New Report Emphasizes Importance of Social Media for Small Business Marketing

Californian media company ProMediaAuthority recently released a new report looking at the importance of social media for businesses in today’s digital age. While many businesses have come to recognize the value of social media, not only for marketing and advertising purposes but in support of customer outreach efforts aimed at building trusted customer relationships, many continue to dismiss social media as little more than hype. ProMediaAuthority’s report seeks to clear up any lingering doubts as to the true value of social media in modern marketing strategy.

According to ProMediaAuthority representative Andrew Stangl, “The benefits of using social media for businesses are very clear. Not only have the benefits been proven, but not using social media may actually harm a business. Since the search engines place such a high trust factor on social media sites, it is important to include these in any online marketing campaign.” The report cites many benefits of social media that back up these claims.

Social media enables direct one-to-one interaction between business and customer. This can be an extremely powerful tool in helping to place a voice behind a business brand and give that brand some personality. Not only is this an effective forum in which to advertise product and services promotions and generate interest, but it also gives current and potential customers a place to voice concerns, ask questions, and share their experiences.
Social media invites group conversations. This means that customers can interact with one another as well as with the business. This fosters a sense of community and a feeling of belonging among customers, both of which help to strengthen the business-customer relationship.
Social media helps build brand awareness. Since news, promotions, and business events are all being shared rapidly in real time across social media forums, this helps increase overall brand awareness across the customer base and generates interest around current business happenings.
Social media allows a small business brand to be legitimized. In fact, people frequently will check out a small business’s social media page before deciding whether or not to buy a product or service. In addition, reviewing recent interactions between the business and its clients can begin to build trust with new customers and inspire them to seek that business out.