A decade ago, you wouldn't think of finding local businesses on Social media sites. Fast forward the decade, and the rise of Social media giants like Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter has helped launch so many businesses. Social media is not just for sharing social updates or views; it is an important marketing tool for many businesses – big or small. The meteoric rise of the social media influencer and content creator market has opened new doors of opportunities for businesses and talented people. For local businesses and start-ups, there is an ocean full of opportunity in that realm of hashtags, comments, likes, and shares.
Benefits Of Using Social Media For Local Businesses
Social media is such an excellent marketing tool for local businesses. Not only does it connect the local business with their customers, but it also allows them to attract customers by demonstrating their products or services. It provides free access to a vast audience of potential customers for any product, not just from their local area but around the globe. If you don't have a social media presence on today's date, you are seriously missing out on a gold mine.
Unlike the popular myth that social media is only for big reputed brands with millions of followers and celebrity following, social media platforms provide an excellent opportunity for small brands to grow and engage with a close-knit local community of present and future customers. There are three essential aspects of how social media marketing can help local businesses:
•Generating Brand Awareness
Social media has a massive advantage over TV, radio, and other traditional media platforms. Social media allows you to spread information about your business in a quick timeline manner which is also cost-efficient and has the potential to reach thousands of people with your message. The more you spread your reach, the higher the number of people signing up for your business and exploring your page.
•Increasing your Site Traffic
Suppose you have put your time and effort into building a website for hosting your products and services. In that case, you can expertly use social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to direct traffic to your private platforms. This improves the quality and quantity of your inbound traffic and makes you less dependent on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and being found on Google Search. In addition, having the right content strategy helps ensure that your website reaches the right set of audiences.
•Selling Your Products
One of the essential features for local businesses using social media is that you can now directly sell your products online. In addition, retargeting advertisements offered by sites like Facebook and Instagram make it easy to target your key audience. This lets you put forward your products and services on display.
Getting Started With Social Media Marketing
There are far more strategic and creative tactics that you can employ in your approach to target social media marketing as a local business. For example, reels by Instagram are a popular feature currently on social media, which allows you to make small creative clips about your products and explain them to your customers. This is a game-changer for local businesses as they can showcase their products and services and use it as an opportunity to promote their local shop and make more people aware of the address.
Another feature I would recommend on Instagram is to keep focusing on consistent story posts. It is essential to stay in touch with your customers and keep reminding them about your product or service. Posting content regularly can help you stay top-of-mind with your audience, which is precisely what you're aiming for.
An intelligent way to drive traffic directly to your products or services is to reach out to social media influencers and partner with them. For example, many businesses launch a free giveaway campaign on social media to promote their brand awareness and the product itself. This can help attract a large audience and raise the possibility of going viral on social media. However, always be careful to work with influencers who share your vision and that of your brand. Like-minded people need to promote your brand who share the same passion as you.
Conclusion
Social Media has drastically changed over the years. Today, it is not just a medium to express or connect with people but also a great marketing tool for many businesses. Big brands and small, local businesses are constantly using Social media to drive traffic to their website, and your business's digital presence is definitely an added advantage.
This post is published by Sudhir Bhushan.
