IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN BUSINESS

Are you an entrepreneur of a small or medium-sized company and are you looking for new tools and techniques to promote your products and services on the web? Are you aware that the importance of social media in business is steadily increasing more and more? Do you think that social networks for B2B and B2C companies are now an asset in strategic planning?

Take the Social Media Manager Course and you will be one step ahead of many of your competitors by discovering how important the use of social media is in a business strategy! In many cases, in fact, the importance of social media marketing for companies is underestimated or, in many cases, not even taken into consideration. It is good to specify that investing time and money in the use of social networks in corporate marketing will not guarantee you immediate results: just as it takes time to create quality content, the same will be required to attract new customers and to improve the brand reputation of your company.

 

The importance of social media in business

Why is it important to include the use of social media for companies in your marketing strategy?
Think about how many people use social networks every day and how much time they spend searching for information and sharing content. Imagine being able to connect with these people, who might be interested in what you have to offer.
Today there are many communication tools (and different from each other) and they allow access to information that was unimaginable in the past. Furthermore, you can also decide to reach certain audiences using advanced profiling systems ( Facebook Ads and Instagram Ads, for example).

It is good practice to first think about what your primary objective is and consequently understand which is the most suitable social network for B2B marketing to achieve the set objectives:

• Do you want to focus on eye-catching, high-engagement visual content? Choose Instagram: do you know what impressions are and how they can help you?
• Do you want to start with the more traditional social network and create a new user base through your posts? Choose Facebook: do you know how to track conversions?
• Do you want to create a more professional network of contacts with customers and suppliers and perhaps post job advertisements? Choose LinkedIn: can you interpret analytics correctly?

Don’t rule out the possibility of using more of these tools within your corporate communication strategy. Remember, however, that not all social networks are the same: each one has its own peculiarities and must be used with different criteria. Sign up for our courses now to learn more! Also, it is important to know what social media is for B2B companies

B2B social network: the spontaneous evolution of B2B marketing

We all know how the increasingly massive use of social platforms by users has generated a progressive presence of companies in them, with an increasingly important growth of the B2B social network. An evolution that has led to the birth of new social network courses capable of giving life to new company profiles. A phenomenon that has completely changed the way companies communicate with their audience and has become fundamental in inbound marketing strategies. All marketing strategies have been able to adapt to these dynamics, also giving life to social media marketing in order to react to changes in the various sectors and to the preferences of the customers who now lead the market. If at first this approach had interested marketing managers especially in the B2C sector, in recent years B2B companies have also grasped the power of digital B2B tools and social channels to generate contacts with other companies and social media for companies has become an increasingly significant reality. This is why it is important for a company to have professionals capable of mastering digital marketing skills. If these are missing, a good solution could be a web marketing course for companies .

Customers in the B2B sector increasingly seek the same experience as consumers in the B2C sector who have constant and 360° control over how, when and from whom they buy. Let’s think about the experience we all have with Amazon: the offer is immense, the prices are competitive and the comparison with other purchasing methods is immediate. Our experience in the B2C sector brings to life our digital interactions including the way we do business and build relationships even in the B2B world that’s why the B2B social network can no longer be excluded from the marketing strategies of the sector.

What are social networks for companies?

The role of social networks in B2B marketing is mainly one: to communicate . Don’t think of using social networks in marketing your company just to increase turnover, give great importance to your social media marketing strategy and evaluate everything it includes. Social networks are basically used to communicate a message, retain customers, generate new leads and increase brand awareness and brand reputation . Used well and strategically, they will lead to improvements in all transversal activities and also in sales.

Customer service is very important: users use the corporate social pages to request information and support. This is why it will be important to curate your content so that it is informative and so that it can help your customers.

How to use social networks for companies

One of the biggest difficulties that companies have is understanding the role of social networks within the marketing strategy.

“I have opened a business Facebook profile, what should I write now?”

It is not uncommon for this question to be in the head of many entrepreneurs who are new to social media marketing. Understanding the importance of social media in business and social communities is crucial for doing business in today’s global market and not falling behind the competition and new technologies.

First of all, it is essential to understand what are the goals you want to achieve.
Do you have a new company and want to make yourself known on the web? Do you want to let your customers know about the latest promotions? Do you want to create affiliate programs with other companies?

Once you have in mind what your goals are, you also need to think about what users want and are looking for. What do they expect from you? Why would they follow your page or contact you?
If you manage to bring together the two lines of action (business objectives and customer needs) then you will have won the game and you will be able to better understand the usefulness of social media in the business field.

