Why Should You Use Social Media?

Why Should Your Business Use Social Media?

With the social media craze all around us, there is no escaping it. Businesses now need to join the conversation and get on-board with the power of online word-of-mouth-marketing that social media provides.

While social media is not the only marketing medium, it can certainly open channels that will provide you insight on building a more efficient company, no matter what size your business.

Before jumping in, however, it's important to note that you PLAN YOUR STRATEGY before you execute.

There are many reasons to use social media for business, here are an important few:

• Building Brand – social media offers the opportunity to get your brand out there to people that are spreading the word and sharing.
  
• Public Relations – leveraging brand with public relations through social media can also be a great compliment to a company’s SEO efforts
  
• Building Community – being transparent earns more trust. Learn more about your customers, get feedback and share value to not only build community, but strengthen it.
  
• Visibility – being out there, whether you are blogging or participating in LinkedIn group conversations, social media not only puts you out in front of your audience, but helps you learn more about your audience.
  
• Networking – this is a no-brainer, but having a zillion followers on Twitter is not what I’m talking about! Genuinely connecting and sharing value with your community is a more powerful form of networking.
  
• Generating Buzz – social media is a great way to “light a fire” on something new. But don’t overdo it so that you turn off your followers or network of peeps. Make it worthy of sharing and spreading the word.

An additional benefit to using social marketing and adding it to your company’s marketing efforts is the many SEO benefits – from optimizing your campaigns to generating external links. So giddy-up and start creating your unique business strategy for social marketing!