Social Media: it’s Not Just About Being Social
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
The Importance of Social Media for Businesses
This morning on the way to work, I was slapped on the back by Facebook, hit over the head with Twitter, and nagged at by Pinterest. But I am here to tell you that these debatably over-saturated platforms are crucial to your brand recognition, customer relations, and loyalty building. While I had to turn down the social media noise this morning, if I ever did need to ask Apple a question, yell at Adidas, or give praise to Nordstrom, I would do it through social media.
We are knee-deep in the digitization of education, healthcare, and ongoing innovation within brand management via social media networks. Any business, large or small, or person, free-lancer or hobbyist, must perpetually strive to understand how to reach their target audiences via information and communications technology (ICTs). Now that we are seeing universities, healthcare, human networking, etc., live online, it is necessary that we learn how to engage effectively with our consumers and track their trends.
If you are interested in fostering growth and increasing sales then you have to join the discussion, and that discussion is happening on social media platforms. No longer do we build products to tell our consumers they want; we create what the consumers are demanding, which is found and monitored on social media. You cannot be relevant if you are not searchable online.
At a bare minimum, go, right now, and make sure that you have a LinkedIn page, a Google My Business (for analytics and search results purposes) and a Facebook page. If you have the time, wherewithal, and resources, then launch that Twitter account while you’re at it. I want to stress that once you open a profile and it remains idle, it becomes a liability. We’ve talked about the importance of a company’s voice before, and on social media, remaining original and consistent tells your consumers you are relevant and that you care about what they have to say. I also encourage every business to grab their social accounts, even if you don’t plan to use them right away. Doing so secures your intellectual property and even if the page is kept private, at least you have the account for later.
Create a dialogue with your consumers; you’d be amazed what you’ll hear.
