Small businesses do need to think carefully about their marketing strategies and budgets. There can be limitations in terms of the budget that there is available as well as the resources. There are occasions when the time spent on social media can fall by the wayside but is that the right thing? Here, we discuss how necessary social media is for small businesses.
Enhances Visibility
The reality is, in this day in age – there is a large percentage of people that actually use social media as a search engine – much like Google. As such, if they do go on to Facebook, LinkedIn, or another outlet and don’t find your business, or see that there has been regular content posted – it could lead to them going elsewhere. For a small business to remain competitive, you need to ensure there are active social media accounts for prospective clients. If you don’t have a huge amount of resources, you could use a social media marketing platform that can help you create and/or schedule posts.
Can Reach a Local Audience
There are local and community groups on Facebook that you could tie into and promote your offering on that scale depending on the model of your business. You can also use boosted campaigns and paid ads to target a specific key demographic. This makes sure any content that you want to push reaches them. You can adjust your ads according to your desired budget which can be really handy for small businesses.
Reinforces Trust
One of the functionalities of a lot of social media outlets such as Google My Business and Facebook is that they give users the ability to leave reviews. If a prospective customer sees that there are a lot of positive reviews left on your business and that you have responded to any queries effectively – it is much more likely to reinforce the trust they have in you and use your product/service.
Gives People an Insight into the Business Culture
People want to buy from small businesses that they feel they know. That’s why it’s important to give users an insight into the culture and people behind your business. Using social media allows you to add some personality behind your brand. You can portray the employees and the things that are most important to you as a company.
Allows You to Gain Feedback
The other feature that social media channels have, is that they allow for user-generated content. This could be important for a small, growing business. You can use tools such as polls to ask questions and get opinions on products and services. Or even push out forms where you can get more granular feedback on your business.
If as a small business, you aren’t using social media as part of your overall strategy. Hopefully, this article will give you an indicator of how important it is and how it can help your growth.
