Why Your Business Needs To Be On Social Media
“I tried social media for my business and it didn’t work.”
“I don’t know how social media works so I don’t even bother.”
“I don’t like social media so I’m keeping my business off it.”
I’ve heard each of these (and a handful more) at least two dozen times since I started my business. So let’s talk about it. Why should your business be on social media?
Social media is the quickest way to let people know something. Whether someone is following your page and sees your post in their newsfeed, or they come across your page because they specifically sought it out, the post stays there and informs people about whatever it is that you want or need them to know. How are people going to know about your holiday hours, your daily special, or your new product/service if they never hear about it? Social media is the perfect place to talk to them because the majority of people of people are already there.
Social media also gives people the chance to get to know the faces behind the business. Utilizing features such as polls and stories help engage your followers, and it gives your customers an easy avenue with which to leave reviews, ask questions, etc. Getting more involved with your audience also helps build trust and create a sense of community!
Social media may have a reputation of being just for the “young crowd”, but in reality, it’s a lot more spread between the generations. According to www.khoros.com, most U.S. social media users fall between the ages of 27 and 42. So with the exception of one or two specific social media platforms, social media isn’t just for “young” people.
To throw a couple of statistics your way…
- Over 70% of internet users use social media to research a brand before making a purchase
- Approximately 5.17 billion people use social media
- About 200 million social media users visit at least one business’ social media page every day
The aversion to mixing social media and business is understandable; especially for those who didn’t grow up with social media. But even if you’re an established business, you need to have an active online presence, especially if you do any form of e-commerce. The internet is full of potential customers, local and far away, and it’s a huge disservice to your business to not have an active social media presence!
Keep an eye out for my next blog post, where I’ll talk about all the ways there are to handle your business’ social media!
-Elizabeth