Lots of businesses we speak to are unsure about what social media can do for them and what returns they can get from it. All businesses have some form of marketing strategy, but sometimes social media doesn’t form a part of this, as it is a fairly new phenomenon and businesses often don’t see the power of it. This blog post will have a look at what social media can do for you as a business and why you should consider using it.
The audience is there
More than a quarter of all time spent online is spent on social networking sites. Thinking about all the things you do online, including reading emails, reading news, shopping etc., just being on social networking sites takes up the most of our time. There aren’t many other places where you get such a dedicated audience which spends so much of their time looking at a site where you could potentially be advertising.
People with buying power use social media
A massive 84% of online shoppers use social networking sites. If you sell something online, this is definitely one for you to think about. Three quarters of people research social networks before making a purchasing decision, generally because they want to find out if others have used the product before, what their opinions were on it and what the personality of the company is. People like to buy from companies that they like, and through social media, a brand’s personality can come out, which it can’t really do through other forms of marketing. More than half of Twitter users tweet about product or company recommendations and they could be talking about your company without you knowing. It is worth seeing whether you already have fans on social media, as others will be using this as a way to research you.
Better compared to other marketing activities
If you are thinking of using social media as a way of generating leads, it might be worth noting that social media produces almost double the leads of trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail and PPC. Further to this, lead conversion rates on social media are 13% higher than the average. Social media also tends to be one of the cheaper ways to promote yourself, so bear this in mind.
Influences purchasing decisions
8 in 10 are influenced by social media posts from friends, so if you are getting others to talk about or share your posts over social media, this will reach their friends. On top of this, 7 in 10 are likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals, so if you get customers to pass on their great experiences with your product or service, the chances of you getting more customers is quite favourable. But it is not just what customers say about you online which matters, in fact a massive 78% have made a purchase based on a company’s own social media posts. So your presence online and what you say from your company page can help you make sales.