Besides being able to stay connected to friends and family, social media offers great benefits; especially in terms of small business growth. Small businesses typically have to pay special attention to advertising strategies in order to get their name and service out in a timely and efficient manner to potential clients.
Social media can grow your small business and increase sales and marketing all from an increased online presence. This is true for all kinds of small businesses, from retail stores to restaurants, to home services, to freelance and entrepreneurial endeavors. It is estimated that 40% of digital customers use social media to research new products or brands; this is a significant number to small business owners who thrive on faithful customers.
Additionally, small businesses are at a higher risk of bankruptcy because of the potential of large chain stores putting them out of businesses and the increasing use of online shopping; therefore making a strong online presence crucial to stay in business. David Offen, a bankruptcy lawyer in Philadelphia, said, “A positive online presence is perhaps more significant for small businesses that have a smaller client base. They [small businesses] depend on their client’s purchases more so than a large chain store that has thousands, even millions of customers.”
If you are part of a small business, creating an online presence could be key to increasing sales and achieving a larger client base. Here are the top 5 benefits that social media could have on your small business.
Brand Awareness.
This is perhaps the most obvious benefit of social media on small businesses. Increasing awareness of your company will generate more sales and will get your company’s name out to a larger population in a more efficient and timely manner than classic advertising strategies.
Creating brand awareness will get you more sales and projects immediately, and will likely get you, potential clients, in the future. A customer may stumble upon your social media account when looking for something else and move on for the time being but will likely keep you in mind for future purchases or services. By being able to follow your social media account, potential customers will see a post at a later date from your company and will be reminded of your service.
It’s important to use SEO, search engine optimization, strategies when creating an online presence to reach certain demographics, locations, and to show up in particular search engine searches.
Brand Loyalty.
Brand loyalty is important for small businesses because it creates a client base that will keep coming back for the service provided rather than visiting a chain store or using a chain service. Repeat customers are important to small businesses in order to generate revenue and social media has the ability to tie directly into that.
Social media accounts can be beneficial to small businesses because of reminders, updates, and news about the business.
Brand loyalty more or less comes down to a customer’s preference and their experience with a service or product. However, even after the service or project is completed, when a customer sees an update on social media from a company, they will be reminded of their positive experience with the business.
For example, retail stores can update their accounts to show off new lines of clothing; while home service companies can post newly completed projects; both of these actions will attract past customers. Clients will come back because of the constant reminders of how great a brand or company is.
Outstanding Customer Service and Customer Support.
Similarly, social media is a great way for original customers to write reviews and for new customers to read reviews.
While growing a small business, it’s crucial to use social media to give customers, new and old, a positive representation of the services you offer. When customers see positive reviews, they are likely to use your service over other businesses in the area. In addition to positive reviews, the ability to assist customers at any time is easier. Customers have the ability to get in contact with managers, service providers, and other people within the company a lot easier by sending a direct message than by sending an email that may or may not gets looked at by anyone at the company. Overall, communication is significantly easier with the use of social media for small businesses.
Increased Website Traffic.
Increased web traffic is always the ultimate goal for all businesses; social media can add to increased web traffic with the use of links.
Coming across a social media account in 2020 is easier than coming across a website; this is because of SEO tools along with the extended amount of time people spend on social media a day. A two-step process, but well worth it, with a social media presence, the ability to attach links to your website from your social media account will get your website more visitors; more website visits equals more sales and projects for your small business.
Generate Leads.
The use of social media pages will positively affect where you rank in search engine results; this helps a potential customer find your small business. When a potential customer searches a keyword in the search bar, the search engine will show the top result for that area; with more of an online presence from the use of social media there is a higher likelihood you will show up to that potential customer on the first page of their search; ideally in the first few results.
With social media creating more of an online presence for your small business, there is a better chance a potential customer will stumble upon your website without directly searching for you.
Take Advantage of Social Media.
Enhance your small business and online presence by using social media to your benefit. Social media has a lot to offer and can only make your small business better and generate more sales. With proper SEO tools, light research, and proper planning, social media has the ability to build an exceptional online presence for your small business.
