Why Businesses And Brands Need To Be Taking Advantage Of Social Media

It should come as no surprise that we are currently living in a digital era. Those who are not embracing being online—whether as a consumer, socially, as a business or as an employer—are rapidly becoming forgotten. The most-used aspect of this digital life has become social media. If you have a business and are not building your brand and marketing on social media, you are choosing to get left behind. Here are some of the main reasons why your business needs to be taking advantage of social media:

Your customers are probably there.

Not only are your customers more likely than not on social media despite your industry, but they are also using social media to make decisions online to buy. Not building a brand on social media is hindering your potential customers from being able to find you. Social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram are where people go to search for things and make decisions. Before eating at any restaurant, even I myself always check their Instagram first. If they don't have one, I immediately search for another restaurant that does.

Your competition is probably on there, too.

Living in 2022, it is more than likely that some of—if not most of—your competitors are online and utilizing social media, whether they be local competition, national competition or maybe even a mix of both. You not being on social media is only giving them more market share as you quickly get left behind in their dust and create a gap too far to catch up with.

Or maybe your competition is not on there, and that's a huge benefit for you.

If your business is focused on a local market and you see that your competition is still not on social media, this is an opportunity for you to take market share in your industry and local area online. You being the first in your industry in a localized area can help you pull ahead of your competitors and make it difficult for them to catch up.

It's an easy way to get seen by new people.

The most powerful aspect of social media is the ability to get discovered by people anywhere in the world—all at your fingertips! Social media is a way for any business to get seen by new people and possibly a lot of them at scale. Building a brand on social media is like having a sales team work for you 24/7/365. As your brand gets established online, new people will stumble upon it over time to learn about what you offer. Paired with paid ads on these platforms, you have the ability to hyper-target audiences—even as specific as zip codes, streets and interests.

It's a quick way to remind your 'warm' market.

As great as social media is for getting seen by new people, it should not be overlooked how important it is to take advantage of it to stay remembered by those who already know you. It is no one's job to wake up and remember what it is you do. Social media is a way for you to stay relevant to those who already know you by constantly reminding them of what you offer in case they or anyone they know may need what you offer at any given time.

It's a great way to create community.

Social media has become an amazing way to create a community whether on just one platform or multiple platforms. Social media gives you the ability to voice your brand message, deliver deeper insight into you and your mission and values, and give your customers and potential customers their own voice to coexist with yours.

A social media presence reinforces what you are building offline.

If you have a business, then you have done some type of marketing to grow it from where it once was. Every business has an offline and online brand (whether they like to think so or not). Some businesses have very strong offline brands, built up through years of business. Social media is an opportunity to reinforce and showcase the strong offline business in front of both a new audience and to those who already know you (but in a new way). Building a brand offline and online should go hand in hand, helping each other exponentially grow.

It builds opportunities for connection.

Social media is meant to be—you guessed it!—social. We have the opportunity to connect with others both locally and globally all through different social media platforms. There is no easier way than social media to create online connections that you can then take offline.

Social media is an amazing opportunity for all businesses of different industries and locations to take advantage of to grow their business. It may seem overwhelming to jump in at first, but the reward of doing so will outweigh the upfront discomfort. I myself am active on several social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. However, if you're just starting to build your online brand, it's okay to pick just one or two social media platforms. Once you build a presence on those platforms and grow your audiences on them, you can begin building on another platform and direct your existing community to connect with you on there. Then, rinse and repeat. This is the method I personally implemented to eventually get on so many platforms.