8 REASONS WHY YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD TAKE SOCIAL MEDIA SERIOUSLY No matter how anyone tried to deny it in the past, the importance of using social media for business is glaring. Social media

has become an increasingly important tool for individuals and businesses to be seen by more people, and on a larger scale. Social media marketing is a preferred form of marketing by many

businesses because it is cheaper than traditional marketing (television, radio, billboards, newspapers, etc.) and can be cheaper than other digital marketing platforms. I’ll be telling you

why social media is important for your business, how its unique characteristics are being manipulated by businesses and how you can control it in your own interest too. However, don’t follow

many other objectives can roll in. You can only truly begin to meet other objectives when people are aware of your brand and what it offers. Every chance you get to increase your visibility

should not be taken lightly. According to Growth Gurus, 78 % of small businesses use social media to attract new customers. 33% of customers have identified social media as how they identify

new brands’ products and services. Use of social media marketing increases the amount of people who are conscious of your brand. 2. ACHIEVE GOALS AT A CHEAPER COST: Social media is an

important platform for meeting marketing objectives of an organization among many others. However, when you use social media marketing, what you stand to gain is that such objectives are

achieved at a cheaper cost as compared to other offline and digital platforms. This is by both using organic results and paid advertising on social media. Social media adverts are cheap

considering what your brand stands to gain. Also, your adverts can be targeted at the exact audience your brand wishes to reach. This means your adverts are not found everywhere in “hopes”

that they will reach the desired audience while it tells on your pocket. Rather you can tailor your message to meet your specific audience based on geographical factors, demographic factors,

psychographic factors, etc. 3. LEAD CONVERSION: Once social media is used well, every post should provide an opportunity for prospects to convert. These posts usually have a call-to-action

that are directed to present customers, former customers and prospective customers to perform an action in favour of the brand. Such could be purchasing a product, subscribing to a service,

entering for a promo, etc. 4. BUILD A LOYAL COMMUNITY: Many social media platforms capitalise on having a loyal set of followers. Social media aids conversation and engagement and this makes

customers feel closer to the brand. They get richer customer experience and a long lasting relationship can be built and nourished. A loyal community is important because they keep coming

back to purchase from a brand. They also tend to support the brand in times of conflict. 5. INCREASED INBOUND TRAFFIC: Inbound traffic involves using content creation and content marketing

to convert prospects into consumers. Social media profiles are linked to a brand’s website. New posts are an opportunity for inbound marketing to take place. With more traffic from these

social media sites, brands are able to maximise the opportunity and get free marketing. 6. IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK AND FASTER RESPONSE: Social media is key because your brand can open customer

support pages where customers can give feedback or complain about their experiences while using your product or service. This gives your brand an opportunity to instantly fix issues that

affect your customers while gathering information that can help you modify your product or service to better suit their needs. This gives your audience a richer customer experience. 7.

INSIGHT AND ANALYSIS: Social media networks involve communicating with real people. These people have particular lifestyles, habits and routines that can be tracked on social media. This can

help your brand to understand your customers, their desires and their interests. Through social listening, your brand can be able to tailor the content you push to best suit a majority of

the customers. This invariably leads you to make smarter business decisions. 8. INCREASED WEBSITE TRAFFIC AND HIGH SEARCH ENGINE RANKING: As earlier stated, posts on social media usually

have a call-to-action. One of these could be directing people to your brand’s website. This increases the amount of people going to your website. This traffic and more social media shares

can help put your webpage earlier among search engine results. Social media provides immeasurable opportunities to help a brand grow and develop to meet its business objectives. Numbers and

statistics help people make decisions. So be informed that according to Hubspot, 92% of marketers in 2014 claimed that social media marketing was important for their business, with 80%

indicating their efforts increased traffic to their websites. And according to Social Media Examiner, 97% of marketers are currently participating in social media. Social media will help

build your brand. Don’t sleep on it! ………. Written By Precious Adeyemi is the Brand Storyteller and Content Creation Strategist of Fireworks.