How Social Media Can Both Help and Harm Your Business
Across the world, millions of businesses rely on social media to promote their products and reach out to potential new customers. In many ways, social media has completely transformed the way in which we interact with each other and offers professional organizations the opportunity to engage with their customer base in the most effective way ever.
Whether you want to promote new products, advertise your services or simply see what your audience is up to, there are ways in which social media can help your business and just as many ways in which it can harm it.
Reach out to your customers in an instant – but respond to them just as quickly
One of the biggest benefits of using social media is its the ability to spread your message instantaneously. Whether you are on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, the second you post, your audience can see it. This means you can share deals, promotions and great news the moment it happens, and let your fans and followers spread your posts around the internet just as quickly.
It also means that your customers can share their thoughts and feelings with you too. A great review, a note of thanks or even just a shared post to support your business are all organic ways of increasing your reach, as well as identifying just how well you are doing and how much your customers love you.
The flip side to this, of course, is that a single bad review or complaint can also be shared in an instant. Just a few poorly chosen words from an angry customer can have a severely detrimental effect on your brand image, so you should monitor your social media interactions at all times, and respond to any negative posts as a matter of urgency to try and limit the damage.
Share – but be careful not to overshare
Being proud of your achievements or wanting to tell the world about how great your deals and discounts are is a good thing. But, the very nature of social media means that once this information is out there, is it available for all to see.
This can be a brilliant way of winning new customers using promotions or deals, or offering discounts to loyal clients and telling them about new services. But, don’t forget your competitors will no doubt be watching too.
Stay composed and controlled with your posts, and never give away too much too soon, or you could find that your competition pips you to the post.
Posting too much, too often can also have a negative effect on your audience. If you are constantly spamming their news feed with advertisements and infomercials, they may quickly unfollow you when they start to feel bombarded.
Manage your social media well for maximum results
Posting regular updates about your business, or finding engaging, amusing or even newsworthy content to share with your audience can be time-consuming and dull. Many companies hand over the reins of their social media management to interns or inexperienced junior staff, which could prove fatal.
Finding great stuff to post is worth its weight in gold and will grow your following in the most amazing way possible. But, make one mistake, post something contentious or give away confidential information in a tweet or Facebook post and you will find out very quickly just how unforgiving the internet can be.
The moral of the story…
Use social media to grow your business by all means, but in order to ensure it is helpful for your business and not harmful, monitor your social media strategy well and reassess it often.
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