Why Your Business Needs a Social Media Presence
A social media presence is vital for any company, but especially if you're a small business owner or entrepreneur. If you want to grow your business, follow along with this article to learn why you should put your time and energy into posting.
Social Media Usage by The Numbers
The data on how many people are using social media points to its value in your marketing strategy. Nearly 75% of the US population, or 249 million people, use at least one platform and that number expands to well over 4 BILLION users worldwide. That’s a lot of potential customers!
Here are some other significant data on social media usage in the United States:
7 in 10 active Facebook users visit the site daily
Instagram has over 143 million active monthly users
A majority of 18-to 29-year-olds (71%) and nearly half (48%) of 30-to-49-year-olds use Instagram
TikTok boasts 113 million active users and the average user spends 95 minutes on the app daily
25% of U.S. adults are on Twitter, but only 30% of users are women
The Importance of Having a Social Media Presence
So why do those statistics matter for your business?
To put it simply: there is a massive audience of potential clients for you to reach. With a social media presence, your brand can attract new clients and customers, increase traffic to your website, and newsletter, and ultimately increase sales and revenue.
Buyer Behavior
Social media plays a key role in today's consumer journey. The majority of social media users don’t rely on Google alone, but turn to platforms like Instagram or TikTok to research a product or to search for a service provider.
Users are 71% more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals and insights.
47% of millennials are influenced by social media when making purchases
76% of consumers have purchased a product they saw in a brand’s social media post
With so much influence on your potential client's decisions, you don't want to miss out on the opportunity to get your brand on social media.
Increased Web Traffic and Clicks
Is one of your KPIs or measures of success website traffic? Maybe it’s downloads or sign-ups. In any case, there are a plethora of ways that having a social media account for your business can help you reach your goals.
Share snippets or previews of content from your site to pique your audience’s interest
Promote specials or offers to encourage your followers to get more details or make a purchase on your website
Include links in your posts, stories, or link in bio to direct traffic exactly where you want it to go
With in-app insights and tools, you can even measure the success of each content piece by the number of website taps it receives.
How a social media presence will help you grow your business
It’s clear that social media is one of the most effective marketing tools when it comes to reaching your customers or clients. The same goes for growing your business through brand awareness, building trust, and learning more about your target audience.
Market Research
Conducting market research to learn more about your ideal audience is key to growing a successful brand. Not only can you leverage social media to conduct market research, but you can do it for free! Using different social media platforms to get feedback and gain insights is less costly and less time-consuming than traditional market research methods.
Here are some other perks:
Get real-time feedback on what your customers like (and dislike) about your product or services
Do competitor research
Test different messaging
Stay on top of industry trends
Understand what trends your audience is interested in
When you understand your audience better, you'll be able to serve them better too.
Building Brand Awareness
Social media sits at the top of the marketing funnel and can support your organic marketing efforts to build awareness. It provides the opportunity to post educational, helpful, and shareable content that will help your audience to learn more about your brand and understand what sets it apart from your competitors. Plus, when you show up consistently on social media it keeps your business top of mind.
The Know-Like-Trust Factor
People are more likely to buy from a business that they have a relationship with. Being active on social media provides a way for you, as a business owner, to connect with your customers in an authentic way. A social media presence is a tool that will allow you to:
Increase brand visibility
Share your brand values
Easily communicate and connect with your target audience
Nurture relationships with future customers
Provide social proof and show off results
The more you show up, the easier it will be for your audience to get to know the person behind the brand and discover why they like and trust what you offer.
