The importance of social media in business has become completely inevitable and is a must for almost all enterprises nowadays. Social media has become an increasingly important requirement in people’s lives today. The global web index estimates that a random person spends 3 hours a day on social media platforms and even longer than that looking at their phone.
More than half the world’s population (51%) use social media today according to Hootsuite. That is 3.96 billion people.
According to Backlinko, a whopping 2.6 billion people actively use Facebook monthly. This is approximately 3% of the 7.8 billion people in the entire world today.
Other social networks like Youtube (2B), Twitter (330 m), WhatsApp, Instagram (1B), Linkedin (690 m), and WeChat also have billions of users who visit them each day. Source: Hubspot
People use social media majorly for communication, entertainment, and marketing. Nevertheless, social media is booming each passing day and more people are now going online thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As such, it is very important for businesses to leverage the power of social media to promote growth by reaching a wider audience and connecting to target customers online.
The importance of social media in business
That being said, any business now desperately needs a solid social media presence to reap the outstanding benefits some of which are;
1.Create business brand awareness
Millions of people are using social media today which makes it a very ideal platform for a business brand to get the word out to the masses and reach new people who will then become clients or fans. Metrics and social data exist that can be used to track the journey of customers on social media along with other demographics like age, interests, and likes. this enables businesses to reach the right people and grow their sales.
2. Boost sales
Social media posts and ads can be used to promote business goods and service thereby boosting sales. The demographics of these can be tailored to suit the actual target audience of a business thereby meeting their demands and saving costs during a marketing campaign.
3. Sell goods and services
Businesses can now sell goods and services on social media using platforms like Facebook market place, Instagram, and kajabi. They can upload photos of products for sale and also have listings for services that they offer along with the respective prices for each.
4. Generate leads
A lead is when a potential customer picks interest in a business product and checks it out. Campaigns can be set up to get customers along their online social journey and reach potential ones by following certain metrics like their interests, age, acquaintances, and likes.
5. Engage with audience
Social media can help businesses to engage with their audience through comments, messages, group forums, and discussions. These help the businesses to learn more about their customers, know their needs and get feedback on their goods or services to make improvements. The result is improved customer satisfaction which results in improved sales.
6. Increase business website traffic
Social media ads and call-to-action buttons can be used to increase traffic to a business website thus allowing more people to view business products/ services a people click on them. These prospectives can later turn into actual business clients.
7. Competitor analysis
Through social listening tools like Hootsuite insights, and sprout social, a business can get to spy on their competitors by looking at their mentions and find ways to improve their products to top the market.
Bottom line.
By having a solid presence on the right social media channels, a business can make it to the top by reaching and engaging with thousands of people who in turn become loyal customers and fans.
