Through the eyes of the “old school” business owner, social media is like the Bermuda Triangle, a loosely defined region where content disappears.

If you’re new to the space, I can understand why you may be afraid to cross that unchartered territory. After all, who knows what incidents could occur?

Social media can be scary, overwhelming and a bit mysterious. Yet, if you stick with it and make the effort to improve, you will see results.

Hey Business owner… before you click out and go back to your ways, social media is not just for the Coca Cola’s of the world. In fact, small businesses have garnered so much success from these platforms they don’t know how they lived without it. You could, in fact, take help from agencies like Reputation (https://reputation.com/products/social-suite/) who could build your social strategy and improve on your business visibility. To further validate my point I have compiled five reasons why your business should be on social media. (The hardest part about this list was limiting it to five).

1. Your future customer is online.

People don’t watch T.V, listen to the radio or read print like they use to. They are on their phones scrolling the newsfeed of Facebook, uploading photos to Instagram, and learning of breaking news in the form of 140 characters. They may even look at this site to see if they can get savings on a great data plan when they are looking for a new phone because they know they will use the internet on their phone every day.

In fact, 60% of Facebook’s 1.23 billion users go on the social media site every single day. That gives you at least 365 times to engage with your potential customers. 365 times to entertain, inspire, provide knowledge, engage in conversations and of course, sell your product or service.

2. Ubiquitous Reach:

What does waiting in line at Starbucks, sitting at a stoplight, and going to the bathroom all have in common? They are all opportunities to reach your audience.

How is this possible you ask?

The ubiquitous nature of our smart phones allows our customers to peruse on social media anytime and anywhere. In fact, 70% of social media visits occur on a mobile device.

Fact: as your customer is waiting in that long line at Starbucks, they are using Instagram for entertainment. This is your opportunity to reach that customer and get noticed.

3. Tell Your Story Like Never Before:

Do you sponsor a little league team, wake up at 6:30am every morning to watch the sunrise, buy from certain vendors to ensure your food is the highest quality? Do you run a perfectly safe, secure and productive office? Do you have a health and safety law poster on the wall which shows you are a trustworthy and responsible company that cares for their staff?

We want to know about it.

Your company has a personality and a story just like you and me. And when people can connect to that story, they are more likely to pay attention to what you are saying.

Social Media allows you to share your story like never before; every day is an opportunity to show what makes your company special.

Can you do that on television? Sure, but get ready to pay a pretty penny if you wish to tell your story every day.

4. It’s a Two-Way Street

One of the biggest opportunities in social media is not the ability to market yourself but rather, listen and engage with your customers. These mediums are a gold mine of feedback treasure.

As a company active on social media, you can answer questions, listen to positive and negative feedback as well as engage with potential customers in the area. This is one of the most exciting opportunities for businesses big and small as they learn and grow from the commentary of their fans. Posting interesting content can aid well in increasing your followers. It might be better if you hire a social media managing service that can build your audience. Also, do make sure they use a social media scheduling tool for agencies because such tools can ensure they properly plan and schedule the posts ahead of time.

5. Facebook will teach you how to Market.

Facebook is built to tell you if your advertising is bad. Let me explain how.

Selfishly Facebook created a platform where only entertaining, inspiring and overall great content will show up on your newsfeed. If the content within your newsfeed were pretty terrible, you wouldn’t spend hours scrolling through it. All the rest of the ‘blah’ content will die in a dark Internet hole. (Bermuda Triangle?)

Therefore when a company creates content that doesn’t get any traction (ie. Likes, Shares or Comments) you will know your marketing isn’t working. Instead of continuing this unsuccessful posting, it is time to step back and figure out what needs to be changed.

Social media is one of the only places that allow you to constantly tweak and improve your content and eventually see results.

This is the time to reach your audience like never before. I encourage you to learn, take risks and make mistakes as you enter the digital space. Your customers are online and its time for you to be too.

For a free social media assessment, contact me at Lyndsi@eLuminateMarketing.com