The impact of social media on business is immense, both positively and negatively. Do you agree? 90% of businesses do. A recent survey found that 71% of consumers who had a positive social media experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others. This highlights the importance of leveraging popular social media platforms to stay competitive. With nearly five billion people using social media worldwide, we are talking about long-term social media impacts, not a temporary trend.
We have already written about the importance and impact of social media marketing for business growth in 2023. The article is still relevant, but we want to talk not only about growth, but also the importance of social media for the very existence of a business and maintaining a competitive advantage.
How does Social Media Impact Your Business?
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Improving Customer Service
Social networks are an essential part of effective omnichannel support. Consumers expect swift, thoughtful responses to their tags and direct messages—76% value quick replies, and 70% want personalized responses, according to the latest research. Another study shows that three-quarters of consumers expect quick responses within 24 hours or less.
Customer satisfaction and brand loyalty over the long term depend on the speed of response. The lifetime value of customers increases significantly, which has a positive impact on revenue growth. If the service team is experiencing a large influx of users and it is difficult to cope with this volume, you can integrate a chatbot or AI Assist. They provide first aid, thereby reducing the number of requests for minor issues.
Social networks should be only part of your channels of interaction with clients and partners. Do not forget about instant messengers, phone calls, faxes. You should not ignore any of the channels, but you can adapt some to your needs. For example, use call recording to optimize efforts and protect the interests of the company. You can also use digital faxing instead of an analog fax. What do you need for this? First, download an application, fax from an iPhone or something similar will do. Second, register and get your number. You are all set to use fax. Explore the available options for communication channels with clients and use the most of them.
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Increasing Reach of Potential Clients
A report by Search Logistics states that 90% of marketers see increased exposure and 75% see increased traffic from social marketing. Social media is key for brand awareness and customer engagement. Here are some tips:
- Segment Your Audience: Ensure your target audience uses the platform.
- Use Visuals: Pair content with eye-catching visuals to boost engagement.
- Initiate Conversations: Engage by building conversations and tagging others.
- Measure Your Efforts: Use external tools to track and optimize your social activities.
Even if your marketing strategy is focused on inbound marketing and deep SEO work on your website, you still need social media. We have already talked about 8 key reasons, we will not repeat them now.
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Brand Promotion
Index data shows that 68% of consumers follow brands on social media to stay informed about new products or services. This highlights social media’s power in building brand awareness. Influencer marketing is a particularly effective tactic, as nearly half of consumers trust influencers as much as six months ago, with 30% trusting them even more.
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Increase Brand Loyalty
A 2017 survey of 5,700 marketers found that 69% build loyal fans through social media. Similarly, 66% of users aged 18-24 and 60% of those aged 25-34 are more loyal to brands they follow online. Our recent survey in Chicago showed that 60% of small business customers follow their regular service providers on Facebook. Additionally, 54% believe businesses engaging with clients on social media provide better service.
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SMM is Cheaper Than SEO (usually)
This is not quite an obvious and rather profound question. With a similar reach (Google has 4.3 million users, and social networks have 4.6 million), SMM is usually cheaper. This is in terms of monthly expenses. Plus, SMM allows you to conduct deeply targeted advertising campaigns and achieve only target views.
This is true when considering the short-term perspective and medium-term goals. Interestingly, SEO is even cheaper in the long term. But both SMM and SEO can go viral in the future and work on organic traffic with minimal expenses on advertising services. A combination of business development in Google and social networks is obviously the best strategy.
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Convenient Tool for Collecting Reviews
Social media platforms enable businesses to gather direct feedback from customers, enhancing the brand’s image and relationships. Ensuring customers feel heard and valued fosters happiness and loyalty. Companies that address customer service requests on social media can earn 20% – 40% more revenue per customer.
Here’s another statistic from The 2024 Influencer Marketing Report – about half of consumers make purchases once a month or more often inspired by an influencer’s post on social media. More than 85% do this at least once a year. Today, about 90% of business owners and managers admit that social media is essential for customer retention. All this is thanks to closer connections with customers and potential buyers, including through collecting and analyzing feedback.
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Increase Sales
According to We Are Social’s Digital in 2018 Global Overview, 17% of the world’s population shops and pays bills online. Leading economies like the UK, South Korea, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S. have the highest e-commerce penetration. Notably, people aged 18 to 34, with the most buying power, are heavily influenced by social media in their purchasing decisions. A Nielsen study found that 25% of new vehicle buyers in the U.S. used Twitter to help make their choice. Among 600 senior marketers, 39% reported a medium ROI from organic social media, while 20% saw the highest ROI from it. Paid social ads provided medium ROI for 36% and high ROI for 17%.
How Viralpep Can Help You?
Viralpep can optimize your SMM efforts at all stages: from post creation to in-depth analytics:
- Create and schedule posts: You can create and schedule social media posts for networks including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest. Upload videos, reels, and enhance your post captions with our URL shortener.
- Flexible Management: Our platform offers role assignment, task delegation, team monitoring, and customizable access through role-based controls. The team management feature also keeps your strategy adaptable and responsive.
- Publishing Planning: Viralpep simplifies your social media strategy with its social media scheduling tool, Multiple Timezone Support, Multimedia Post capabilities, and Post Preview. Reach a global audience by scheduling posts across different time zones, enrich content with images and videos, and preview posts before they go live.
- Real-time Social Media Analytics: Optimize your data with advanced filters, receive instant notifications for significant changes, and gain comprehensive insights into audience demographics and engagement trends. Effortlessly track events and understand your global impact.
Final Thoughts
The impact of social media on business performance is undeniable. Companies use these platforms to boost brand visibility, engage customers, and drive strategic marketing. Social media can enhance brand value but also carries risks of negative publicity if not managed well.
Of course, social media comes with challenges for businesses. First of all, it is the complexity of managing social networks and maintaining an active communication strategy with clients and stakeholders. Viralpep is the solution to this problem. Our platform is not just a publication planning tool, but a whole system for managing your social networks. Now is the best time to try the intelligent features of our platform and take your SMM to the next level. Start now with our 15-day free-trial, regardless of whether you are an individual or a company.
