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- 2. Why Every Business Should Utilize Social Media 2
We live in a time where technology has changed the way we approach everything. We
abandon the traditional ways of doing something simply because it is not efficient enough. This
applies to most everything. From schooling, to food, to the business environment: Technology is
the number one influence on how we approach each situation. The greatest influence within
technology is the internet. The internet has yet to reach it’s peak of success, and considering
everything it’s accomplished, that is saying a lot. In fact, imagining life without the internet
would be unbearable for some. It has progressively weaved it’s way into every aspect of our
lives, and seldom do we make a decision that is not influenced by it. There are many varieties of
websites available to consumers: Online shopping, entertainment, informational, and social
networking. Social networking, also known as social media, has been the most influential and
widely used of all of these.
Social media started off as a fun way to kill time and catch up with people you had lost
track of. Now, it’s a worldwide powerhouse led by the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
and YouTube. The opportunities provided through the outlet of social media are unlike any
other. The easy accessibility and vast amount of users make it a nobrainer to utilize social media
in every way possible. This is especially true for businesses. Social media has revolutionized the
business world’s entire approach to marketing, and seeing as marketing is a quite essential part
of a business’ success: this elevates social media to a top priority within the business world.
These days, it’s impossible to market a business as relevant without the use of social media.
There are many benefits that social media brings to the business world outside of
marketing as well. There are also some risks. The fact of the matter is, that the benefits far
outweigh the risks, and the risks can be maintained and reduced if handled correctly. In fact, I’d
- 3. Why Every Business Should Utilize Social Media 3
go as far to say that the risks of not using social media are far greater than the risks of using it.
Which is why social media is absolutely vital.
We can talk about all the benefits of social media as much as we want, but that can’t be
taken seriously until we learn, in depth, what those benefits are. To understand the benefits that
social media brings to the table, we must first understand the way it works and what it does. As
stated earlier, there are many social media outlets that have many different uses, but they all boil
down to the same basic formula. According to dictionary.com, social networking is defined as,
“an online community of people with a common interest who use a website or other technologies
to communicate with each other and share information, resources, etc.”
(http://dictionary.reference.com). That basically explains the gist of it. The purpose behind social
media is to provide a platform for people to interact with colleagues and find others with similar
interests. It immediately presents an opportunity for any marketer to target certain consumers.
Through social media, a business can immediately bestow itself to those who would be
interested. For instance, if I own a coffee shop, my target audience will be anyone who drinks
coffee. Within that audience the top demographics are business men and women, college
students, and the common hipster. Thanks to social media, I can target each audience without
leaving my room. Not only could I present my company’s page to anyone who fits the target
demographic, but I could share my business’ page from my own profile to all of my personal
friends as well. Already, social media creates an opportunity to market your business to a larger
number of consumers than ever before. Granted, this also creates a more competitive
environment, but that doesn’t make it less beneficial for a business to utilize social media. If
anything, it makes it all the more important.
- 4. Why Every Business Should Utilize Social Media 4
Another aspect of social media marketing is the ease of promoting yourself to a national
audience. This may not seem essential to certain businesses like a local coffee shop or lawn
company, but it’s the difference of night and day for a website development company or any
business that isn’t limited by distance. Having the ability to be discovered by anyone in the
world at any time can determine whether your business becomes successful or burns down in
flames. For sake of consistency though, we will stick with the coffee shop example. Even as a
local coffee shop, there is a giant appeal in having the ability to promote yourself to anyone in
the world. For example, depending on how creatively you design your business’ social media
marketing strategy, you could gain national fame. This would create a huge increase in business
that would undeniably point back to the use of social media. It’s an increase that could have
never occurred without social networking.
Social media also presents a unique opportunity to find out who your business appeals to.
Which can be extremely helpful for your future marketing plans. According to hootsuite.com
“With tools like Facebook Insights in Hootsuite you can learn the dominant languages spoken
among your social media audience, as well as their age and gender. This knowledge can help you
cater campaigns and product offers to your target audience, which will provide you a better
return on investment.” (http://blog.hootsuite.com). This changes the use of social media from
being something helpful, to becoming something indispensable. Without it, you could be
targeting the wrong audience and not even know it. Which would be detrimental to your
company’s potential success. If the goal, as a business, is to reach the highest amount of potential
success as possible, then you should do everything within your power to make that happen. The
utilization of social media is one such element within your power. Understanding your target
- 5. Why Every Business Should Utilize Social Media 5
audience is the key to successful marketing, and social networking gives business’ the
opportunity to easily access all of the information necessary.
Through social media, you have the freedom to create whatever image that you want your
business to portray, and do so at a low cost. How impactful your marketing scheme will be is
only limited by your creativity and vision. In essence, it puts the ball in your court and whether
or not you make the shot is entirely up to you. One local example of a business gaining immense
success through this freedom of creativity is Concord Coffee. They started their instagram profile
months before their grand opening, and as a result had grown a massive following. This
generated an enormous amount of hype for their grand opening. Which basically made Concord
Coffee a successful business before it had even begun.
The key behind their social media popularity was the way that they presented themselves.
The people behind Concord knew that Lakeland’s biggest, most consistent consumers would
come from Southeastern University. Within that demographic is a large population of hipsters.