Manage a social channel

Managing a social channel is a real job: the use of social networks for companies must be done continuously and consistently by a team of specialists:

• Social Media Specialist
• Social Media Consultant
• Social Media Manager

Implementing a successful social media marketing strategy means:

• Develop a social editorial plan, which defines the objectives, the target, the communication strategies, the contents and the timing;
• Develop a crisis plan for emergency situations;
• Study the presence of any competitors in the various social networks;
• See where the target audience speaking about the brand is more present, qualitatively and quantitatively ;
• Define in which space to allocate a brand;
• Define the human and economic resources that will manage the chosen social networks;
• Periodically monitor the progress of the activities.

The advantages of social networks for companies

Why should I use social networks for my business?

It is legitimate to ask yourself this question if you have never used social networks for a use that goes beyond the strictly personal one. Don’t be afraid: we’ve decided to help you answer this question by listing some of the reasons that highlight the importance of working with social networks for companies.

Let’s try to understand what are the advantages of social networks for companies:

• allow you to create and consolidate contacts with companies that are already customers;
• they are a great tool to drive traffic to your website;
• they can create leads with potential customers and create new business opportunities;
• are free (no payment is required to open an account);
• allow you to reach a potentially unlimited audience;
• you can decide to hit a specific target of potential customers thanks to advanced profiling systems;
• allow you to do customer service faster and more efficiently. Users can contact you through your social page to ask for information and support; they can also leave positive feedback, which contributes to improving the corporate image and
• attracting new customers;
• they help educate your customers, conveying information and promotional content;
• if used well, they improve the brand reputation and brand awareness of your company;
• they are a valid aid in the talent acquisition process .

At this point you may want to dive headfirst into the world of social media marketing, but be warned: with great power comes great responsibility! If you can take advantage of what you’ve learned and avoid what you’re about to read, nothing will stop you from succeeding.

The disadvantages of social networks for companies

As in all things, both pros and cons should always be considered. By now you will have understood that the importance of social networks for B2B companies is undeniable, but the road to conquest is often littered with obstacles.
So here are some potential threats in the use of social networks for companies:

• the professional use of these tools requires time and perseverance;
• they can be dangerous if they are handled by people who are not competent in the matter;
• they can disorient the customer if a message consistent with the corporate image is not transmitted;
• they can collect negative feedback, which in the long run can undermine your company’s brand reputation;

As you can see, the benefits of social networking for business far outweigh the negatives. For this reason, there’s no reason why your company shouldn’t start investing in social media marketing!

What are the best social networks for companies?

Each social network has a peculiar feature that makes it unique and suitable for certain marketing actions. The best social networks for companies are those that prove to be most appropriate for the business of each company, for example:

• Instagram is useful for fashion brands that want to showcase their collections;
• Twitter for a newspaper that provides information;
• Facebook for a car dealership that runs weekly promotions for certain customers.

Facebook: The Most Used Social Network

Knowing how to create a corporate Facebook page is very important, because this represents the most used social network with its 1.5 billion users worldwide who share fun and personal visual posts (images and videos), as well as one of the best social networks for companies.

On the most famous social platform in the world, Instagram Stories have also been made available , small temporary stories of daily life used to create engagement with followers and to involve them in a deeper and more effective way. The advantages of Facebook for companies are many.

For this reason, overseeing this channel is very advantageous since a company can:

• Strengthen the brand identity;
• Strengthen brand awareness;
• Increase online sales, creating a more solid and lasting engagement with the customer;
• Show products and services, even with the use of photos, videos and live broadcasts;
• Carrying out Real Time marketing activities, i.e. obtaining more visibility by exploiting a well-known event that occurs at a given moment that people are talking about ;
• Carrying out customer care activities ;
• Create paid advertising campaigns, in line with the interests and passions of those who follow a company by sponsoring its contents;
• Inbound marketing , by sharing company blog articles and making sure that people find them on Facebook;
• Aggregate users interested in certain products/services;
• Offer useful advice, even when people’s interest is in the products of other competitors;
• Audience targeting, i.e. identifying the demographic and behavioral characteristics of the people who follow a company’s business.

