Importance of Social Media for Every Business

September 4, 2017

If you are trying to reserve a hotel room online and you have 5 options with similar prices and facilities then which one would you choose – a hotel with 100 good reviews and a rating of 4.5 stars or a hotel with high quality images of their beautiful rooms but lower customer ratings? I would blindly choose the first one. Therefore, free customer reviews are more valuable than expensive colorful advertisements. On the other hand, if people can’t find your business online then your business is limited to local and known customers only. It’s social media that can make your business global and stand out from the huge crowd of your competitors.

Does your business has a website? Is your business present on social sites (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Foursquare, Yelp, Google+ etc)? Are your websites and pages frequently updated? Your answer should definitely be YES. Social Media Examiner’s 2013 Report has cited that companies using social media for three or more years improved search rankings, created more partnerships, generated new ideas, increased traffic, provided marketplace insight, and reduced marketing expenses which eventually increased profits. Social media also reflects real corporate images of businesses. It also increases the visibility and sales of businesses products. Beside this you can also see the real image of your products in the customer’s eyes. Feed backs are always important; it helps to motivate a business as well as helps to improve your products. They can also keep you updated about new trends followed by your customers and you can center your work according to market trends. Similarly, your business can directly be linked with your customers.

If your answer is NO then you must still be following the four P’s of marketing: Product, Place, Price and Promotion then you need to step back and think about new ways of making your business more successful. Everyone advertises their products as one of the best in the market but saying that doesn’t increase their sales. Its the customer satisfaction reflected on the businesses product reviews that increases sales. One survey shows that around  93% of Shopper’s Buying decisions are influenced by social media whereas only 14%  trust advertisements. These stats change each and everyday so just imagine where the world is heading in terms of social media and digital marketing. Erik Qualman, Professor of Digital Marketing at Hult International Business School, says “We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the choice is how well we do it “. Now you should focus and think about new ways of marketing i.e Digital marketing. Just think where your business stands in terms of social media and how well it’s done? Does your business still follow the traditional marketing strategies or have you already adopted new and successful ways of social marketing?

If not don’t you think now it’s the time to invest in social media?

Written By : Prabidh Sharma