Member Article

Why your business needs to get social

Social media marketing is possibly the most dynamic way of reaching an audience on a vast scale with minimal budget. The majority of social media platforms are free to sign up, making them a cost effective way to kick-start your business on the web. Whether your business is very visual led and would benefit from platforms such as Instagram or Pinterest, or if your primary focus is to share knowledge and comment about your industry like Twitter, there’s every reason for a business to regularly assess their social strategy. Investing time in social media is often the biggest ‘cost’ to businesses, but it’s one which can result in a very high return if done correctly.

Reach

Using social media to share information about your business is one of the simplest, if not, most effective ways to attract hundreds (and thousands) of people to your content. Some even go as far as to invest in social media advertising in addition, which can target your audience based on specific demographics and interests.

Having your brand exposed makes you instantly more recognisable to people – even if they don’t need your services right now, they’ll remember you. The snowball effect on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook when people start sharing your posts is invaluable – you accumulate trust based on social peer approval, and in turn, gain more likes, followers, and interest.

Educate & Inform

Whether you have a small or large follower base, people are following your account for a reason – they are interested in your business. Your followers want to be kept up-to-date with the latest news regarding your business and sector, so use social media to its full potential and share your expertise. You want to educate your followers who may well in time (if they aren’t already) become regular customers.

Social media is also a great opportunity to demonstrate not only your knowledge, but the personality of your company. If you’re a B2C business, your customers want to know that they’re dealing with people they can trust and relate to, and if you’re offering B2B services, you need to show how your company’s personality makes you different.

Promote

New products and services, seasonal offers and first-time customer discounts are just some techniques to retain and attract new business. Social media allows you to promote your business offerings in a controlled setting, directly people to your website or to call you directly, and can really enhance people’s perception of you as a business.

As mentioned earlier, social media advertising is also available if you have a budget to spend on online marketing. Much like Google AdWords, social advertising is a form of PPC (pay per click) marketing, albeit with slightly different options when it comes to how you’re billed for your reach. It’s proven to have a great return if you’re looking to build your follower base, and many businesses use it to give them a head start when they embark on a new network.

Build Relationships

If you remain ‘active’ on your social networks, regularly engage with and respond to followers, and have a strategy attached to your posting methods, then you should be able to begin to build better relationships with your customers. Although you may never meet your followers face-to-face (most common in online based businesses) being socially active will show users that you want to get to know them, their needs and how you can deliver products or services to accommodate them.

Social media marketing is such a core part of modern business, and should be looked at daily to ensure that you’re maximising the potentials of each platform. At Zebra Internet Services, we understand that time is often the biggest reason why business social platforms go ignored, which is why we have developed services to support you in your day to day delivery on social networks. As standard, we factor social media marketing into our wider Online Reputation Management packages, as it forms only a small part of how businesses need to behave and be perceived on the web. Our social media marketing services are also offered on a standalone basis, and are great for business who know they should use social media, but don’t have time or know how.

Want to give it a go yourself? We’re also on hand to offer social media training to businesses on all major social networks. So what are you waiting for? Get social and call us on 0191 2612252 today, or visit www.zebra.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Stephanie Hutcheon .