Social Media is Underutilized
Social media has not been around as long as most people think. The real start of social media beginning to be used by the masses was Facebook.
Facebook only founded 16 years ago, has 2 billion users, almost a quarter of the entire world’s population. Instagram founded only 10 years ago, has 1 billion users. These are large numbers, but the time they have been around is short.
Another uniquely helpful statistic is that only 37% of US adults from the ages of 18-65+ are on Instagram. And of those 37% a fraction actually properly utilizes Instagram to build their business and monetize.
So, what does this mean for you? OPPORTUNITY. Year after year these social media giants grow and more users join the platform. In this time, while it is still being underutilized, is the best time to strategize, build, and grow to monetize leveraging the platform.
Social media is a fantastic place to share photos of trips, dinners with friends and family, or really anything you like or interested in for your followers and potentially the world to see.
However, there is still the perception of many that social media isn’t necessary for businesses. This is where those that think that are wrong! Social media is another “media” outlet, basically meaning you have the opportunity to showcase your product or service to people.
The great thing about social media as a “media” outlet is its lower cost to entry relative to other media outlets used by businesses.
Social media when used correctly for business can scale your business, build brand awareness and credibility, and generate you leads and sales. You have the ability to connect to millions of people with just a few clicks of a button through a post, direct message, story, or comment.
It is an active marketplace where each and everyday people make decisions whether or not to buy a service or product based off what they see on social media.
When you shift your mindset of seeing social media as just a “social” media outlet and accept the fact that it is a media outlet that can be leveraged to grow your business, is when you start to see the true power of social media.
Nothing else in the world gives you the ability to connect with people all around the world that may be interested in what you offer for such a low cost of entry, and would have never known about it if not for social media.
It is simple to go and make social media profiles and say “Hey look I have my business on social media!”. But to yield a return and build a brand takes much more than that. It begins with a proper strategy and as with having a strategy for anything you do; execution is a MUST. Part of the strategy is creating content, networking, engaging, consistent, providing value, and getting attention.
There is no arguing that social media is the new outlet to get your business seen by more people, but there are still businesses out there that don’t believe they need it.
We have heard time and time again from so many businesses and entrepreneurs that social media doesn’t work for their business. When all they have done is create content and manage their accounts themselves. Of course, it didn’t generate a return because they’re not proficient in social media. They know their industry well, but it doesn’t mean they know the proper strategy to implement on social media to build a brand and generate a return.
Just as giving LeBron James a basketball, he can create millions, but give you or I a basketball and all we have is a basketball. Same thing goes for social media, just because it didn’t work well for you when you were trying to do it, doesn’t mean it can’t generate you a return if done properly by people who know what they’re doing.
Change your mindset towards social media, invest time and money into it with the proper strategy and you will begin to see change within your business.