Social media is proliferating across all walks of life and is increasingly infiltrating everything we do. Business owners should realise this as they stand to gain many benefits from engaging in social media marketing and utilising methods such as facebook marketing to increase online profitability as well as drive traffic to their retail store fronts. This article explores how to do this and why it is so crucial.
To build your online presence
Spread the word of your business through social media because it is free, unlike traditional advertising forms. The internet represents a dynamic marketplace which businesses use as a platform to attract the attention of vying customers and prospective buyers.
If utilised correctly, it can result in numerous new visitors on a daily basis. Social media is all about social networking so use it as a medium to promote your business to new people.
Allows you to monitor public discourse
Having a public Facebook fanpage for your customers will allow you to observe the conversations that people are having about your brand and business. In turn, you will develop a better understanding of how customers perceive your brand and this will result in deeper insight into your target market.
Apart from helping you amend potential problems with your current product and drive their sales upwards, you will be able to identify what your target market wants and execute new product or service opportunities. Social media is the easiest way to reach out to your customers in this era of technology.
Increases exposure and drives sales
For bricks-and-mortar businesses, social media such as Facebook and FourSquare is an ideal opportunity to increase exposure and drive sales from the online sphere to the retail front. Customers visiting businesses can now ‘check in’ or ‘rate and review’ a particular business and share their experience with their established network of friends.
As a business owner, you should check to see if your business is listed. Once you have done that, it will appear on a smartphone whenever people in the radius click the ‘check-in’ button. Once the listing has been created, you can even manipulate the information that appears under the listing.
Facebook now allows business owners to merge their check-in listing with their business Facebook page whilst FourSquare allows business owners to create check-in rewards and set up loyalty campaigns. It’s free advertising and statistical evidence shows customers trust word-of-mouth more than advertisements! The more people who check into your place, the more publicity you receive and the more sales you generate.
To command a presence and build authority
These days, it is as important to have a Facebook fanpage or a Twitter personality as it is to have a website. Existing and prospective customers will look for a Facebook fanpage or a Twitter presence to learn more about your company.
They want to know what other people think of you, they want to conduct research into what product you are selling, and they want to learn more about how the company works and how it portrays itself to its customers.
Your Facebook fanpage or Twitter personality can be a one-stop-shop for customers to learn everything they can about you. Greater visibility of a business will contribute to greater feelings of trust between customer and business.
Valuable points. Social media has become so essential that you simply cannot ignore it.
I think that social media will show a lot of growth in 2012. More and more people are getting online. Good point about being able to monitor people’s feedback on your business. That alone is worth it.
Great post, pointing the key points for success on the internet. What are the social networks, they are helping us to have a very large number of access in our business, and this of course brings us many benefits. Congratulations for the post.
Social Media always play a major role in attracting traffic to a blog.
Yeah, nowadays social marketing is the best strategy to get succeed in the online business.Most of them spend lot of time in social networks
Awesome post, a lot of truth to it.
It’s also worth mentioning that as Google changes it’s search algorithm to be more and more social networking based; Social media can directly influence your rankings in the search engines.
Social media is so important these days for any kind of bussiness.We had a lot of experience in using social media for bussiness.
I totally agree with the article. Being out there and reminding your customers of your business constantly is essential for online existence.
That is so correct, social media is really proving to be a very interesting tool to promote your business.
Great article. It’s time for businesses to not only reap the rewards of social networking and media, but to understand how they may be perceived.
I am not convinced about social media driving a lot of sales, I think it can increase your exposure as you pointed out but there has been some stats released recently that point to a lack of direct sales coming from facebook in particular. In my experience Twitter seems to be the best tool for getting your message out to more people.
Its true! Having FB or Twitter is like having a free website if someone do not have knowledge about blogging and website building. Everything are there and we only need to fully utilizes it.
Social media is the best medium for the continuous attention from Internet users. It also helps to increase the trust and loyalty of customer.
Twitter is a great place for businesses. My business is a hit, thanks to online social marketing. Social media marketing is the new and cost-effective manner of marketing your business online. Twitter marketing is also gaining momentum.
While social media is important is isn’t for all businesses. There are still things out there that don’t need a social voice.