It doesn’t matter if you run a small local shop or a big national company. Social media is more than just a trend. It is an essential piece of your business marketing strategy. Social media is an effective way to reach new audiences with engaging content. Social engagement helps you build trust, and authority and also shows your brand personality.
With more than three billion people around the world using social media every month, the users and engagement on major platforms just keep increasing. Social media provides immense potential for businesses because consumers habitually log on to it daily and are exposed to companies. It also presents huge challenges for businesses, however, because it’s an ever-changing space that is extremely noisy and crowded.
According to a survey conducted by B2B reviews and rating firm Clutch partnered with marketing agency Smart Insights, it is said that 52 percent of social media marketers believe social media positively influences their company’s revenue and sales.
The five most valuable social media platforms:
Facebook (89 percent)
LinkedIn (83 percent)
YouTube (81 percent)
Twitter (80 percent)
Instagram (56 percent)
However, SMM is much more than just sharing pictures online to gain “likes” and followers. It’s about getting your target audience to engage with the amazing content you share, gaining control of your image online, and creating relationships with your audience. Your content is a reflection of your business, so if you share cheap, irrelevant content then your visitors will think the same about your company.
Few ways by which social media marketing can help your small business grow:

1. Social media content gets attention and that attention is diverted to your business profile on social media

If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your customers. Social media boosts your visibility among potential customers, letting you reach a wide audience by using a large amount of time and effort. And it’s free to create a business profile on all the major social networks, so you have nothing to lose.
However, it’s really easy for a consumer to become overwhelmed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms filled with noise from companies trying to promote their brands. How can a company create relevant content in such a crowded space?
It is a proven fact that articles, videos, and images were most successful at engaging customers and breaking through that noise. Between GIFs, memes, Facebook Live, and more, a content strategy has to be carefully thought out and executed. What message do your customers want to see, how are they going to identify with your brand, and what will get them to click on your post or comment on it to garner a conversation? By keeping your strategy specific, you can determine which social media channels are the best fit for your business.

2. Communicate Authority

Customers are increasingly savvier and more discerning about which businesses they support. Before making a decision, they’ll do a quick search to browse your website and social media.
Will they find an empty storefront or a rich source of information? Setting up robust profiles that you update frequently with relevant content will build your brand’s authority and make sure you make a positive first impression through social media, showing that your business is trustworthy, knowledgeable, and approachable.
Look for ways to demonstrate your expertise as a thought leader in your industry—like writing pieces related to your expertise or expanding on your company’s mission. By showing what your business offers and values, you will establish confidence in potential customers.

3. Encourage Engagement

Sometimes, a seemingly simple social media post can receive several likes, comments, and shares. People can even ask strangers in the feed if they have received their shoes, how long the shipping took if they liked them, and other questions.
Social media opens the conversation for instant interaction, relationship building, and customer loyalty.
Social channels evolve, constantly releasing new features, and this rapidly changing environment can be intimidating for some business owners.
But remember you don’t have to do everything. Play with new ways to connect with your audience, and permit yourself to learn as you go. One day, you could post a series of Instagram Stories to give customers a behind-the-scenes tour of your office. Next, you could host a quick Q&A session via Facebook Live video streaming. Over time, you’ll get a better idea of your followers’ preferences.

4. Increase website traffic.

Social media posts and ads are key ways to drive traffic to your website. Sharing great content from your blog or website to your social channels is a great way to get readers as soon as you publish a new post.
Participating in social chats can also be a great way to increase your visibility, get attention from new people, showcase your expertise, and drive traffic to your website.
Include your website address in all of your social media profiles so that people who want to learn more about you can do so with one easy click.

5. Generate leads

Social media offers an easy and low-commitment way for potential customers to express interest in your business and your products. Lead generation is such an important benefit of social media for businesses that many social networks offer advertising formats specifically designed to collect leads.

6. Observe Competitor Activity

Keeping an eye on the competition is key when developing an SMM strategy. It not only gives you insights on the type of content you should be sharing but also helps you determine how you can stand out from the crowd.

7. Reputation management.

Your customers are already talking about you on social media, whether or not you’re there to respond. If you and your team are on the ball, you can pick up on important social posts about your brand to highlight the positive and address the negative before it turns into a major issue.
Like, for example, if people are posting about their frustration with a bad customer service experience.
Is someone saying something about your business that’s not true? Be sure to share your side of the story in a polite, professional way. Someone singing your praises? Send them plenty of thanks and draw attention to their kind words.

8. Keep an eye on the competition.

It’s also important to know what people are saying about your competitors.
For example, tracking mentions of your competitors might reveal pain points with their products or services that you could reach out to address, winning new customers in the process.
Monitoring the competition on social media also means you’ll be aware when your competitors launch new products, run promotions, and release new reports or data

9. Learn more about your customers.

Social media generates a huge amount of data about your customers in real-time. You can use that information to make smarter business decisions.
All of the major social networks offer analytics that provides demographic information about the people interacting with your account. This can help you tailor your social media marketing strategy to better speak to your real audience.

10. Grow Affordably

Yes, social media isn’t a place to be overly salesy, but after all, it’s a marketing channel and you need not ignore the opportunity to make sales, should it present itself. Sponsored info on timelines, videos with CTAs, cross-channel retargeting, and shoppable posts are the mainstay of social media.
Your business, regardless of size or budget, has an opportunity to grow your audience and reach your objectives through ads on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Most businesses are data-driven, but social media isn’t a set-in-stone science. Social media can contribute to the buyer’s decision-making process in several ways.

Conclusion

Social media is a massive lead generation, branding, etc for any business or company. Without it, a lot of companies are missing out on the bigger picture and what’s still to come. There are now more than 4.2 billion active social media users across the globe. If you’re not taking advantage of social media within your digital marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and effective way to reach almost half the world’s population.