5 ways social media can help your business succeed

Social media has fundamentally reoriented not only how the world works, but also how people see the world. From the manner in which individuals obtain their news to maintaining regular contact with co-workers in another hemisphere, social media platforms play an enormous role in virtually every aspect of society.

As a business owner, your ability to effectively leverage these online resources can fuel your organisation's reach, allowing you to achieve the professional goals you want faster. Here are just a few of the ways that social media can help you find and create more business opportunities, regardless of your industry or specialty.

1. Advertise to more potential customers
If there is one thing that social media has plenty of, it's users. Take Facebook as an example. According to the most recent figures available from the social media empire, Facebook sees approximately 1.8 billion people log on to its website and apps each day. That's an incredible number, and doesn't include the hundreds of millions of people who are regular users of the many other social media outlets.

Australia is a major consumer of social media. As Hootsuite reported in one of its recent studies, nearly 80% of the population has active social media accounts — totaling more than 20 million — and in December 2020 alone, over 96% of 16- to 64-year-old citizens logged on at some point.

Translation: You get lots of eyeballs by advertising on social media. You can reach customers literally on the other side of the world by actively promoting your products and services on the platforms of your choice.

2. Allows you to hone in on your target market
If you just launched your business — or are considering changing your offerings — you may not yet have a read on what network(s) your target audience frequents. Of course, anyone is free to go on any of the social media platforms, but generally speaking, TikTok and Snapchat audiences tend to skew younger, while Facebook and Twitter are traditionally older.

Thus, depending on what you're selling and who you're appealing to, you can devote more of your time to that specific platform.

You're bound to find success no matter which you prefer. Nearly 35% of internet users in Australia between 16 and 64 use social media as a major resource to perform research on brands, Hootsuite found. This fact alone points to the power and influence social media plays in consumers' buying behaviour.  

3. Provides seamless interaction with inquisitive customers
What time does your store open? Do you have an online store to complement your brick and mortar location? What are your qualifications? How much lead time do you need for a customised request? These are just a handful of the questions that your customer may want to know about before visiting your website or pursuing your stores. And they expect to have their questions answered promptly.

Social media allows you to do that. When you set up your social media profile for your business, you may want to mention that you'll be happy to respond to any questions visitors may have; just be sure to come through on those assurances, ideally providing a timeline as to when they can expect a response.

4. Makes advertisements more effective
While social media users may log on to Facebook, Instagram and other platforms to see what their friends are up to or to read up on the latest happenings around the world, they're also there to shop, as evidenced by the previous statistic regarding brand research. One of the ways they do so is by clicking on advertisement banners. This is especially true in Australia. According to Hello Social, the typical social consumer in Australia clicks on approximately 21 ads in the average month on Facebook alone.

Not only that, but when people find out more information on products and services — often through advertisements — they also wind up buying more than 60% of the time, Hello Social found.

5. Makes it easier to offer discounts
Brand loyalty is essential to your business' success; people need to want to buy from you because they feel that it is in their best interest. You can increase retention by providing them with discounts on social media. More than 60% of respondents in the Hello Social study said discounts was what they most wanted from businesses they follow on social media, the most common response to this question. Second was giveaways (47%).

Succeeding in business requires a smart social media strategy, but at a more fundamental level, it also entails strategic planning. WMC Accounting is your go-to source for strategic planning and business advisory services. We'll help you establish your aspirations and what solutions will enable you to achieve those goals. Contact us today to learn more.