The Importance of Utilizing Social Media

With today’s technological advancements, facing social media is inevitable. Although there is many social media modules that assist businesses earn attention, Facebook and Twitter are two crucial social media platforms that are key to making a business prevail and overcome the challenge of customer awareness. Facebook and Twitter are changing the way that companies interact with their users and how they sponsor their business. These tools cost nothing, and are able to reach millions into their trade, which is why it is vital to use them to their full potential.

The dynamics of Facebook make it critical to be used by any business hoping to achieve popularity and any sort of recognition. This year Facebook reached its billionth user. With such an incredible user base number, numbers alone show how important it is to spread the word of any given business on one of the most prevalent social media sites. There are more than 4 million active company Fan Pages on Facebook, and more than 25 million people “fans” of these pages. Having a strong presence gives you the opportunity to communicate and have access to the one billion plus users. Word of mouth is very powerful in the marketing world and Facebook is the key to accessing this powerful marketing technique.

Because Facebook is one of the most significant platforms in the social media world, it is able to take brand awareness to the next step in so many applicable ways. For starters, Facebook allows a company’s logo to be exceptionally visible. Not only is a chosen image always available for company’s profile picture, but there is also a large area for a “cover photo.” The cover photo takes up a large portion at the top of the Facebook page, which allows for the business to choose an eye-catching image to represent their company.

Facebook allows for businesses to share news about their company to all of their “friends” and/or “fans.” Both “fans” and “friends” are prompted of the businesses existence by their news or status updates and their interactions with other Facebook users. Posting such statuses are immediately prompted to all followers newsfeed, which results in getting the user involved in the company’s virtual life. When users see their friends interacting with a business, its automatic advertisement for your business. Facebook allows for free announcements by recommending a market to their Facebook friends. Not only does Facebook allow for the consumers to get involved with the company’s posts or updates, but also the company can respond to their followers.  Customer Service Representatives can quickly respond to both positive and negative comments or concerns those clients may post. At any rate a business plans to use Facebook; they will be taking care of a large aspect of Customer Service with this reaction system.

The word of mouth aspect goes even farther with Facebook’s check-in option. All users are able to “check-in” at a location they are at. This feature gives businesses the advantage to allow their customers to advertise their location from home or from mobile apps on the go. Businesses can use this feature even further and encourage consumers to “check-in” by offering a “check-in deal.” To encourage people to use this tool, a “check-in deal” can be implemented and can be used to give a particular offer to any customer that checks-in during their visit. A customer will be pleased to receive a deal while the business is benefiting from the marketing and advertisement they are achieving by their visitors.

With so many users and engagement, running a business’s Facebook and social media platforms requires much attention. Facebook allows for a formation of customized tabs that connect to other social media platforms, like Twitter. Twitter has evolved into a “must-have” social media platform for businesses in a wide-array of industries. It allows for companies and individuals to unite and communicate information with each other. With millions of tweets running through the web daily, neglecting Twitter for your business has no benefits.

Twitter allows for 140 characters to answer the question, “What are you doing?” in which their followers can see on their Twitter homepage. The Twitter interactions can be viewed on the Internet, through computers and mobile devices. Not only do businesses keep track and generate their own tweets, but also it is crucial to reply, “Retweet,” and uphold a suitable “following to follower” relation for superior optimization. Twitter’s unique form of communication is what makes it so vital in promoting and branding any business at no cost at all.

Twitter has evolved into a daily routine where people do not go a day without checking their Twitter feed or submitting a post.  If a business has affected a customer in any way, good or bad, chances are they will hear about it on Twitter. This leads to customer feedback and customer connections. Customer’s comments give input on how one can improve their customer service and future business plans.  The engagement that this customer connection leads to can eventually lead to brand loyalty. Helping customers and engaging with them directly on Twitter leads to loyalty to a brand and connections on future Twitter posts.

Twitter allows users to post hashtags, indicated by a number sign (#), to publicize just about anything. The hashtag is followed by a phrase or word to execute a variety of social media functions. This marketing tactic helps market a business at no cost at all by simply “hashtagging” their business, for example: #nexdayflyers. This expands the chance for Twitter users to find your business or specific tweet.

Twitter has many ways to use and experience the website. Your business can use the site through many applications available on smart phones, apps, and even text messaging. There is API integration for programmatic advances to mechanically indicate tweets that have specific keywords. This allows companies to observe and supervise what is being posted, obtain information on connections, and monitor specific patters. The traffic can then link directly to the company’s site and hopefully increase returns.

It is evident that platforms such as Facebook and Twitter lead to a definite increase in flow of users, followers, fan, and in the end – consumers. With the assistance of Twitter and Facebook, businesses have an advantage to get their name out quickly and at low cost directly to the public. 

Author Bio: Parissa Amerinouri is an Internet marketer for NextDayFlyers, a leading source for online printing services. She enjoys social media, marketing, and travel.