12 ASTOUNDING REASONS WHY YOUR SMALL BUSINESS SHOULD USE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Are you a small or mid-sized business (SMB) trying to figure out the real value of social media for your organization?

Is your SMB trying to figure out why in the blazes to use social media marketing at all?

Well, in a word, the answer is: results! Businesses are flocking to the social media-sphere in droves. According to LinkedIn, nine in 10 SMBs use or plan to use social media. Ninety-four percent use social media for marketing. Seventy-three percent use social media and social ads. What’s more, half of SMBs have increased their spend on social media compared to the previous year, higher than that of any other marketing channel. Why? Here is a quick list of social media marketing benefits for small businesses:

1. Social media drives new business and increases sales –

• According to Crowdspring, 50% of small business owners reported the gain of new customers through social media, most notably through Facebook and LinkedIn.
• According to LinkedIn, “82% report that it is effective for lead generation.”
• HubSpot’s State of Inbound Marketing says that, “77% of B2C and 43% of B2B companies say they’ve acquired customers through Facebook.”

2. Social media marketing increases awareness –

• “100% of business decision-makers use social media for work purposes,” according to Forrester.
• “68% of consumers check out companies on social networking sites before buying.”
• According to iMedia, “70% of marketers say that [social media] content marketing has increased their brand awareness.”

3. Better customer service and relationships –

• “52% of enterprise brands say social media is the top driver for [customer] relationship building and brand engagement.” (Spredfast)

4. Credibility –

• According to a Morpace Omnibus Report, “a whopping 68% of Facebook users say a recommendation from a Facebook friend would make them more likely to buy a specific product or visit a certain retailer.”

5. Targeting –

• Your business can use social media advertising to target by zip code, keyword, demographics, and more.
• Today you can reach just about anyone through social media. To wit, according to this article from Convince&Convert:
  • “56% of Americans have a profile on a social media site.”
  • “55% of Americans 45-54 have a profile on a social media site.”

6. Audience ownership –

• In this day of monstrous CPMs and fragmented media, why continue to rent your audiences by running newspaper and radio ads when you can buy your own highly targeted audience comprised of your best prospects through social media? Sure, it takes time to build, but like any good asset, it is worth the investment.

7. Web traffic and SEO impact –

• According to iMedia, “71% say content marketing helped them improve their site’s rankings.”
• In a local search usage study by Balihoo, “91% of local searches use Facebook to find local businesses online.”

8. See what is being said about your business –

• Use social monitoring tools and research to find out what your customers are saying about your business. Successful businesses use this valuable information to enhance customer relationships and business.

9. Competitive intelligence –

• Wondering what is going on with your competition? Use social media monitoring to track your competitors and avoid surprises.

10. Recruiting –

• According to this study:
  • “92% of companies use social media for recruitment.”
  • “73% of companies hired successfully through social media.”

11. Save advertising money –

• 77% believe content marketing helped boost their site’s traffic. (iMedia)

12. Better customer service –

• According to Social Media Today, social media drives better customer relationships, bigger brand affinity, and a mechanism for instant customer feedback.
• According to New Media & Marketing, 88% of consumers would be less likely to buy from a company with unanswered questions or complaints from customers on their Facebook page.

Jump on in; the water is warm! If you and your staff are too busy or too uncomfortable with the process to do it yourself, you can always hire an expert. While that was undoubtedly a shameless plug for The Beast, there are social media agencies and consultants of all shapes and sizes, and there is sure to be a partner out there to help lead your organization out of the abyss!

What was your most interesting takeaway from this article?