The way businesses operate has drastically changed since laptops and computers became something most households have. Rather than shopping in traditional, brick and mortar stores, more and more consumers are deciding to shop online. This isn’t all too surprising. Online businesses have fewer overheads, so can charge lower prices. You can shop at any time of the day or night and shop from wherever you have an internet connection, meaning it’s much more convenient. You also get things delivered straight to you door, meaning no going out of your way at all! But E Commerce isn’t the only aspect of business management that’s changed with the rise of tech. The way we advertise, communicate and otherwise reach out to our customers has too. We market via email, paid ads, sponsored posts and more. One area your business is really going to have to focus on if you want to experience success? Social media. Let’s take a moment to take a look at this!
The Importance of Social Media for Business
We tend to associate social media with personal pursuits. People connecting with friends, family, colleagues and anyone else they want to keep in touch with. People sharing their personal pictures. People sharing their personal thoughts. But social media really is important for businesses too. Wherever people are directing their attention, you should be making your business present. If people are spending more time on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, your business should be there too! Here, you can introduce more people to your brand. You can build up a following. You can communicate with your customers. You can redirect people to your site where they can make purchases. The benefits are countless.
Managing Your Social Media
Of course, unless you’re a social media whizz yourself, you’re going to need someone to manage your business’ social media. Generally speaking, it’s best to use a locally based agency who will be able to take full control of your social media, advising posts, captions and more. Alternatively, if you’re ready to commit to taking on a contracted employee, you can have an in-house social media manager or specialist who can take care of the work. Until that point, here’s a simple step that can boost your follower count – hold a competition. Put up a post detailing a giveaway. Have an image of what you’re giving away and instructions to enter beneath. Request that people like the post, follow your page, tag a friend in the comments and share the post to their story or page to enter. You’ll only have to give away a small amount of stock, but it can dramatically increase your follower count. Not only will you generally get people who actively see your post to follow you in the process, but getting them to tag others in the post and to share in their story can get others to follow too!
These are just the bare basics of social media for your business. But they will benefit any business catering to people who use social media – which nowadays, is pretty much every business out there!