Social media has become one of the most direct ways for small businesses to connect with clientele. Looking at the data provided by Investopedia, you might be surprised to find that over one billion users are active on Facebook and other social media websites each month. With such a large population of active users around the globe, it’s no surprise that social media can be an impactful marketing tool for small businesses. Here we’ll examine just how social media can benefit your business.

Gaining Website Traffic

Staying active on social media platforms like Instagram can help brand awareness and traffic to your site.

One of the key benefits of social media is increased website traffic. Your social accounts should all link back to your business’ main URL, so if you capture interested traffic on social media, they will naturally click through to your site. In addition to increasing exposure, social media traffic can also help your overall site rankings. Naturally, the higher you rank for various keywords, the more people will find your site and click through.

Forbes notes that by installing a tool such as Google Analytics, you can track where your site’s traffic is coming from. With this you will be able to see what social media sites work best for your company and which marketing tactics work to continue honing your social media campaign.

Honest Consumer Feedback

Social media presents the opportunity for you start a conversation between you and the consumer. Using social media as a catalyst, you can connect with potential customers to find out what they like or dislike about your brand. You can even request that followers to fill out surveys to get honest feedback. Compile the information to make better decisions about the future of your business.

Brand Awareness

A well-crafted social media plan can prompt the spread of brand awareness. Post a cute pic of a model wearing this fall’s new line, and the likes, retweets, regrams, etc. of your followers will likely prompt their friends to start following you too. CJG Digital Marketing notes that one of the key elements of boosting brand awareness is focusing your efforts on the right social media channel. Pick one that caters to the demographic you are trying to reach. For instance, if you are in the men’s razorblade business, you probably don’t want to focus your efforts on Instagram, where 68% of users are females.

Running Targeted Ads

One of the most important components of a successful social media campaign is determining the right platform(s) to best reach your intended audience.

You’ve likely come across an intriguing ad or two in your daily Instagram scrolling, and may have been interested enough to click through or research more on the brand. If you are surprised at how relevant Instagram, Facebook, and other ads are to you, you shouldn’t be. Advertising through these social media outlets allows companies lots of targeting options including user location, demographics, interests, actions, gender, and more. So if you’re 35 and married with children, your spouse is employed by the Army, you changed your location to Texas, and you recently joined a Facebook group called “Military Wives of Fort Hood”, it should come as no surprise if you start seeing ads for Apple Moving, Killeen movers, in your Facebook feed. For a business, social media ads just like this make lots of sense because according to Hootsuite, they are both affordable and effective.

Summary

Social media, when used properly, can be a great tool to make the most of your small business’ marketing budget. Developing and executing a digital marketing strategy can help increase your site’s traffic and develop a rapport with customers. To learn more current trends in social media for business checkout this useful article from SocialMedia Examiner. Here you can learn what social media websites are the most popular for advertising, how much time most small businesses use on social media, and more.