SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Are you tasked with social media marketing for a business or brand? If so, you’ve seen plenty of statistics thrown your way. But which ones are worth paying attention to?

Here are 4 statistics we think you should pay attention to and why (Source):

1. More than 9 in 10 millennials use social media, followed by more than three-fourths of those considered to be Gen X.

Why does this matter? It means that the entire approach to reaching target audiences is about to make a major shift. While fewer than half of Baby Boomers use social media — meaning many brands still need to reach that audience through more traditional print, radio, and television — those channels don’t have the same reach with the next wave of consumers. If you want to reach the under 50 market, you have to go social.

2. More than half — 54 percent — of social browsers use social media to research products.

Why does this matter? Research which even a couple of years ago would have taken place primarily on company websites, where the brand completely controls the message, is moving to social channels, where the message is more difficult to manage and requires more active interaction. Social media users look for reviews, for hashtags about your business or product, for feedback from their peers. You need to monitor your online reputation on social channels and address concerns in order to stay on top of the brand message you want to project.

3. 7 in 10 consumers have a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to friends and family.

Why does this matter? See statistic #2 in this list. Again, in a channel where you can’t completely control the message, creating a positive customer experience (by answering questions, quickly addressing complaints, providing accurate and complete basic information) pays off when your customers create the positive messaging you need for you.

4. More than 9 in 10 social media users access social channels on mobile devices (and almost 80 percent of social media time is spent on mobile platforms).

If you are like me and have been on Facebook for more than a decade, it likely started out as a website you visited from your computer in the days before you jumped to the technology of a smartphone. But that is now a rare experience for most social media users. That means that as you create content for social media, you need to keep in the mind the unique needs of mobile users, which include possible limited data or use in public spaces, which call for details such as video that is understandable without audio.

What these statistics don’t necessarily show is how social media can drive exposure and sales for businesses both large and small. And when the right approach is used in creating high quality organic content, that success can be realized without resorting to a large advertising budget. See how one medical spa used an organic content campaign to catapult their social media presence and attract new customers in just a few months’ time without ads:  Serenity Medical Spa & Organic Facebook Content Case Study.