Twitter: Microblogging Platform

With its 320 million users, this social network is a conversation-based microblogging platform. Companies use this social network to promote their communication through posts ( tweets ) or shares ( retweets ) with their users. Twitter can also  be counted among the best social networks for companies and proves to be an excellent tool for:

• Increase the visibility of the company, reaching vast audiences and amplifying communication through sharing tools;
• Create relationships with users, creating aggregation and giving life to real communities;
• Increase brand identity;
• Monitor the brand reputation, observing the target closely, studying the interactions between users, catching any disappointments and dissatisfaction in the bud;
• Inbound marketing, sharing links to articles from the company blog on the social network;
• Interact with people, creating a direct relationship with followers;
• Listen to people’s conversations, identifying the most used hashtags that talk about a brand or its products.

LinkedIn: Corporate Social Network par Excellence

Among the best social networks for companies out there, LinkedIn is the corporate channel par excellence . With its 433 million users, this social network presents itself as a showcase in which companies and individual users can interact with each other for professional purposes through a network of contacts in common. In this channel you can create individual accounts or accounts dedicated to businesses and share topics related to the activity or business sector of reference. It is a useful social network for the professional who wants to show himself an expert in a sector, do personal branding or simply get in touch with companies or other professionals. LinkedIn for companies, it is used to establish commercial contacts with other companies or agencies, to carry out B2B activities, or to search for a professional figure in line with their activity.

So, doing social marketing on LinkedIn allows you to:

• Increase traffic on a website, acquiring new contacts thanks to articles shared from the company blog to LinkedIn;
• Facilitate SEO companies registered on Linkedin (which will have greater visibility in Google SERPs if the page is constantly updated with SEO-optimized articles);
• Strengthen brand awareness and corporate brand identity;
• Have more visibility on the web, both for companies and for individual users;
• Group user groups and companies.

YouTube: Most Popular Video Sharing Platform

It is the most famous video sharing platform (among the best social networks for companies), where it is possible to share, view and upload videos and music for free . It represents the second most visited site in the world after Google and is equipped with an internal search engine that offers the best possible results for the various queries sought by users.

Every single video is indexed just like a blog page and can be saved, added to a playlist or shared on other social networks. Users have their own channel where content is grouped into video collections and playlists sorted by category.

YouTube is a powerful tool for creative and emotional content marketing. A company that decides to be present on this social network does so mainly to communicate its values ??and make itself known (thus increasing brand awareness), but also to:

• Promote its products, services, events, people;
• Customer care ( pre and post sales);
• Carry out training activities to customers, internal employees or partners;
• Strengthen the brand identity;
• Influencing purchasing decisions;
• Do Digital Storytelling;
• Get more views for your videos (through  SEO YouTube optimization to better position a video).

Instagram: Photographic Social Network

Continuously growing in number of users and constantly updated in functions, Instagram is a social network with which it is possible to take photos, shoot short videos and share them on the net. Its main features are its simplicity and immediacy, being essentially a free app connected to a photographic social network that allows users to take advantage of content related to people, products, services, topics and brands.

Used strategically, Instagram becomes a really powerful social media for companies with which you can: Significantly increase user engagement, thanks to video images and stories;

• Know your followers, then understand what they share and what trends they follow, so as to include them in the contents that the company publishes;
• Communicate your strengths (compared to the competition, with visual content that talks about the product);
• Acquire valuable information on a sector and on users’ tastes;
• Encourage followers to share content with the same Hashtag as your company’s product;
• Attract users with interesting visual content, without being self-promotional;
• Improve the brand identity, taking care of the company biography, contents and information relating to the brand;
• Doing Digital Storytelling.

Pinterest: Social for companies that do E-commerce

For companies that do E-commerce, one of the best social networks for companies can be Pinterest, the video and photo sharing platform where the contents are arranged on bulletin boards and organized into categories. For its users (mostly women) it is an excellent tool for tracking down information, making purchases and taking a closer look at the products.

The most popular trends concern the sectors of fashion, beauty, food, hospitality, design and technology. Pinterest is a constantly growing social network and if used strategically by companies it can bring many advantages.

Thanks to its simplicity and immediacy, it makes the sharing of content characterized by images and infographics the means that allows companies to do business.

Together with an effective social media marketing strategy it can significantly contribute to:

• Increase brand identity and brand awareness;
• Stimulate purchase intentions ;
• Increase sales (improving the conversion rate);
• Increase traffic to the corporate website, through the links attached to the photos;
• Observe the positioning of the competition;
• Communicate company information simply and clearly

 

Still have doubts? Contact us for a Social Media Marketing consultation!