How Social Media Can Benefit Your Business

Having business social media profiles is just the beginning when it comes to your digital marketing strategy. Social media is a fast-growing digital marketing channel that can benefit your business in many ways. Find out more below.

Help Users Find Your Content

While Google has denied that social media has a direct affect on rankings, many studies show there is positive correlation between quality social media posts and rankings. This is because social media can help users discover your website content, and search engines reward sites with high-quality traffic that answer user’s questions or solve their problems. Use social media to promote really great site content (paid or organic) to your target audience. And if it’s really helpful those users will share your content, which will bring more people to your site (and generate backlinks). 

This doesn’t mean that you should post every day with a generic “CHECK OUT OUR SITE!” – but sharing well-thought-out and keyword-rich blogs or helpful product/service information on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can help tremendously.

Example: Edmond Outlook uses their Facebook page to share articles from their latest magazine issue so that people outside our distribution area can still enjoy the stories.

Reach Your Target Audience Where They Are

Over 3 billion people use social media each month. That’s 42% of the total global population. Why is this a good thing? The people you want to buy your product/service are using social media, and your business can benefit from it.

Think about how many times have you’ve scrolled through your Facebook newsfeed and seen an advertisement for a product you’re interested in or a post from your favorite store. It happens every day. If you’re not already utilizing social media, you’re missing out on thousands of opportunities to reach your target audience.

Outside organic posts, you can also pay to run social media ads. This is a cost-effective way to target users based on:

• demographics and interests
• actions they’ve taken on your social media page or website
• location or proximity to your business

Example: AT&T used Facebook ad targeting and custom creative to promote a special offer to their Oklahoma audience. 

Build Relationships With Your Customers

Social media opens up a two-way street between your customers and your business. In addition to using social to find new customers and attract people to your business, you can use social media to truly connect with your consumers in a way you can’t anywhere else. Do more than posting about your latest product announcement. Say how it’s going to benefit your customers and invite them to share their feedback. Social media users want to be entertained, get answers to their questions, and see exclusive news before anyone else does – they want to be a part of your brand.

For example: if your company sells luxurious dog food, try posting about “How Pumpkin Can Improve Your Dog’s Health” (which can pique the interest of your dog-loving followers) rather than just “Check Out Our New Dog Food Flavor.” And when someone posts their story about how Pumpkin benefits their fur baby, respond like a friend and keep the conversation going.

By posting relative and entertaining content and engaging with your followers, you can transform customers into brand advocates who feel loyalty for your product or service. Research shows that 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. 

Here are some examples of great social media posts on Twitter and Facebook from major brands like Target and Nike. 

The Takeaway

5 Simple Tips of Web Design

By Rachel Morse