We are in the age of Amazon and Instacart. Bustling main streets are now quiet and run down. Brick-and-mortar small businesses are hard to open and even harder to keep open past the one-year mark. So why should social media be important to a small business when you can barely keep sales up?
With the dawn of the internet came big companies like Amazon and Facebook which have developed contactless purchasing options. And after the pandemic of 2020, most of the population prefers this over going out and shopping at different stores to get all their necessities. If you can buy it online, why take the energy to go out and buy it? Because of this new option, many small businesses are struggling to keep in business and keep sales up. If you have no social media presence, it makes it even harder for customers to find you and your shop.
So that leads us to the question at hand, why should social media be important to a small business in 2023? We could flip that and easily ask, why would social media NOT be important to any business in 2023? We’ve had social media for well over a decade and if you’re not on it already, it’s time to create a profile. Social media can be used as a great tool in so many ways and we are here to explain it to you!
Online Presence Equals Brand Awareness
For many businesses, foot traffic can be their only source of income and sales. But what if we told you that you’re limiting yourself? If you could build a strong online presence where someone from across the country could find and purchase your products, why wouldn’t you put yourself out there?
Social media isn’t just for those big accounts with thousands of followers. There are smaller niches in the market that you can build on and create a community with. You don’t need 500,000 followers to be successful. Creating an account that has great content can increase your brand awareness significantly and help others find you more easily.
Brand Awareness Equals Increased Site Traffic
With more followers and an increased reach, many companies have found a correlation between increased followers with increased site traffic. By providing a link to your website on your social media, followers can navigate easily to your website and peruse your products and services.
If you market correctly, even posting about certain products and services you offer can drive website traffic from people viewing that post. They are intrigued and look you up, navigate to your site, and look at your offerings.
Increased Site Traffic Equals Higher Conversion Rates
Once you up your website traffic, conversions are soon to follow. Now that you have more people perusing your products and services, you have a higher chance of selling those products or services. If you can get those people onto your site, they are more likely to purchase or even save for later.
If you can get them to this stage of the marketing funnel, you have almost won yourself a customer, all with the help of social media.
Customer Insights
Another benefit that many small businesses can overlook is the relationships you can build with your customers over the internet. Though you may never meet them face-to-face, you can build a great relationship with customers by being present and available to them online. Responding quickly to messages and comments, providing customer support and just the overall interactions you can have with customers can increase engagement and brand awareness.
You can also gain valuable customer insights with your online presence. You can post things like customer polls and surveys where you can gain insights on what they like and don’t like. Things you could do better on and things they really like about you. All things you can use in the future to gain more customers.
Stay Ahead of The Competition
If you aren’t listed online and your competition is, who do you think will gain more customers? If there was a search done and a customer couldn’t find your business but found your competition, it’s easier for them to make the decision between the two and your competition gets the sale.
If you build a strong online presence and can become a leader in your industry, customers can then find you online, and then they would have to make the decision between you and your competition. Without an online presence, they wouldn’t even have to debate it. Being seen is half the battle.
As you can see, you don’t have to rely solely on foot traffic to keep your small business afloat. If you’re looking for help with your social media, website, email marketing, or marketing plan, contact us. We can help you strategize and create a strong social media marketing plan to get you on your way to increasing brand awareness!
Sources
Business.com, “Why Small Businesses Need a Social Media Presence”, Sean Peek, September 21, 2022, https://www.business.com/articles/social-media-small-business-importance/, Accessed December 20, 2022
Forbes, “Why Small Businesses And Startups Should Invest In Social Media Marketing”, Tony M Fountain, January 25, 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/01/25/why-small-businesses-and-startups-should-invest-in-social-media-marketing/?sh=74beebf7563e, Accessed December 20, 2022
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