toolbox.
1.It helps business get found online
Content is what drives the web, so posting consistent and relevant quality content about your business is extremely important.
Social media helps you continually create and distribute content.
Once this information is on the web, Google and other search engines rank it by relevancy. Ranking on the first page of a search engine is the Holy Grail for business.
Major search engines have realised that people’s ranking of content via social recommendations such as ‘LIKE’, retweets and +1 is valuable and now place a higher priority on all things social in their ranking algorithms.
So, an active and consistent presence on social media networks significantly increases businesses chances of being ‘found’ online.
2.It is huge
Few people realise the sheer speed at which social media networks have grown.
It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million users and it took television 13 years to do the same. Facebook added 100 million users in less than nine months.
With so many people involved in social media networks it’s impossible to ignore any longer – if your potential consumers are using social media, why aren’t you?
3.It makes business more approachable
Social media is like networking on hyper-drive.
Businesses can simply connect with their online community of brand advocates in real-time on issues that they care about and become part of their trusted network of friends and advisors.
Business owners are always looking for ways to reach and meet the needs of their market — and there’s no better way to do that than through social media.
4.It spreads very quickly
Social media’s viral capacity lies in its ‘one to many’ and then the ‘many to many’ amplification of ideas and content on a global scale.
Ease of sharing (how easy is it to hit a ‘LIKE’, retweet or +1 icon?) with social media provides the power to make ideas, news and conversation spread quickly.
There is an immediacy to social media that can help business spread their message quickly and effectively.
5.It Lasts
Think of your social media business content as a digital asset that you should be continually investing in as you build up your online property’s net worth.
Google and other major search engines have millions of servers digitally filing away every blog, tweet, post etc. This information may not be saved for eternity, but it will be around and searchable for decades to come.
AND then there’s No. 6
6.It is relatively inexpensive
Contrary to everything you’ve heard – Social Media is NOT free!
It may be free to set up a Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter etc account, but as a business owner, your time is money.
So it doesn’t matter if you outsource or do it yourself, business time and resources will be used and therefore a measurement strategy or ROI should be incorporated into your social media practices (more on that next time).
Social media is now an essential part of growing business. It is no longer thought of fluffy or superficial… but now serious business!
What is the reason you use social media for business? I am sure you have other, yet equally important reasons. Care to share with us?
Until next time…..
