Social Media For Business

Recently I was chatting with a client who was against social media for her business. I asked why and she told me the following:

1. It’s too much work
2. I don’t want to have to always post photos and personal things
3. It’s unprofessional to have anything other than a LinkedIn page

I was happy to know that she at least saw value in LinkedIn. When she told me that she wanted more exposure at a low cost however, I had to let her in on some of the biggest bang you can get for your buck…which happens to be social media platforms.

With social media you can really leverage your products using your blog on your website just as I am right now. Showcasing your products (or knowledge) will prove to your buyers that they should choose your company over the next one. If your company mostly provides a “service” then you can still do this by using your blog to write articles that prove that you know what you are talking about. Simply sharing information about those services or tips to help your consumers will increase traffic to your site immediately. How you leverage those articles is through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

It’s important to note, that having a business social media page is different than just having an individual page on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Each of those platforms allow for different options when you sign up as a business which will inevitably help you attract more customers! For instance, on Instagram, if you have a business page rather than an individual user page, you are able to have a contact button to help with lead generation should a person that is following you want more information. You also can run ads once you have a business page on Instagram. With a Facebook business page you not only can run ads and have specific buttons, but you also can run coupon specials, staggered posts (this comes in handy if you have a limited amount of social media time, but a lot of posts you want to get out at once), and more. All of the business pages come with their own set of analytics (for those of you business owners that like to see a return on investment) and a lot of help menus to get you started.

Sure, there are a lot of ways to increase your following and engage your online audience with exciting material that gets more likes and feedback, but if you have NO presence, then you have NO chance of ever building your online footprint. If you are concerned that you may mess up, there are a ton of companies that will build your social media campaigns and it is relatively inexpensive.

Building an online presence will take time. Once you do have a look that is consistent with your website and other marketing collateral, I’m sure you’ll see the benefit that social media can provide for your business. There are plenty of case studies to prove this point and you can do your own research, but with so many users (1.86 billion Facebook users) on these platforms, it is a true mistake to not include this in your marketing arsenal packet.