The Business Network International (BNI) found that 75 per cent of business owners are put off engaging with a small business because of its lack of social media presence.
With over 270 million Twitter users and 1.2 billion Facebook users, there is hard evidence that social media is a powerful tool for business owners, however many SMEs are still reluctant to build an online following.
However, on the contrary, social media is a business savvy tool that should be harnessed into any businesses marketing strategy. Here are the benefits:
- Increased Traffic
The most common route to generating an influx of traffic to your website is through sharing content on social media. If your content, whether it be a simple Tweet or Facebook post, is shareable amongst your followers, it can create both a surge of new followers and an increase in website traffic. Reports show 73% of adults are online and use social media, meaning the industry is certainly thriving.
- Builds Branding
Your SME can gain significant exposure through social media, making it an effective source of increasing brand awareness. Although TV advertising is still the leading channel for branding, social media follows in close second. Many studies suggest this is due to the large number of millennials on social media, but it is also down to the rise in technology. To help create professional and compliant business content, invest in Templafy. An SME’s brand is important, and by using chaos-free software, your business will never be off-brand again.
- Online Presence
A lack of online presence is one of the biggest reasons as to why start-ups fail. The issue is, many SMEs are not digital ready, and therefore do not become exposed online, meaning they miss out on vital marketing opportunities that are needed in today’s technology-based world. If you have an online presence, then your business will be able to reach a wider geographical audience and target certain audiences such as age, gender, education and even relationship status, meaning better sales and revenue.
- Building Trust and Personality
People will only buy or invest their time and money in companies they can trust. If you are able to create an emotional connection with your audience and generate a personal feel to your business, then your company will become more attractive and trustworthy. Behind the scenes photos and employees images on social media tend to rank highly on Instagram, a platform that is becoming increasingly popular. A simple like or follow can have huge benefits to the business.
- Time and Cost Efficient
The benefit of using social media is that marketing is free and incredibly cost effective. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are all free to use, and creating an account only takes a matter of minutes. With apps being readily available on mobile phones and iPads, businesses can post at any time, in any place, meaning it is quick and considerably easy to use, regardless of location. Advertising has never been so accessible!
