How Social Media Can Help Your Business

How Social Media Can Help Your Business

Every business owner is always on the look out for effective ways to advertise their offering and gain new clients. Traditional marketing is almost entirely out the window now, and digital marketing has taken its place. A key part of this relatively new arena is social media. You’re on it; your kids are on it… your parents might be too. In fact well over twelve million Australian’s are active on social media, on a daily basis. So how can you take that visibility and use it to your business’ advantage, and why should you?

Social media creates brand awareness

Those twelve million people are all at your fingertips. Running a business page on Facebook means you have the potential to reach new leads and get your brand in front of them, on a scale that other marketing channels simply do not give you (at least if you’re on a comparable budget). Particularly in the early stages of a business, you need the name to be seen as much as possible. It’s all about spreading awareness.

Good social media helps with organic SEO

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a term that makes a lot of people cringe. It’s complicated, it can be expensive, and it’s an industry that often leaves you with a poor experience. Side note- if you do find a great SEO professional then stick to them like glue! There are two ways to increase SEO, which is essentially your Google ranking, and defines how easily you can be found by your target audience on the Internet. The first way is paid SEO which is another topic entirely. The second is organic SEO. Social media has a huge roll to play in the latter. Updated website content is one of the most highly rewarded aspects by Google. This means regular, good quality blog posts. Facebook pages with high engagement levels and lots of fantastic reviews will also work wonders. On the flip side, if you’re doing social media poorly, Google is punishing you and your rating will slip. Put simply, you’re losing to competitors who are doing social media really well.

Advertising is affordable and highly targeted

Advertising spend for a small business is usually limited. You need to be strategic about where it’s spent and wasted dollars is less than ideal when you’re counting those pennies, especially at the beginning of business ownership. Social media means that even $5 is valuable. You get a lot for a little in the digital space. Starting with just a $20 weekly Facebook boosting budget will get the ball rolling for a new page. Additionally, you can target your audience in a way that no other medium allows. It can be as specific as a 10km radius around the exact suburb your business is located in. You can choose specific traits of your audience such as small business owner, interested in accounting or chartered accountant, who has children. The options are never ending. The advantage here is knowing that you’re spending your money on the people you want to attract, not on a big general advertisement that can be viewed by anyone and everyone who don’t apply to your business.

Reviews and testimonials are there for everyone to see

Testimonials on your website is one box checked, however being able to leave them on your Google and Facebook accounts is even more beneficial. SEO is again helped by these but they’re also far more authentic than those found on websites. The reason being they can’t be manufactured by the business but have to be written and posted by real people- which everyone can see. If you have lots of great reviews, Facebook will also push your content organically more. It’s all about building relationships and this is a great way to show potential leads that you are good at what you do, and existing clients are happy with the goods or services they’re receiving.

The right content inspires trust and relationships

One of the biggest perks of social media is that your content can show your team’s personalities. You can convey this to an extent with good website copywriting, however social media provides a platform where you can be more casual and share the workplace culture in a less manufactured setting. People create relationships with other people, not brands. Sharing insights into work and personal lives will help existing clients and potential leads feel as though they’re part of something. Giving free advice and tips is another way you can foster trust and credibility. You may operate in a highly competitive industry, but something that no other business can replicate is your culture and team. Use them to your advantage as much as possible.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Put simply, if you aren’t active on social media and producing great content, you may be losing leads to your competitors and doing your business a disservice. A big piece of advice is to stick to what you’re good at- and unless you’re a marketer, that probably isn’t social media. Outsource it to someone who knows what they’re doing and the stress of producing content will largely be taken off your hands. Have a bit of patience and you’ll see it grow and help your business to flourish.

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