If you're a small business I'm sure you're on social media for your business. Maybe you've pondered why you should even be spending the time to post or create content for your business because it doesn't seem like your content is getting much engagement and you're not meeting the goals you think you should.
Let me tell you a secret: If you have ANY social media presence for your business AND it's consistent, you're already doing better than most small business owners.
Having a social media presence for your business, especially your small business is more beneficial than most people realize. As a small business, there is no real way for anyone to know who you are and what you do without promotion. Now, you can take out magazine/newspaper ads, buy a billboard, make a commercial etc., but all of those options usually cost more than most small businesses have within their marketing budgets. Social media is a free tool that you can use to promote your business and do so in a way that you can control and present the best, most authentic version of your business to the world.
Still not convinced? Let's go through five reasons your small business needs a social media presence:
Name Recognition: For a small business, name recognition is the first goal in terms of marketing and is important to establish your business and be successful moving forward. When you first start your business, no one is going to know who you are, what you do, or what service/product your provide. So, making sure you begin to build a community that at the very least knows your name is paramount in terms of gaining clients and customers down the road. How can social media help with this? In terms of establishing your company's name and making sure you are the forefront of client's minds when thinking about your service, social media is the best tool for this. It helps you to make more personal connections with those that you'd like to use your service or buy your product, it keeps your name in front of potential clients even if they aren't in the space to buy yet, and it can help to establish you as a trustworthy source for your industry.
Community Building: A lot of people tend to forget that the whole point of social media is to connect with others and build a community. Why would that be any different for your business? Odds are, your product/service falls within an industry that has a significant online community and you need to be a part of that and you need to be a part of cultivating it. Thousands of followers is an incredible goal to accomplish, but if they aren't engaging with your content and you aren't able to have conversations and make connections to those following you, what's the point. How can social media help with this and what does it mean for my business? It's a simple as this: Social media connects you with people from across the world and right next door. Now more than ever your product and service can reach audiences unimaginable even 20 years ago. Cultivating that audience and creating an actual relationship with those that follow you on social media is a game changer for your business.
It's "Free" Marketing: Now this one can vary depending upon how you approach social media, but overall, social media is a virtually free marketing tool. Creating content and posting on social media is free. Marketing is essential to any business, but not every business has the budget to put into huge marketing campaigns and that's okay! So, establishing a presence for your business on social media is a great way to keep your budget under control but also make sure you're still getting your product out there. What does this mean for my business? As with any form of technology, social media is constantly changing. So there are instance where you may need to invest in your social media presence. This can look like: running paid ads, hiring a social media manager, hiring a photographer/videograpapher, etc. but in the long run, investing in your social media presence will always be a great move for any business, big or small.
Shows Your Personality (Service Based Business): If you're a service based business showcasing your service is obviously extremely important for gaining clients, and as we've discussed above, social media is a great way to do that. However, another huge aspect of having a service based business is YOU! You are also putting yourself and your personality into your business, and that can make or break whether or not people want to work with you. How can social media help with this? Using all of the tools social media has to offer: Video, stories, posts, etc., you have various ways to showcase who you are and your personality and I would highly encourage doing so! Doing this can also help you showcase why you are different than you competitors and what you bring to the table differently than they do.
Stay Up to Date with Your Industry: If I'm looking into a new product and I can't find a social media presence for the company, I tend not to buy it. I know that could be a controversial opinion, but it's true. I'll look for a similar product or service within that industry that has an established social media presence. And I can guarantee I'm not the only one. Having an established social media presence helps your clients find and follow you, but it also keeps you up to date with your industry. If you industry is particularly active on social media and you aren't, then you're going to get left behind.
Social media presence in this day and age is required for a small business to be successful. Whether you hate or love social media, it's here to stay and could make or break your business.
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