Before the internet, businesses had relied on door-to-door interaction and marketing in order to engage with the public.
Since then, technology has ruled our inbound marketing methods, evolving so to enable us to create motion pictures, opening up new paths in TV and radio and then developing further to allow direct mail, print marketing, telemarketing, print advertising, trade shows and email blasts. There’s no doubt that these practices have proven to be successful, however, there are a select few of consumers that consider these approaches as intrusive.
Introducing: social media!
The internet-based inbound marketing approach that was sure to take the world wide web by storm. Social media is particularly helpful for smaller business that want to get their presence noticed online.
A statistic shows that 62% of adults across the globe use and interact with some form of social media network on a computer, smartphone, tablet, game console, e-readers etc.
Here are some other statistics to consider:
– Every month, Facebook sees one billion active users
– Each month, Twitter is used by 500,000 people
– Each day, Google’s +1 button is used over 2 billion times
– Every hour, roughly 5 million photos are uploaded to Instagram
– Every hour, approximately 3,600 hours of are uploaded to YouTube
Initially, social media was a platform for family, friends and acquaintances to interact, however, every day, social media platforms are increasingly used in the benefit of business, providing them with social media presence.
In present times, businesses are incredibly active on social media. Paired with the amount of people that actively join social communities online, it can seem problematic for smaller businesses to defend a stance against joining the social media movement.
We are aware that social media has altered the way we communicate, thus developing into an essential tool small businesses.
Digital producer with The Program, Hannah Twig explained how important social media for small businesses is, “Social media allows small businesses to have a direct communication with their customers, with the potential to transform the business into a virtual sales team.
“When it comes to recommendations for products and services, people trust other people they know far more than any sophisticated marketing campaign. The more ‘fans’ you create, the more ‘likes’ you motivate and ‘shares’ you inspire. As others in your customers’ circles observe what their friends and relatives promote, they will follow suit.”
It goes to show that small businesses are able to implement social media strategies to engage with existing and potential prospects all the while sharing information about their products and services.
Customers, in today’s world, will research purchases online and pursue recommendations thus why it is favourable for small businesses to possess a lively, interactive social media presence!
If you require further information about managing social media and how we can help, please contact us on 0121 638 0457.
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