Can social networking make online business a market leader?
Will posting on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube help to improve search engine rankings? Well, the short answer is no.
The social media is not some form of magic bullet: it won’t transform ailing businesses.
So you may wonder what the point is, and be asking yourself why should my business bother to embrace the whole concept of social media marketing? Well, the answer to that question is simply this: social media marketing will help to improve your business by giving you the ability to listen, react, build your brand and make your overall business strategy more effective. Here’s how:
It pays to be seen.
By engaging in social media and blogging on a regular basis, your business will be constantly visible to your audience. If you join in conversations within your community and share your thoughts, ideas and expertise, you are effectively making your business and your brand an essential part of this community. If your business wants to get a foothold in any sort of niche market, then visibility is crucial.
Share your expertise
Why should you go to the bother of sharing information, and putting in hours of work when you can’t necessarily see any concrete results? Well, because you’ll be making your website a resource which users will want to visit. Providing useful and germane information is crucial important on social media channels. If you develop a reputation as the go-to guy in your particular niche market, visitors will come back to you time and time again. They’ll return because you’re seen as an expert in your field, and they know that others trust what you have to say.
Social media involvement helps to build a community.
By reaching out to customers and sharing information, you help to strengthen your community. What’s more important is that you also strengthen your position within that community. You’ll also form new connections, and facilitate other community members meeting one another. This will create a deeper and more meaningful dialogue as the number of voices increases.
Social media can help to increase the speed of conversion rates.
Statistics clearly demonstrate that potential purchasers who come to a website through social media referrals tend to buy faster than those referred to websites through search engine referrals. Why is this? It’s because users already know you and are aware of your reputation. They’ve no doubt already read your blog, or followed you on Twitter and Facebook, so they know exactly what you’re about. More importantly they already know they can trust you: so half the work is already done.
Social media posting can highlight your product.
Social media marketing gives businesses an additional channel to show off and talk about their products in a friendly and informal way. It lets businesses talk about their products normally, without resorting to the hard-sell or promotional approach. It also helps them interact with their visitors by answering any questions they might have, and allows them to demonstrate just what makes their product so special and different than everyone else’s.
Social media marketing can help to find new projects & clients.
Businesses will receive new client referrals and leads as a result of a social media presence. People will contact them for services or to partner on something because they like what they’ve seen on Twitter or because they read one of the blog posts and it struck a chord with them. A business that makes itself part of the conversation, also makes its brand part of the story too. People notice these things.
The social media lets your business hang with other influencers.
The company you keep on social media can be beneficial because if you’re associated with other businesses that are seen as niche leaders and true authorities, customers will treat you with the same sort of respect. Call it credit by association if you’d prefer: your authority becomes synonymous with their authority.
The social media will let you tell your company’s story.
People like to do business with companies they know, or at least think they know. They like being introduced to the voices behind the logo because it helps them to feel a part of the company and gives them an investment in its success. If you tell your company’s story and share that with users, you’re creating a personal experience and other users will want to join you on the journey.
The social media will help you network faster and more effectively.
Social networks like Twitter and Facebook give every business networking opportunities. You can have a conversation with colleagues and business partners in a matter of moments and exchange ideas and thoughts. You can’t really buy that type of access elsewhere. The beauty of platforms like Twitter is that you don’t have to buy it – it’s free.
The social media can help your business develop better ideas.
The beauty of the social media is that is gives businesses the opportunity to try out new ideas on their audiences, without having to develop them fully. You can use questions, blogs, forums and discussions to try to get feedback on ideas you might have for potential products and services. Listen to what your community is telling you. See what works and, more importantly, what people absolutely detest and learn from this. When you’ve discovered what people really want, give them more.
