Doesn’t matter if you own a small local shop or a multi-million-dollar company. Social media is meat and potatoes of your marketing strategy.

Social Media help you connect with your customers, increase brand awareness, and increase your leads and sales. With more than three billion people around the world using social media every month, it’s not a passing trend.

If you don’t know if you’re ready to get your company’s social media off the ground. Well the answer to that question is YES. Without a doubt, don’t procrastinate. No need to know every intimidating words or have that enormous amount of followers you think you should have. Get started immediately—and even enjoy yourself in the process. Make it fun.

Here are six reasons why investing in social media is a wise business move.

Build Awareness

If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your customers or clients. Social media generates your visibility among potential customers or clients you never thought you could reach, by using an insignificant amount of time and effort. And best of all its free to create a business page on all the major social platforms, so you have nothing to lose.

Know what you want to get out of social media so you can develop a social media strategy. Is it new customers to discover your services? Or do you hope to bring more local shoppers into your stores? Keeping your plan specific, you can dictate which social media platforms your business best fits.

Communicate Authority

Customers are that are savvier and discerning about which businesses they support. Before deciding, they’ll do a quick search to browse your website and social media.

What will they find? Will they find an empty storefront or a rich source of information? Setting up powerful profiles that you frequently update with relevant content will build your brand’s authority making sure you make that positive first impression needed through social media, presenting that your business is trustworthy, knowledgeable, and user friendly.

Look for different ways to demonstrate your expertise as a thought leader in your industry—like writing pieces related to your knowledge or elaborating on your company’s mission. By showing what your business offers and values, you will establish confidence in potential customers.

SHOW AUTHENTICITY

Customers aren’t interested in businesses that publish boring, corporate-style social media posts.

Let your brand’s personality shine through, everything you share on social media. What does your brand voice resonate like? How does it illustrate who you are?

Practice getting just the right tone, whether it’s casual, funny, formal and always friendly. Be true to who you are, not whom you think you should be. Followers want to see real people behind your social profiles. Show them that you are.

ENCOURAGE ENGAGEMENT

Social channels grow, continually releasing new features, and since the rapidly changing conditions can be tormenting for some business owners.

Remember: you don’t have to do everything. Play with different ways to connect with your audience and permit yourself time to learn as you go. One day, you could post a series of Instagram Stories to give customers a behind-the-scenes tour of your office. Next, you could host a quick Q&A session via Facebook Live video streaming. Over time, you’ll get a better idea of your followers’ taste.

Create engaging video content for social media with a simple setup—good lighting, a smartphone, and a tripod. Do a test run before you go live to make sure your internet connection or hotspot has enough speed to avoid delays and interruptions.

PROVIDE SUPPORT 

Social platforms have accomplished broking down barriers between companies and their customers. Instead of calling a customer service line, many people turn to Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo or Bing to solve problems or find information.

Develop your reputation as a responsive, caring brand by offering support through social channels:

• Create a system for tracking customer comments, questions, and complaints on social media.
• Responding as quickly as possible to questions and concerns.
• Go out of your way to be positive, helpful and polite.
• Be open to criticism and make customers feel heard.
• Know when to resolve public conversations in private messages.

GROW AFFORDABLY

Marketing costs add up, and not every business can afford massive campaigns. But you can get much value for your dollar with social media advertising. Your company, regardless of size or budget, has the opportunity to grow your audience and reach your objectives through ads on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and Tumblr.

When building an ad campaign, know whom you’re trying to reach and what you want to achieve, so you don’t waste your budget on unhelpful advertising. Avoid over the top sale ads and opt for a content that educates or entertains (or does both at the same time).

Social media is a crucial part of your business marketing, but it doesn’t have to be stressful to manage. Take the first step, create a profile, and start engaging with your customers.