Social Media For Business: It’s Time To Get On Board, Folks.

Social Media For Business: It’s Time To Get On Board, Folks.

If you don’t have a social media page for your business, you are severely behind. If you aren’t managing it on a consistent basis, that may be even worse. It’s 2019, your business must have a social media profile and managed on a consistent basis. Whether you’re a Mom-And-Pop shop in the middle of nowhere, or a huge corporate company, social media is essential to any successful marketing strategy.

Social media has been around for a while (throwback to your Top 8 friends on MySpace), however, the way it’s being utilized has changed a lot. Fast-forward to 2019, and social is now one of the best ways to advertise your business/brand. If you don’t have a social media presence, then someone you know does. According to Statista, 79% of people in the U.S. have a social media profile. That means you have the potential to advertise your product/service to 244 million Americans, not to mention the other 2.2 billion people in the world that have an online profile. Social media is an excellent way to build awareness, showcase your brand’s personality, recruit top talent, directly target your consumers, and build relationships.

Building Awareness

The first step towards creating any successful brand is for people to know it exists. You have the ability to advertise your business on a free social media page that has the potential to reach millions of people, however you’re not going to have millions of followers overnight and you shouldn’t expect to. You should be implementing SMART goals to get you where you need to be and you can just “do” social… you need to be social. For example, say you want to reach 50 new followers by the end of the month on your brand’s page. 50 people knowing about your brand is better than zero; then friends of friends will now have exposure to your brand’s social messaging. Building awareness will take time but social media is a great place to start. As a marketer, we find it more effective to start with SMART goals that focus on content quality and publishing frequency. We’d recommend focusing your SMART goals on content production and interactions (likes, shares, etc.). If you have good content, followers will come naturally.

Showcase your Personality

Social media is a great way for companies to connect with their customers directly and help put a personality to their brand. People tend to respond better to marketing efforts through social media especially if it’s done in a fun way. For example, Wendy’s recently responded to a tweet from Chance The Rapper about bringing back spicy chicken nuggets and got 2 million likes. Not only was this great publicity for Wendy’s, but they were able to showcase their funny personality. A lot of the posts we make here at Roger West are funny with a hint of sarcasm. A well-implemented meme, caption, image or video can go a long way.

Target your Audience

Another benefit of social media is that you can strategically target your audience messages and ads based on criteria you set on the channels you use. Rather than just advertising to everyone, social media allows you to target based on your niche and the demographics and psychographics of your audience(s). Since you’re providing content directly to your target audience you are more likely to see favorable results. Make sure you have a strong hashtag game to get your message out to people who are looking for content on that topic. When you pair audience targeting with a strong hashtag game, you’ll see more results than you initially anticipated. For hashtag ideas, you can use tools like Hash At It (hashatit.com) to see what kind of topic/conversation density it has.

Building Relationships

You should be treating your followers as part of your community. Reply back and engage with their posts. Constantly ask the question, “Where would my brand be without these advocates?” When a person can think of your brand as a part of their community rather than just a corporate company, they are more likely to choose you over your competitors. Social media is a great way to build relationships with people you would have never met otherwise. People across the world can feel a connection to you even if they’ve just met you through social media.

If you still don’t have a social media page for your business stop reading this now and go make one. The connections you make through social media can last a lifetime.

So, go get that brand awareness, build those relationships, target your customers and showcase that dazzling personality. Need help creating your presence or improving your existing one? Let’s talk.