The Value of Social Media for Small Businesses

Many small businesses and start-ups make the mistake of thinking that social media is only valuable marketing for large companies and corporations, but this could not be further from the truth.

One of the most valuable aspects of utilizing social media to advertise for your small business is that it is free. If you cannot afford professional help such as a social media manager, you can easily devote some of your own time to building your brand’s social media presence. With social media, your small business has the opportunity to create a community with your present and future customers

Creating Brand Awareness

The age of advertising on traditional media platforms is out, and social media is in. There are many advantages to advertising on social media rather than on TV, radio, and in magazines, and most of this is about the opportunity for reaching audiences you couldn’t otherwise. Social media is much quicker and allows people from all over the world to become acquainted with your brand.

Even if someone is not in your area, they may follow your page in hopes that you’ll soon be able to provide your services to them. Interactions like these on social media increase the relevance of your brand and improve your chances of connecting with more people. It also gives you complete control over the information you can share with your customers and creates opportunities for more direct communication.

There are a lot of social media platforms, from Facebook to Tik Tok, and these sites offer different kinds of audiences as well as means of creating. Opening an account on every site possible may be a misuse of your time, instead, do research into what kinds of active users exist on each site.

Your target audience may be the majority on one platform, and not at all on another. You should also keep in mind what kind of content would be the best way to display your brand and products. Using social media smartly will allow you to grow your brand’s awareness without wasting your time posting on sites that aren’t going to be very helpful.

It is Cost Effective

Especially when you are first starting out with your small business or start-up it can be difficult to fund a marketing campaign. Lots of small businesses begin as a hobby or something on the side of another job that you have. Other times, it is started as a big leap, and you’ve already invested a lot of your money into the business. If you cannot find it in your budget to pay a marketing agency or social media manager, building an online presence for your business can absolutely be done on your own.

Use the resources you do have at your disposal. The internet is a great place to learn about techniques for building your brand using social media. You can also ask your younger friends and relatives who have a better understanding of how social media works. If you know someone who uses social media to advertise their brand, ask them for tips and tricks before getting started.

With social media, there are also options for paid advertising, which is when you would have individuals who already have a platform recommend your brand or products to their followers. While this is not free, it can be a less expensive method than others, and it is relatively effective in encouraging people to visit your website and purchase your products.

Increased Traffic to Your Website

Social media is a great way to encourage people to visit your website. You can easily add your website link to the bio of any social media account you choose to open. This way, increased traffic to your social media will bring more people to your website.  If you are selling products or services via a website, this can quickly correlate into an increase in sales.

Boosting your website is not as easy as boosting a social media page. There are many quick tactics like hashtags and outreach that you can use to gain more followers. You can also use social media to bring your website to the customer, by engaging in similar businesses and potential customers.

Getting your website to rank well on google so that people can easily find your business can be difficult, and often requires the help of a marketing agency. However social media is an alternative option for boosting the relevance of your website on google without having to pay.

Of course, social media is not a 100% reliable method for increasing your website’s traffic, and it often requires a bit of research. If you do have room in your budget and would prefer more professional help, social media management is a growing job market. A social media manager understands the ins and outs of increasing engagement on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik Tok.

If you cannot afford to hire someone but feel lost just thinking about putting your business on social media, there are thousands of articles and resources available online that can help you understand how it works in no time.

Roni Davis is a writer, blogger, and legal assistant operating out of the greater Philadelphia area. She writes for a criminal appeals lawyer in Pittsburgh.

Photo by Piotr Cichosz on Unsplash