If you’re not on social media, you should be. In-fact 67% of marketers strongly agree that social media is important to marketing strategies. Before the internet became so important, typical marketing strategies focused on telemarketing, email, print and television. However, since the rise of digital, it has become essential for businesses to be online. Of course, we recommend that it should be part of your existing marketing strategy, rather than your sole strategy (unless this works for your business).

When you need a service or item, you’re likely to type what you need into a search engine like Google, or on a social media platform. If your business is online, and you’ve done some basic SEO, you’re likely to come up in the search engines, either through your website or social media accounts. This allows potential customers to find you online, and you want to give them the impression that your business is active, on-trend and professional.

The Reasons Why you Should Be on Social Media:

1. Brand awareness. Active accounts on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, show potential customers what you offer and what kind of employees work at your business. Very much like an ‘About’ page on a website introduces your audience to your ethos and values, so can your social media accounts, which allow you to establish brand personality, and rapport with your clients and customers.
2. Audience growth. Being consistent and posting interesting content is sure to grow an audience of potential clientele. Increased traffic can lead to sales if done effectively, especially if you grow in your local community (make sure to have your location readily available on your website and accounts). Being known online can lead to being known in your area, which is especially useful if your target audience is B2C and you want to stand out.
3. Staying on trend. Where does everybody rush to nowadays to discuss what they just saw outside, on the radio, in a book or on television? Most likely a social media account like Twitter. It makes sense to stay on top of trends, you can pick and choose whether to make content about them, but we would encourage commenting on trends that are relevant to your business.
4. Learn from your competitors. It is likely that your business will have competitors with active social media accounts. Use social media platforms to learn about those companies and what content they are providing to target audiences, in addition to whether they seem to succeed in engaging online communities. This information allows you to stay aware of the business world surrounding your company, and it can provide potential networking opportunities too.
5. Promote your services. Ultimately, you can use social media accounts to promote the services you provide. At Paramount, we advertise our B2B magazine on our social media accounts. Further content could be in the form of ads, articles, and imagery. You can implement different strategies on each platform, for example, Instagram could be more personal, sharing imagery of your employees or the work you/they do.

It has been recorded that 92% of marketers are using social media for business. Clearly, there is worth in social media marketing, and we would recommend aiming for a consistent online presence to bring your business into the digital landscape.

By Rozz Cottrell