Navigating the world of social media can be a confusing task, and you might even wonder why you would even bother. You have an amazing business, your customers love your company, and your service is stellar, so why would you need to explore social media sites for business, right? Well, the fact of the matter is that there are more pros than cons to using these sites, and once you start exploring them, you’ll see what we mean!

Your customers can get to know you.

In the world of social media, you can be yourself, and your business can be itself. You get to have the opportunity to show your company’s culture, highlight things that are great about you and your employees, and showcase parts of your company that are fantastic.

You can get to know your customers.

Social media, by nature, allows for social interaction. Using these sites allows you to see what your customers are taking a particular interest in, what they’re talking about, and what they like about things you say and do. Conversely, this can be an opportunity for you to learn about places upon where you can improve. If someone posts something to one of your social media sites, take the time to converse with them. Thank them for a compliment or ask them how you can improve if they gave you negative feedback. Before the days of social media, you would rarely have the opportunity to fix a problem because many times you wouldn’t even have known that a problem existed. With customer interaction, you can remedy situations and work to build your brand’s reputation in a visible manner that will not only be seen by the person with whom you’re interacting, but potential customers will see this effort, as well.

Word-of-mouth works.

Marketing is an essential part of any business plan, but it can be a very costly necessity. Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the oldest and most reliable forms of marketing, and when you use social media sites, you’re paying little to no money to get your name and reputation out there. When you have a great business and phenomenal customer service, people will talk about you, and the more people can tout about your business, the more traffic they will drive to your own social media sites, and ultimately, to your company itself.

You can expand your target market.

Typical advertising techniques target a specific audience, which is great, but by definition, it’s leaving out some people that could otherwise love you. Social media sites allow you to talk to a wide range of people, and as they interact with you, your name will trickle down through their friends’ feeds, and you’ll start to reach more and more people without putting forth much more effort.