Talk to any professional marketer and they will tell you that you need to get your business on social media. But when you ask them why they will probably just give you a half baked answer around your competitors using it and how it might help you get more sales. 

Developing a business presence on social media is a big investment. After all, creating expert content and regularly bringing value to your audience is no small undertaking.

A poorly updated business social account can be detrimental to your brand image, making you appear inactive or potentially even giving the impression that you have gone out of business. So, before you decide to invest in social media, it is important to understand what you are trying to achieve and the benefits it brings. 

In this article, we explore whether social media can really help you grow your business. 

Social Media Usage 

There is no denying that social media platforms demand a huge amount of consumer attention, making it a good way to get your business in front of the people that matter. Here are a few stats that support this:

Global Active Social Media Users 2021 (in millions)

Facebook – 2,797

Instagram – 1,287

YouTube – 2,291

TikTok – 732

Source: statista.com

It is clear that lots of people are active on social media, but how active are they? Evidence suggests that in 2020 the average social media user spent over two hours (145 minutes) every day browsing and interacting with content on social media platforms. 

Using Social Media to Grow Reach 

From the statistics we have outlined above, it is easy to see that when your business is active on social media there is a huge opportunity to reach a much wider audience. This offers global businesses such as those that operate in the eCommerce space vast potential to tap into new, unexplored articles. 

Through the use of targetted social media advertising, smaller, local businesses can also reach much further than without the use of social media by advertising directly to those within their area of potential customers. 

Creating high impact, relevant and entertaining content will increase your chances of reaching a much larger audience organically. For example, when businesses create viral content they could see this content amplified massively across the globe. 

So, whether you pay for reach through social advertising, create viral content or slowly build your audience over time, social media platforms offer businesses an easy to access way to reach those who matter most to them. 

Using Social Media to Educate Customers

Educating customers is an important part of any marketers job. This is regardless of the industry you are in or the product or service you sell. You may need to educate your customer on any or all of the following areas:

• Why you are the cheapest on the market
• Why your product or service is better than others on the market
• How to get more from your product or service
• Why what you offer is more expensive, such as the fact that it is better quality or saves your customers money in the long run 
• How your customer service makes life easier 

Using Social Media to Drive Sales 

The most obvious reason why businesses use social media is in an attempt to drive direct sales. Although this is possible, simply opening a social account and posting advertising type content for your products or services is unlikely to return many, or any, conversions.

Your social channels can be a great way to increase direct sales, but only if you are able to build the required levels of trust and engagement first. This is usually done by providing considerable value before asking for the sale.

This is illustrated well by digital marketing and social media thought leader and influencer Gary Vaynerchuck in his book ‘Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook’. Vaynerchuk highlights how marketers should ‘jab’ their audience with value and entertainment before ‘swinging a right hook’ and asking for the sale. 

Using Social Media to Improve Customer Service 

Social media channels have become a popular way for businesses to deliver customer service. For example, big brands like Warby Parker, AbobeXD, Evernote and Glossier all use Twitter as a major part of their customer service strategy. 

Using social to deliver customer service is all about answering people’s questions and concerns in a place in which they are active and feel comfortable. The functionality of social platforms and the social media management platforms which support them can also make it easier and quicker to reply to questions and comments when compared to traditional methods such as email and phone. 

Using Social Media to Stay Top of Mind

It is hard to measure exactly how ‘staying top of mind’ contributes to business growth. However, when you consider the purchases you make every day, many of these will be based on past experiences or familiarity with a brand. 

Publishing consistent, quality content on social media platforms is a smart way to gently remind your customers of your presence on the market. So, when it comes to buying and they are considering their options, you will always be in the mix. 

Using social media management tools like Buffer or Hootsuite can be a smart way to ensure that your content remains consistent.

Using Social Media to Drive Traffic 

What is your goal as a marketer? Perhaps you need to generate more leads, educate your customers or simply deliver direct sales.

Whatever your goal, you probably have a website or a webpage that helps you achieve it. For example, you may have a lead gen page, a product information page or an eCommerce section on your website. 

Social media platforms can help you tap into your customer’s attention where it is naturally focused and use links to bring that attention over to a webpage that can help you achieve your goals.

Growing Your Business with Social Media 

Social media can certainly help you grow your business, but only when you invest the time and energy into using it properly. If being active on social media is right for you depends on your unique business position, goals and resources.  

It is important to remember that a poorly maintained social media account can have a negative impact on your brand. Equally, having no presence on social media can mean customers find it difficult to locate the information about your business that they want to know.