Social media is becoming a more prevalent way to communicate and interact with those around you. With the increasing variety of social media platforms, that ability is only growing. There were 3.78 billion social media users as of 2021, which is a 5% increase from 2020 alone. Since COVID-19, people have been interacting even more on social media, and businesses have begun capitalizing on the available outreach opportunity social media interaction provides. In 2018 UMASS Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research did a study on social media usage by Fortune 500 companies. The study found that 97% of all Fortune 500 companies have at least one form of social media. Out of all social media platforms LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook were the most used with 97% of all Fortune 500 companies using LinkedIn, 91% using Twitter, and 89% using Facebook.
Social media has become the perfect place to advertise your business and connect with your customer base. Social media gives you the opportunity to spread your company’s story, purpose, and value. Your business can easily share news, products, advertisements, and any updates that your business wishes to share. When building a platform for your business on social media, connecting with your customer base is of the utmost importance. This connection can be the difference between someone just seeing your post on social media and actually purchasing your product. Customers want to feel valued and included, which is why it is paramount to use your social media to share promotions, foster communication, and make customers aware of any upcoming changes. Curating your social media content in a way that promotes interaction and evokes excitement from your public is the perfect way to bridge the gap to higher sales.
During this new age, consumers are being bombarded by constant information and advertisements. With this in mind, it is important that your brand is not just being seen by its priority audience on social media, but that it is actively interacting with that audience. Carefully crafting your business’ content with your target audience in mind is a good way to make sure your message is hitting the mark. This is a surefire way to improve your brand awareness.
Growing brand awareness not only helps to acquire new customers but can also lead to better job candidates coming your way. Social media can be a tool to connect you and your business with new opportunities and people that may be interested in joining or growing your business. Having an impressive social media presence can attract talent that might have otherwise passed you by. Brand awareness also raises credibility, which is extremely important to customers and potential partners who may have never heard of your brand before.
However, the most important use of social media is growing and directly connecting with your customer base. Social media interactions allow companies to gain candid feedback from their customer base and address concerns or comments. Businesses can interact with customers to build trust and build a community full of people who relate to and enjoy the business. Having an efficient social media team is imperative to attracting new customers and staying in touch with customers who have messaged you directly.
Direct messaging is an amazing tool to use when you want to build genuine connections with customers. Feedback from direct message interactions is invaluable to building credibility for your business. Direct messages on social media allow your business an easy platform to tackle customer complaints and feedback, answer questions, and receive praise from loyal customers. Responding to direct messages within a reasonable time fosters respect and loyalty from your audience. Fortunately, it is now easier than ever to build that trust through social media. With all of this in mind, it’s clear that harnessing the power of a social media and direct messaging management tool like JetStream Social can help small businesses grow and succeed in 2022 and beyond.