Did you know that there are approximately 33.2 million small businesses in America? About 46% of workers in the United States are employed by these tiny but very mighty companies. However, larger businesses employ numerous expensive marketing strategies to increase their visibility, customer base, and revenue, so how are small businesses supposed to keep up?
Enter social media marketing, a digital marketing strategy that has the potential to bring buyers to small businesses in droves. With 5 billion social media users worldwide, small businesses can use social media to reach a significantly higher number of potential customers (along with a slew of other worthwhile benefits).
Interested in learning more about how social media is revolutionizing the small business landscape? Sit back and relax as we discuss five positive impacts social media marketing can have on small businesses.
#1 It Increases Brand Awareness
If your small business isn’t leveraging social media, your ability to introduce yourself to potential customers decreases significantly. However, by incorporating various forms of social media marketing, such as content marketing, influencer marketing, and paid advertising, you can showcase your brand to individuals within your target market locally and globally.
So, how exactly does social media enhance brand awareness? It provides a popular platform to integrate multiple marketing strategies, including:
- Sharing content that addresses your customers’ pain points.
- Building connections with potential customers.
- Communicating your unique selling points.
- Encouraging users to share your content with others.
#2 It Drives Traffic to Your Website
Many small businesses use websites as a platform to showcase—and sell—their products or services. And with online shopping bringing in more than $800 billion in annual sales, we can understand why so many companies are joining the bandwagon. But without taking advantage of social media, they’re missing a huge opportunity to bring more traffic (a.k.a. potential customers) to their website.
Let’s imagine you own a crystal company, offering a variety of crystals from rose quartz to labradorite. Despite launching your website, you haven’t seen a significant increase in traffic. However, after a colleague suggests creating a business account on your target audience’s preferred social media platform, you begin to notice a rise in the number of people visiting your site.
As you incorporate customer testimonials, include links to your website in your social media posts, and actively engage with your audience, website traffic continues to grow. This increase ultimately leads to a boost in sales and revenue for your crystal company, proving that social media’s ability to increase traffic also translates to tangible success for your business.
#3 It Promotes Content
Social media provides an excellent opportunity to promote many types of content, including blog posts, videos, infographics, and podcasts.
Let’s say you wrote a brilliant listicle titled “Ten Healing Crystals That Will Change Your Life.” While you might attract some organic clicks via search engines, consider the potential for increased clicks if you promote it on one or more social media accounts. As your following increases, you’ll be creating a larger platform to showcase your content, simultaneously highlighting your industry expertise. It’s a win-win for your marketing strategy and your business.
#4 It Helps You Stay Ahead of Competitors
Once you jump on the social media marketing bandwagon, you’ll realize that you’re not the only crystal connoisseur out there. While you may have found a specific niche of customers to target your efforts towards, other small businesses selling similar products have also identified their own target audience and are implementing their own marketing strategies to attract potential customers to their content and website.
Social media provides valuable insights into your competitors’ activities and keeps you updated on current industry trends. By monitoring your competitors’ marketing strategies, you can identify what’s working for them and what isn’t, enabling you to adapt and refine your own marketing approaches accordingly.
Master Your Business and Marketing Prowess at UTPB
The impact of social media on small businesses can be profound, whether you’re implementing it for your own business or pursuing a marketing role where you offer your expertise to multiple small businesses. And social media is just the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous digital and traditional marketing strategies you can use to help small businesses grow.
The University of Texas Permian Basin offers an online Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing that prepares you for all of the above, from social media and other digital marketing strategies to more traditional methods, such as print and broadcast advertising.
What’s more, we understand that many of our students are working professionals. That’s why we’ve created an online program that caters to adults with busy professional and personal lives. You can take the courses at a pace that’s convenient to you, earning a bachelor’s degree that will strengthen your marketing prowess and give you the tools to help you build businesses from the ground up.
Browse our course offerings, and when you’re ready, start the next chapter in your career by completing an application.
Sources:
https://www.uschamber.com/small-business/state-of-small-business-now
https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-global-overview-report
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/04/ecommerce-sales-surged-during-pandemic.html