Social media is an incredibly helpful – and dare we say essential – tool for any business.
If your friend suggests you meet them for dinner at *insert trendy title here* restaurant you haven’t heard of, what is one of the first things you do?
Google it. You may access their website and reviews or search the restaurant on Instagram to see what kind of atmosphere and vibe you get from it. Just us?
We’d even venture that, at some point, you’ve accessed curated photos of the items off of their menu to decide what you may want to order – or throw out a different restaurant suggestion altogether.
This is only one of the many ways social media can be helpful to convert potential customers.
Hootsuite published an article listing several benefits of social media for your business, and we’ve borrowed from that list to create our own.
Promote Your Business
This one seems obvious, but hear us out.
Word of mouth helps grow your customer base and have a continued return on investment.
However, it can only go so far.
Having an established website and accounts on social media platforms that are relevant to your industry can reach hundreds and even thousands of people who live all over the world.
Being able to share stories of your interactions with customers and what you have done for them that has solved a problem will connect with the potential customer who lands on your page.
There are also endless possibilities to market your business during specific times each year, such as Small Business Saturday or Giving Tuesday.
Social media enables you to be top of mind for your audience.
Boost Website Traffic
Linking your posts to pages on your website drives SEO, allowing your website to be easily searchable and at the top of Google searches.
Creating posts and ads that are specific to the needs of your customers will drive them to your website as well.
And if your business is sales-based, you can link the exact product in your post so your prospective customer can click one link that takes them to a checkout page.
Increase Brand Awareness
Keep in mind there are more than 200 million active Instagram accounts daily that are navigating to Instagram’s ‘Explore’ page and 83 percent of them discover new products or services on this platform.
Having the accounts set up is a big first step. If you have a photo, general description, and link to your website you maintain a sense of legitimacy when someone discovers your account.
You can take it a step further and curate your feed of content to match your aesthetics, fonts and colors. This way, when one of your followers sees a post of yours, they automatically associate you with it without seeing who posted it.
Put A Face To Your Business
This goes a long way.
Having the ability to create human connections is invaluable. Think: Meet the Founder, Meet the Team, Our Customers, etc.
Being able to post behind-the-scenes videos and photos often attracts more people to your page and who you are as a business owner or company.
This can still be beautifully curated, but it offers authenticity – as opposed to gimmicky sales pitching which fails to attract Millennial and Gen Z users.
Maintain Relevance
Being able to post on holidays and special occasions is one way to maintain relevance, but it goes beyond that. Having a social media presence that is aware of trends and what is going on around them translates well to a potential audience.
After a snowstorm, we often turn to social accounts to check whether or not the restaurant or business you were planning on going to is closed.
Through social media, you can connect with your audiences whenever you want in real-time.
Keeping your posts entertaining and informative will provide your customers with a sense of trust, making them happy to see your posts in their feed.
Interact With Your Customers
Engagement is one of the most important features social media puts at your fingertips.
When you post captions with prompts for your followers to comment their favorite emoji or tag their friends, this boosts your post and visibility.
Taking it a step further and replying to their comment or responding to their DM builds trust between the customer and your brand.
The idea is that from there, your customer becomes a fan of your business which increases the likelihood that they’ll post your content or share it with their circle of influence.
Making Friends With Trends
According to Hubspot, some of the social media trends in 2022 will be dedicated to TikTok dominating the social space, companies making more dedicated social media hires, influencer marketing, consumers craving snackable content, and – one of the reasons we’re all here – boosted sales.
Here’s a quick plan to take action on these projected social media trends in 2022.
Hire a Social Media Manager
A social media manager is dedicated to learning about your customer and analyzing how they interact with your brand. They are also able to get into the nitty-gritty of tracking the behaviors of your customer base and deciding which targeted ads will be most beneficial.
They often follow several accounts they admire and can borrow from other trends or ideas with which they see people engaging.
Explore Affiliate Opportunities
Working with influencers can be a way to grow your business quickly, especially if you are selling a product. Having someone who has a massive reach of people post your product and their review can change the game for sales.
Usually, you can partner with this person in exchange either for the product you are selling and a commissionable rate or both.
Repurpose Your Content
This is one of the simplest ways to work smarter and not harder. Something as simple as a blog post can be shared as a vertical graphic on your Instagram stories, a square graphic with a link on your Pinterest page, a Facebook live video chatting about the content on the blog, or an Instagram post with a carousel of images highlighting the main points.
There really is no limit.
This is a great, cost-effective option for small businesses that hire freelance writers or photographers. One day of batching out content can turn into months of scheduled posts.
Polish Off Your Dance Moves
We’re kidding — kind of.
With TikTok on the rise, companies such as the NBA, NFL, Dunkin’, Chipotle, The Washington Post and even Duolingo have joined the chat and are creating content and interacting with users on this app.
TikTok is a place where businesses can stay relevant, interact with fans, and have fun. Trust us, your followers will be at worst highly entertained and at best impressed.
And while we may not necessarily be able to teach you any new dance moves – but not for lack of trying – there is one thing we can offer that would cover just about everything else on this list: a perfect pairing with the right Social Media Manager for your business.
Let a BELAY Social Media Manager manage your unique social media needs – which can be varied, extensive and exhaustive – and build a strong online presence to get you back to what you love most: running and growing your business.