The Importance of Social Media for Small Businesses
Why do I need to have social media accounts for my business?
If you have been in business for many years, you might find yourself wondering why so many businesses are using social media as a marketing tool. And, that’s totally fair.
Businesses have existed for hundreds of years, while social media is still a ‘newer’ concept. However, more and more people spend their time on social media, and less time on traditional marketing platforms.
Streaming
Watching Live TV is becoming a thing of the past as more people turn to streaming services, many of which don’t have commercials.
Fewer people listen to the radio and turn to music streaming platforms instead, where you can pay to listen to music ad-free.
TV and radio have been places to advertise businesses and products for years, but fewer and fewer people hear these advertisements due to ad-free streaming.
Global community
With the internet being widely available across the globe, more people are spending time online and embracing a global community online. Social media allows for individuals in different states, countries and continents to share interests and updates with one another.
During the COVID lockdown, the strength of social media was solidified. People turned to platforms. like TikTok, Youtube and Twitter, to feel connected with other people when they couldn’t do so in person.
Social Media and the power of influence
Social media has been an amazing way for people to hear new information, make new friends, keep up with family and friends in different places, and share thoughts and opinions.
Many of these thoughts and opinions deal with businesses and products. While in lockdown, people used online shopping as the main means of purchasing, and would often share their purchases and if they liked them or not.
When people explained why they liked a product and that it worked well, it would often sell out within hours or days. Many of these products had not been previously known by these purchasers, but having the ‘seal of approval’ by people online gave many products a passionate cult-like following.
This caused products with little (or no) previous marketing or advertisement to become something that everyone wanted.
Social media and small business marketing
Marketing your business, services and/or products on social media is a great way to ensure that people are seeing them, and with the data collected through peoples’ searches and online interests, you are far more likely to market to the right audience.
More people are spending time online, and marketing your business online is the best way to ensure that you remain visible.
With younger audiences, having social media accounts also lends credibility to a brand. Brands with good social media accounts are seen as more trustworthy or better, and brands with no social media accounts or subpar posts can make brands seem uninteresting or untrustworthy.
This is especially true for small businesses -—when a business doesn’t have a lot of marketing, not having social media accounts (or having accounts that don’t post helpful content) can turn younger generations away.
If you are looking for ways to market on social media, Marketing 360® is here to help! Learn how our social media management software makes it easy to post regularly on multiple platforms, as well as how our Social Media Managers can help you maximize your efforts.
