If social media were to ever attain the status of a nation, it would probably be among the world’s largest. From having a user base of nearly 1.6 billion in 2012, social media is today estimated to host 3.2 billion people globally. And this is across a growing gamut of platforms. Nearly 42% of the world’s population today use social media. This staggeringly successful reach proves, its significance in marketing strategy and corporate communication.

Making social media an indispensable tool for businesses. With a growing trend of brands striving towards becoming more human, businesses are increasingly turning to social media to help stand out of the clutter as well as blend in with their consumers’ needs. So, what really makes every heart, thumbs up and retweet so powerful today? We look at why social media is important for your business, no matter how big, small, young or old it is.

 A For Awareness

Awareness is the crux of any offline or online marketing strategy. Social media is no different when it comes to creating awareness about people, events, businesses and the like. A lion’s share of social media platforms is built within an algorithm of shareability and virality. These are terms every quintessential digital marketer swears by. Be it a business Facebook page or a YouTube video about an event undertaken by your business. Creating awareness is the inevitable goal. Additionally, the different levels of networks prevalent within, and across, social media platforms are easily accessible for new businesses. Businesses who have just taken baby steps in the digital inter-web. Kickstarting and sustaining awareness about your business are effective brand-building exercises, laden with tremendous ROI. A business like Red Bull relies heavily and successfully on social media. Building its brand through a potpourri of online awareness content and activities across platforms.

Loyally Yours

If customer is king, customer loyalty is certainly his crown. Building customer loyalty for your business can be quite time-consuming in general. It is here where social media can catalyze the process significantly. A social media plan for your business gives your target audience a direct point of contact for FAQs and service queries. A sure way to guarantee customer satisfaction. Utilizing this pre-existing interaction and engagement can build long-term loyalty. This works in a combination of push and pull wherein, creating tailormade content for both your pre-existing and potential customer base, can both disseminate information and pull in more audience. A recent study from USA revealed that 62% of the ‘millennial’ generation of online users exhibit loyalty towards brands which they interact with on social media. In a nutshell, customer loyalty is a guarantee for any business with a social media strategy in place.

Conversation Over Communication

Up until the 21st century, businesses mostly relied on print, TV and radio for its overall marketing and communication strategy. Many iconic adverts and case studies testifying its success. However, the nature of traditional media restricted it to one-way communication with its target audience. Meaning almost zero interaction. The advent of social media taught marketers the power of conversations. While social media remains to be cursed for having curtailed real-life interpersonal conversations among the public, platforms like Facebook and Twitter have brought people closer among themselves as well as towards brands they like. In other words, social media is responsible for humanizing business brands. Making them both more relatable and approachable.

For a business, this kind of conversation is essential in its day-to-day activities as well as crisis and reputation management. This serves as a portal to gleaning a great deal of customer insights. Additionally, it will create and sustain your business’ brand personality among its target audience. Ultimately, maintaining a good social media conversation is your best bet in enhancing overall customer service of the business. Global stalwarts like Coca Cola still rely on social media conversations for data mining as well as overall reach.

Conversion & Measurement

Building credibility for your brand is yet another virtue of social media strategy. This credibility coupled with exposure can ensure that every post, tweet, video, picture or upload on social media opens up many avenues for conversion. Influencer campaigns with popular social media accounts are also a useful method in achieving this. As a result, your business enjoys tremendous exposure and reach within and beyond its customer base. This is best reflected in a spike in website traffic. Search Engine Optimization deserves an honorary mention here. Simply because social media presence catapults your business right up among rankings on Google. Measurability of social media via analytics of its reach and impressions, makes it the perfect tool for ROI benchmarking and assessment. Here again, your business is ensured a long-term strategy for the future, courtesy social media.

Redefining Cost-Effectiveness

We saved the best for the last. Needless to mention, signing up on popular social media platforms is (nearly) free of cost for anyone. This probably explains the continual exponential growth in user base of these platforms, it should also serve as an impetus for businesses to hop on board. The cost-effectiveness of social media makes it an almost impulsive choice of advertising strategy for any 21st century marketer. Especially compared to exorbitant kinds of traditional advertising. Paid promotions and targeting on social media are still well within a business’ budget due to its affordability and remarkable ROI. Simply put, invest humbly on social media to reap unprecedented returns for your business on a long-term basis.

The world truly is your business’ oyster on social media with the latter’s dynamic growth opening up newer avenues every day. Along with building a brand and reaching your annual objectives, social media makes any business truly wholesome. Due to unparalleled popularity, ease-of-use and accessibility. So go ahead, join the bandwagon and watch your business receive all the hearts, thumbs up and likes it deserves.

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