Due to this, they marketed themselves in a very hipster fashion. The pictures they posted had a
vintage feel to them and sparked a unique intrigue within the hipster community. Eventually this
intrigue transformed into an unquenchable desire, within the heart of every true hipster, for at
least one sip of Concord Coffee. So by the time Concord announced their grand opening, the
seed was already planted, and you would be hard pressed to find one hipster who did not have
plans on attending. This is a testament to the creative freedom that social media can give to any
business. It didn’t end once the shop opened though. On opening day, instagram feeds all over
Lakeland were filled with Concord Coffee posts. However, these posts were not uploaded by
Concord Coffee, but by the consumers who had been anticipating the grand opening for months
- 6. Why Every Business Should Utilize Social Media 6
now. It cannot be understated that, in the business world, word of mouth is necessary for success
and it manifests itself through social networking. Concord Coffee’s success is a perfect example
of how to utilize social media to it’s utmost potential.
All of the benefits that social media brings to the table make it hard to believe how cheap
and easy it is to exploit. Creating an account for your business on instagram, facebook, or twitter
is as easy as editing your profile’s information and clicking the “create my account” button.
Marketing your business to a wide number of audiences is as easy as searching for users who
have interests that include what your business provides and then proceeding to follow them.
Obviously, you’re marketing strategy may become much more in depth, but that’s how simple it
is to get started. There is no logical reason to avoid such an easy process with such a high
potential for increased success.
If you’re still unconvinced about why businesses should utilize social media to achieve
maximum success, then you must not know what the risks are. For if you did, you would
immediately realize how underwhelming they are compared to the benefits. However, in order to
leave no more question, it is important that the risks are discussed. The biggest risk of using
social media lies within who you allow to manage your business’ account. One thing that you
must remember, is that nothing you post on the internet (especially social media) is removable.
You may be provided an option to delete whatever you post, but do not be deceived. It is not
being completely removed from the internet. The host’s database still contains any information
that you concede to them. This includes deleted posts, personal information, and anything else
that you share online. This is why it’s absolutely crucial that you do not allow anybody to freely
- 7. Why Every Business Should Utilize Social Media 7
manage your business’ account. One offensive post, intentional or not, could destroy your
business’ entire image and/or credibility.
An example of this comes from the time Kenneth Cole, a popular fashion designer,
attempted to market his new line at the sake of a country's national crisis. Infuriating everybody
and their mother in the process. According to mashable.com, Cole tweeted, "Millions are in
uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at
http://bit.ly/KCairo KC.” (http://mashable.com). This was tweeted in 2011 during the Egyptian
revolution. This was a sensitive issue at the time, and Kenneth Cole’s distasteful tweet sparked a
substantial amount of hate. Although Cole later tweeted an apology, the damage had been done.
He had forever lost respect in the eyes of millions. You can argue that it’s fine to lose respect in
the business world as long as you keep the profits coming, but I would say that respect will
generate long term customer loyalty and the loss of it could be detrimental to your business’
longevity.
Should this risk be taken lightly? Not at all. Should it keep you from experiencing the
benefits that social media can bring to your business? By no means! The risk may be real and
relevant, but at the same time, it is completely avoidable. If you don’t believe your business is
capable enough to avoid harming itself, then yes, you should avoid social media. If that is the
case though, I would say that avoiding social media is the least of your concerns.
That was the only risk worth mentioning, and it does not lift a candle to the immense
amount of advantages that social media offers. One such advantage is the opportunity to observe
instant feedback. The best way for a business to reach an optimal level of customer satisfaction is
through feedback. In the old days, this was only achieved through word of mouth and/or press.
- 8. Why Every Business Should Utilize Social Media 8
Now it’s achieved almost entirely through social media. Businesses have the privilege of
observing the instant feedback of their services; even when it’s not directly aimed at them
(Which in many cases is more helpful). Without social media, you will be one significant step
behind your competitors in the areas of customer satisfaction and interaction. For example, your
business could be doing something that isn’t resonating well with the majority of your
customers. Yet, you may not realize this until it is too late. Instead of reporting directly to you,
they are releasing their frustration through the outlet of social media and you have no way of
knowing because your business has avoided it completely. Changing in order to stay in tune with
the times is essential for every business in most every industry. Remaining out of touch with
your customers will ensure your business’ loss of relevance. Staying relevant requires customer
interaction; an interaction best practiced through social media.
Customer interaction had been the tried and true formula of how to keep a business
relevant and, in come cases, set the tone for what relevance is. A great example of what customer
interaction should look like lies within the twitter page of fast food giant, Taco Bell. Taco Bell
makes an effort every single day to reply to it’s customers. Whether it’s a criticism or a praise
report, Taco Bell has mastered the art of responding to as many consumers as possible, and as a
result, remained extremely relevant. In contrast, Burger King has experienced troubled times as
of late. One look at their twitter page and you will see why. They haven’t interacted with one
single customer. This may not be the sole reason for Burger King’s decline, but it is definitely a
major factor. They avoided customer interaction and ceased to be relevant. Commercials just
aren’t enough these days. You need to have a presence in the areas your consumers have become
comfortable with. Social media is exactly that.
