Social media has many benefits but can it really help your small business? In short, yes. Interacting with your customers in any business is important, but when it comes to a small business it can be crucial. In a world where big names and brand loyalty can dominate, standing out from the crowd on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram really can help you build your following and ultimately, build your business – especially when there are now an estimated 3.196 billion social media users worldwide!
(Global Digital Report https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018)
Customer interaction
One of the key things about using social media for your small business is that it allows you to personally interact with your customers and build a relationship directly with them. Customer services is becoming increasingly important to consumers and using platforms like Twitter, you can start up a conversation easily and generate a really positive, lasting experience for your customer and your business.
Being able to inject that bit of personality can stick in a customer’s mind and hopefully in turn generate you some further (free!) word of mouth promotion as a genuine and trustworthy business.
This interaction also allows you as a business owner some insight in to your customer base and their demographics for your future marketing plans and strategies.
Return on investment
Another plus when it comes to social media is the cost efficiency, especially in comparison to more traditional marketing methods.
For very little cost at all, you can reach out to millions of people and get your business in front of them. Even with the smallest of budgets, posting across varying platforms can be shared, retweeted or re-posted and seen by the many.
Social media really is one of the most powerful and cost-efficient digital marketing tools you can use to increase your business’ visibility and customer base.
Opportunity to be creative
As a small business, you have more control over the content and imagery you can use and the chance to be a little more creative, making sure you do stand out to bigger competitors who may have stricter guidelines on what they can do.
Whatever platform you choose to use, visual elements are really important as they have more impact on your customers when scrolling through their timelines.
Whether it’s photos of your products, a GIF related to your company or even a meme, it again injects that personality and helps you stand out and shows that your small business has a creative side.
All in all, social media marketing can really help to position your small business and distinguish you from your competitors and should always be considered as part of your wider marketing plans.
