6 Reasons Why Social Media Should be Your Business’ Top Priority in the New Year

With an estimated new social media user every 15 seconds, there has never been a better time to turn your business’ social media strategy up a notch in 2018. With an estimated new social media user every 15 seconds, there has never been a better time to turn your business’ social media strategy up a notch in 2018.

Here at Turnerlittle.com, we have considered the main reasons why getting social with your businesses should you your New Year’s Resolution, supported by research into the relationship current British businesses have with social media and blogging.

1. You need to be where your audience is

Social media users grew by 121 million between the second and third quarters of 2017. With a massive potential audience to tap into, the case is clear as to why your businesses needs to be on social networks. Even if your brand isn’t aimed at young millennials, it has been revealed that in fact Generation X (ages 35-49) spend the most time on social media at about 7 hours a week. The majority of social media users are female, who spend 25% of their time in cyberspace. Not only that, but social networks are cross-cultural too, helping spread the reach of your brand even further.

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2. It will aid brand exposure and market your product

According to a report by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), almost a quarter of businesses say they use social media and blogging to “develop their business’ image or market products”. Indeed, 39% of users discovering products and services is an important reason for using a social network. With such a large number of potential customers using social media with the aim of finding new businesses to use, why would you not want to connect with them? What’s more, 13% of heavy social media users said that they have clicked on an advertisement within the last 30 days.

3. You can establish yourself as an authoritative figure in your industry

Having your say about the sector you work in can help consumers see that you know your stuff. This is especially true if your business has its own blog. Despite the obvious benefits of blogging, ONS statistics have revealed that a mere 42% of British businesses have a blog. The industry that blogs the least currently is Transport and Storage, with a mere 21.7% of businesses in this sector blogging. Retail companies saw the smallest growth in business blogs, with only a 1.6% increase since 2013. Indeed, blogging for your business has only increased by 12.9% since 2013, despite the myriad of benefits this can bring, including aiding your SEO efforts, driving traffic to your site and, of course, establishing yourself as an authoritative figure in your business’ industry.

4. You can connect with customers

According to research, 77% of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand when they have responded to their tweet. Using social media to “obtain or respond to customers’ opinions, reviews or questions” was the principle reason for social networking for businesses in the Accommodation or Food services. Overall, it was the second most common reason to create a social page for British businesses. Accommodation and Food services were also the most likely industry to use the likes of Twitter and Facebook to “involve customers in the development or innovation of goods or services”. Establishing such a connection customers, and involving them in different aspects of your business can help establish a real relationship with them- which in turn can increase customer loyalty.

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5. It will improve the image of your brand

When questioned, 34% of consumers stated that they “might not choose to do business with a small business that had no social media presence”. Having social pages helps add legitimacy to your brand, especially if you garner lots of followers and support. Indeed, 29% of users feel it is somewhat or very important to support their favourite brands online. So creating shareable content in the form of tweets and blog posts can help them do this, whilst broadening your reach and potential client base.

6. You can use it to hire the best people

3 out of 9 industries questioned said one of the top 3 reasons they were on social media was to “recruit employees”. In fact, 20.4% of businesses in Accommodation and Food Services recruit via social media and 10.5 % of Retail do too, the second most common industry to do this. Being on social media allows not only people to discover more about your brand, but for you to discover more about potential clients or employees too.

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