Why Social Media Is Important For Your Business

Categories: Digital Marketing Guide

The next addition of our Digital Marketing Guide comes part 1 of 3 or 4 in our social media section of this bitesize introductory guide to digital marketing. This, short and initial blog post introduces you to social media and helps you understand exactly why it's crucial you take it seriously and realise the power that is at your fingertips. In the later parts we will go onto discuss the tools that can be used. This includes finding out more about the Facebook pixel, marketing funnels and influencer marketing.

Social Media should be the biggest focus for your business as you consider online advertising and marketing. It could take up the entirety of an advertising budget and have monumental success for you on its lonesome, however small or large that budget may be. The great thing about social media is that you can navigate social marketing through the platforms freely if you so desire. Having success online without paid advertising is just as possible. Organic reach and growth will always be a fundamental aspect of business and that's alive as ever now with social media. We see free PR campaigns go viral every other day. You need to be different, you need to be creative and you need to be able to spark that conversation. However, our focus here won't be on free PR campaigns or stunts - it's more on navigating the saturated world of social media and it's forever changing algorithms and preferences.

Social Media is in everyone's pocket (give or take!) and it's your direct link to people, customers and clients. Take advantage of it, understand it and smash it.

Another aspect that is so often underlooked is that social media will be many peoples first impression of you and your business. Their experience initially will make the difference between a sale or a lead. It has to be good - the same way if you spoke to them in person. Speak sense, look good and offer value! We spoke about this in a lot more detail on one of the earlier parts - why you should be investing in your website. 

The TLDR version of that aspect of the blog is basically that social media is a direct representation of yourself, and your business. Don’t make the mistake of thinking because it’s online it’s any different to how you would want people to see your shop and how you’d be with them in person. Be literate, use good photographs, make sense, offer value and give them what they want.

The reach you can achieve online, mainly through social media channels, is more than you’ll ever see walk by your shop or see in a newspaper or hear on the radio. This means the world really is your oyster and with strategic planning you can mould a relationship of trust with potential customers and clients. There's over 42 million UK Facebook users, all accessible through advertising. All people that may like your products, or what you do.

Even LinkedIn! If you are selling business to business, get active on LinkedIn - get speaking in different groups and circles and find yourself those clients! It's easy to forget that LinkedIn is a great place to connect with different people in business and collaborate on different projects, There's a community of 260 million professionals on LinkedIn across the world...

The journey from stranger to customer will be detailed in the next part, but social media marketing isn’t there to be an immediate result. A mistake we have all been guilty of, or are still are. It takes careful planning and proper execution to get the desired results. It’s not about boosting a post to reach 1843 extra people and assuming that will bring you customers and clients.

People hate buying from strangers - how many times do you walk past strangers on the street asking you to check out a shop or hand out flyers? If you knew they were credible and knew of them that would change. The same goes with online. We scroll by dozens of ads a day because we don't always know where they are coming from. If, however, there was a relationship there of some form, you'd be more likely to see what they have to say. But as I said - this is detailed in the next park.

Social Media, funnily enough, isn't actually just for us businesses selling and letting people know what we are doing. It's to connect with people. It's the forefront of customer engagement and relationships now - people want instant replies. A few days to respond to emails or letters is no longer acceptable if we want to maintain such a relationship. As previously stated, it's your first point of contact with most of your customers now as you want to build meaningful relationships that can draw in repeat business and new customers. It takes one or two poor replies for things to go pear-shaped for more than just that one customer, people speak and people see.

Basic rules apply - be too nice, be too resourceful, give them the information they want and need. Make them aware that you actually care about their custom, because after all, you should!

How do you put this all into action then? How do you get a stranger to become a regular customer and how do you maintain meaningful these relationships? How do you track, how do you understand and how do you pull all this together to turn this into a larger audience and subsequently more customers and money in the bank? The next part looks to discuss some of this. If you want early access, send us an email, alternatively look out for it being released via our blog shortly.

If you're needing help with your social media and everything that goes with it, because it truly is a minefield then let us know and we can see what we can do together. Again, fire us an email.

Full Bitesize Guide Library

PART 1 | Introducing Digital Marketing
PART 2 | Why You Should be Creating Content Online
PART 3 | Why You Should be Investing in Your Website
PART 5 | Introducing the Facebook Pixel: Understanding Audiences & Marketing Funnels

Written by Regan Williamson