By: Eric Taylor
The days of wondering whether or not a business should implement social networking are over. The debate has long been decided, and it’s clear that every business, no matter its size, stands to benefit a lot from social networking.
This doesn’t mean you have to begin social marketing as a brand; it just means that taking advantage of social media is in your best interest. Below, you will read ten reasons why you should become a social brand.
9 Reasons Every Company Should Consider Going Social
1: The Size of the Audience
This is a point that cannot be made enough. Your potential audience in social media is enormous. There are billions of people using social networking sites, with Facebook having a billion by itself. These are staggering numbers that should impress any business.
2: The Ease of the Marketing
With all the social media optimization, data gathering, branding, and other aspects of social marketing, it may seem daunting on its face. However, marketing via sites like Facebook is easy to get the hang of. Not only is there a lot of literature out there to learn from, and plenty of examples by way of instructional video and explanatory infographics, but putting together ads and testing their effectiveness is a simple process.
3: The Comparative Costs
When you hear that social media offers low-cost advertising, a lot of brands don’t really understand just how inexpensive it can be. The actual ads are going to cost money, but practically every other aspect of your social networking will be completely free, only costing you some time.
4: The Learning Potential
Social media marketing offers businesses a great opportunity to learn as they go in terms of branding and reaching a large audience. A low-cost, relatively easy way to market, the process of trial and error is a lot kinder. Plus you’re learning about actual customer behavior.
5: The Market Share
If you’re not going to create a Facebook page and a social media presence, your competition will. And if you’re not staking your claim, you’re going to lose this market entirely. Brands should consider fighting for their share of the market via social media.
6: The Social Data
Data gleaned from social users can be a lot more helpful to your marketing efforts than you realize. Take an upcoming feature like Graph Search on Facebook for example. You can mine for data from any user, receiving information about their hobbies, likes, their network and activity, and any other detail they make public.
7: The Personal Networking
If you still don’t believe social media for business is a great idea for you, then perhaps you should consider the potential of having an entire network. A YouTube channel, a blog, a Digg page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn profile, your main website – all of this interwoven and helping to increase your brand’s presence while driving traffic.
8: The ads, the ads, the ads!
On a site like Facebook, you’re dealing with great ads. There’s no way to oversell it; the sponsored stories and promoted posts can reach as narrow of a target as you want, and even posts can turn into organic ads and cost you very little money. Then you have ad-management apps that work with Facebook to help you split campaigns and to easily manage ads and view your progress.
9: The Compatibility
Social media and business are simply just compatible. Everything that a business owner wants for his or her business—whether it’s more customers, more loyalty, more exposure, etc—can all be reached through proper social marketing.
If the reasons listed above aren’t enough of an incentive for your company to join in with the social media experience, then perhaps you should reconsider why it is you have a business in the first place. Not only can you reach a larger audience a lot easier, but your brand has the potential to become a recognizable name.
This is the type of exposure any business should strive for, and social media is a great way to make it happen.
Eric Taylor is a social media enthusiast who likes to share his views and ideas on the latest happenings in the field social media marketing. Eric works for Qwaya as a freelance writer and a business developer. The company also provides latest information, tools and up-to-date news about social media and Facebook marketing.
The RIC blog is designed as a showcase for entrepreneurs and innovation. Our guest bloggers provide a wealth of information based on their personal and professional experiences. Visit Altitude Accelerator for more information on how RIC can accelerate your ideas to market.
