Why Social Media Marketing Is Important For SMEs?

Still unsure about leveraging social media like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for your business? Doubting the necessity of getting a VA to handle that stuff? Then you’re missing out, because these mediums are crucial “force multipliers” for startups competing with big companies. Social media marketing levels the playing field, so to speak. It is an SMEs best friend and you cannot neglect it. Here, we’ll convince you by laying out the facts about social media marketing:

Reaching Audiences

“Kids these days, always on their screens, no longer paying attention to what’s around them! Harrumph-harrumph!” cry the curmudgeons. Except this tendency isn’t just restricted to millennials, older generations, including our grandparents, are quite transfixed by their screens and social media savvy. Know what this means? It means they’re easier to reach with social media than ever! Face it, almost everyone uses these platforms to keep in touch with each other and stay updated on current trends – including the products of their favorite brands.

Bang for the Buck in Ads

Don’t have budget for thousands of brochures, flyers, banners or billboards? No problem! Social media ads are as effective as older traditional advertising, if not moreso, while being much more affordable. Especially since, as previously said, nowadays people are glued to their screens, or are too busy or on such tight budgets that they don’t travel as much. So, got a promo or a new product? Just post it on your pages and watch your customers share it with each other!

Convenience

Online platforms – including social media – allow people to look up information, order and have items delivered just with a few taps of the screen. It’s so much more convenient than going to the store, or even giving a call. On a business owner’s end, it’s also so much easier to update your social media pages or post news.

Word of Mouth and Customer Interaction

What do you do when you are unsure about a movie you might watch? You look up Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic to get an impression from the reviews of professional critics and casual audiences. Similarly, customers will talk about the products and brands they like. Prospective customers will check out the reviews. Same goes for those with feedback, comments or complaints. So a social media presence will help cultivate your brand’s visibility and reputation. According to research from Sprout Social, customers are increasingly expecting companies to respond to them in social media: “In fact, we calculated that there has been a 21% increase in messages to brands globally, compared to an 18% increase in the US. Increasing message volumes—a trend that has been consistent throughout every iteration of The Sprout Social Index—proves social media continues to assert itself as a primary customer communication channel.” Nurturing a good relationship with your customers plays a crucial role in this, too. After all, a brand is more than just a logo or a company, it’s an identity, and this is most effective when it interacts with customers and audiences. People like it when a company responds promptly to their reviews, thanking positive comments and acknowledging complaints while promising to do resolve issues. And this creates brand loyalty. You can even kick it up a notch by holding contests, polls and asking questions, getting your customer base even more involved and interactive. Your brand becomes less of a distant corporation and more like a friend who is pleasant to have around.

Selfies, Likes and Shares

Seems trivial? But it’s not. Selfies with your products are not only seals of approval, it’s also your customer doing your advertisement for you. It’s the same thing if they like or share your posts, since others will see this and get interested. Can an old-fashioned banner or brochure do that? No, but someone simply sharing a picture of a steak or frappuccino can get people’s mouths watering. Magic!

The Science is In

Social media marketing is so effective that according to Harvard Business Review, companies can: “enhance their profit payoffs by at least 8% simply by posting content following the biological responses of their audience’s sleep-wake cycles and targeting content types to when the audience is most naturally receptive to it.” So you can significantly boost profits by simply aligning your posting schedule with the time your audience’s most awake.

Social Media Marketing is the Smart Thing to Do

This combination of effectiveness, convenience and affordability is why social media marketing is truly indispensable for SMEs. If “working smarter, not harder” is the name of the game, then leveraging social media is a game-changer for businesses that have underestimated its utility. Like hiring a Virtual Assistant, this saves so much time, energy, effort and funds, as a startup can level the playing field visibility-wise with just a few clicks! -John Li