The Benefits of Social Media in Business

The rise of social media has drastically impacted the way that people conduct online marketing. In just a few short years, businesses big and small have begun engaging in social media. For businesses that have not yet taken advantage of this truly incredible channel, now is the time to do so. It’s extremely cost effective, easy-to-use, and can make a company visible to hundreds of millions of potential customers that are already seeking the same or similar products or services.

Benefits of Social Media for Business
More than a billion users are waiting. Social media has exploded in popularity worldwide. Roughly 14% of people on Earth use Facebook. Check out these stats:
Facebook: more than 800 million members
YouTube: 800 million unique users a month
Twitter: more than 400 million unique users a month
LinkedIn: 150 million users
Google+: 100 million users
Pinterest: 10 million users

Social media is free. That’s right. Social media is entirely free to use. For basic platforms, the only direct cost is in human capital, the amount of time that a company is willing to invest to engage in these platforms.

Customers are waiting. While the majority of social media users were at one time young adults and teenagers, today nearly half of Facebook’s user base is over 45 years old. Whatever your target market, it’s on social media.

There are social networks for everyone. The demographics of social users change from network to network. Pinterest has an overwhelmingly female demographic, while Google+ holds the cards for technologically savvy young adults. LinkedIn hosts professionals looking to connect in business. And Facebook, well … everyone and their grandma is on Facebook.

The competition is already there. Even if your business isn’t active in social media, the competition is almost certainly enjoying its benefits.

A company’s trustworthiness and goodwill is increased. When companies are able to have conversations with their customers in real time, credibility is the result.

Lead generation. More than ever, customers are using social media to inquire about products and services before buying. Making social media marketing a part of your campaigns will help to generate targeted leads.

Powerful referral traffic. Social media outlets can help improve the amount of hits your site receives, making you less dependent on search engines.

Increase your return over investment. Social media outlets allow you to promote your products through various channels; this process will be able to help you in increasing your conversion rate and benefit from a desirable ROI.

Discover your customers’ preferences. Reacting based on customer wants is critical to any business. By knowing their preferences, it will be much easier for you to enhance all of your products and plan your marketing campaigns more effectively.