There is no way around it. The social media epidemic has successfully spread across the world. Everyone is caught up in it. I have seen social media pages for newborns, which is kind of acceptable. But some take it as far as operating profiles for their cars. I too can’t live without checking my social media feeds.

In fact, I went as far as upgrading my Spectrum internet speed for the reason. Because I have a lot of smart devices at home, I had to ensure my content uploading didn’t suffer. Uploading videos can take a lot of data, especially on YouTube.

Social Media For Business

One undeniable fact is that social media has great advantages for businesses. Especially smaller businesses. Since social media is so direct it allows businesses to reach more customers personally. Which is something big businesses still have a hard time doing. Some specialists believe that social media has more to offer small businesses than larger ones.

Why? Because as a small business you don’t have to worry about millions of customers. So you can connect with them easily. And growing your business is easier as well. As compared to larger companies. Additionally, as a smaller business, you can adopt dynamic trends quickly. So you can change your strategies earlier and therefore achieve greater success.

8 Ways Social Media Can Help Your Business Grow

One thing to remember with social media is to always be working on a plan. More often than not, companies will be on social media without any specific strategy in place. That can be counterproductive. But with a good strategy in place, here is how social media can benefit small businesses:

• Boost Your Lead Generation
• Get Higher Rankings
• Direct Traffic to Your Website
• Stalk Your Competition
• Create a Brand Image
• Instill Customer Loyalty
• Increase Your Authority
• Convert More Leads

#1. Boost Your Lead Generation

Most businesses are on social media to increase their leads. In 2017, according to the market report, 65 percent of businesses had a social media presence for this reason. The number has grown since then. But did you know that not only can social media increase your leads, it can also increase the quality?

Gated content is a great way for you to increase your lead generation as well as the quality of leads. In essence, gated content means that you are giving something to your customers for free. But it’s not exactly free. Since you’re also asking them to fill out a form with their contact information.

Usually, truly interested people will take the time to fill the form. Those who are just browsing, or aren’t really interested (low-quality leads) will move on.

#2. Get Higher Rankings

Did you know social media presence is a great way to increase your search engine rankings? Being active on social media and enjoying higher followers is great for your rankings. Search engine algorithms also factor in your social media profiles.

So just by improving your social media strategies, you can effectively optimize for search engines. That means when someone searches online for something related to your product or service, your age will come up.

#3. Direct Traffic To Your Website

Another way social media can help your business grow is by directing traffic to your company website. Social media has billions of users worldwide. And most of them use the platforms daily. You can use that opportunity to invite more people to your website. That can lead to higher rankings on search engines as well as the obvious growth in your business.

#4. Stalk Your Competition

In a competitive environment, it is important to keep track of what the others are doing. Social media makes it much easier for you to track what others are doing. You can learn from their mistakes as well as successes. And tweak your strategies for better success rates.

#5. Create A Brand Image

Creating your brand image is much easier with social media. Not only is it cheaper than traditional marketing strategies. But social media is also dynamic. So you can easily change strategies if something isn’t working. Unlike traditional marketing strategies, which can cost a fortune to change if they aren’t received well.

#6. Instill Customer Loyalty

Social media allows customers to connect with your business easily. What that sort of connection does is create trust between the customer and your business. Which, in turn, increases your brand loyalty. So maintaining good relations with your customers on social media is important.

#7. Increase Your Authority

Your social media content can help you increase your authority. What that means is if you post really good content then your followers start seeing you as an authority in your field. Obviously, your content should relate to your field of business.

#8. Convert More Leads

Not only can social media increase your lead generation, but it can also help with converting those leads. With the right promotions, discounts, and contests, you can convert more leads into customers.

Conclusion

One thing to always remember when working on your social media content strategy is to keep things interesting. Many times companies keep posting content that directly relates to their business and nothing else. While browsing, I chanced upon the Paramount Network on Spectrum TV. They have the same issue. Your content needs to attract attention. An important rule to remember is that your content should appeal to your audience. But it shouldn’t necessarily be about your company directly.