Why Is Social Media Important? Refining Your Online Marketing Strategy

“Why is social media important?” is a question people ask all the time. They don’t realize the impact social media is having on relationships and businesses.

In 2017, there were about 2.46 billion social network users worldwide. That’s about a third of the world’s population. Thus, if you are an online marketer, you have a large base to work with.

The most popular social media networks are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Instagram. Others are Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat, Reddit, WhatsApp, and Periscope. There are many other platforms drawing in new users every day.

Such a massive pull shows there’s more to the question “Why is social media important?”. Keep reading to learn how it affects online marketing.

Why is Social Media Important?

Nowadays, it’s common to see people hunched over their phones or laptops. Research shows that about 45 percent of the world’s population accesses the internet.

But why is social media important? Here are a few points for anyone who is curious:

1. It Has a Great Reach

The beauty of social media is its ability to reach people who are thousands of miles away. You can contact, interact, engage, and sell online through a social network. All you need to do is create a following for your product, service, or brand.

In some cases, it gives small businesses a national presence. Instead of appealing to the local community, businesses attract people from other states. This occurs when one of your social media posts goes viral.

2. It Allows You to Provide Information

Social media allows you to inform your customers in real-time. There can be many changes going on in your business. Or, there could be a news story depicting your business in a negative light.

You can run to your social media page and tell your customers the real story. Since stories spread fast online, you can be sure many people will get to hear your clarification.

In other instances, it enables you to share content from your website. This content may provide information about your products or services. It can also be a discount offer available for a short while.

3. It Helps You Sell Your Products or Services

Whichever products you are selling, social media makes it easy to market to consumers. You can target and re-target the buyers you want. Plus, you can share your business offerings to a wide market.

Using creative social media campaigns attracts people to your business. Viral campaigns foster conversations, cause laughter and create emotional connections with your business. Such an impact is not possible when using other media.

4. Gives You a Platform for Customer Service

Anyone asking, “Why is social media important?” should look no further than customer service. Serving your customers well ensures they’ll keep coming back to your business.

People are looking for quick solutions to their problems. They want fast food, shortcuts, apps for everything, and shorter wait times. Any delays lead to stress, anger, and a negative perception of your brand.

That’s where social media comes in.

Aside from providing information, it allows you to respond to customer problems immediately. Once a complaint goes viral, it could be damaging to your business. Yet, when people see how fast you responded to an issue, they’ll be likely to deal with your company in the future.

You can address confusing issues, product concerns, or questions about delays and damages. Some customers write on social media about their experience with your company.

Thus, if you solve their problems, their comments will be positive. That’s also a bonus because it means many people will read those comments. This attracts potential clients to you.

5. Enables You to Measure Your Progress

Businesses thrive when they take the time to measure their progress. They can then adjust their plans depending on how things are going. Social media offers a similar tool.

Social media metrics let you know the public’s perception of your company. You can measure the number of people talking about your brand. You can learn about visitor recency and frequency. Moreover, you can measure your market penetration and content-sharing numbers.

These metrics will help you craft an effective business strategy. You’ll know the areas that need improvement. You’ll also know what works best for your business.

6. Useful as an Engagement Tool

In the past, companies used to be cold and impersonal places. You went in, did your business, and left. Now, companies are more personal and want to show they care for your well-being.

To do this, they must find a way to connect with their audience. Enter social media.

Social media allows businesses to engage with their customers. They can share personal stories about the start of the business. They can post funny memes, inspiring pictures, or videos. They can even do questions and polls.

These personal and humanizing tools keep the customers engaged. It makes them look forward to your next story, products, or offers. They become loyal and defend your brand against any attacks.

7. Offers Several Tools for Messaging and Sharing

Each social medium offers a different option for creating a message. These include pictures, videos, GIFs, and text. Once you create your content, you have several options for sharing it.

Visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared than other types. Thus, you should create more visual content. This spreads your message through your followers to a larger market.

8. Get Great Benefits at a Low or Zero Cost

From the previous points, you can tell how much value social media provides. We expect value to come at a high cost. Yet, with social media, you get these benefits at a low cost or free.

If you are adept at social media management, you can run all the campaigns on your own. If not, you can hire someone at an affordable price.

Learn More About Web Development

We hope you can now stop asking, “Why is social media important?”. It helps you target customers, boost your brand, and engage your audience. You can also build authority by providing information and solutions.

Moreover, you can measure your progress and adapt your strategy. The better you get at social media use, the more people you’ll reach and attract. These new leads give you a bigger pool to market to and try to convert into sales.

Visit our website to learn more about web development.