Focus on social media: What are the benefits?

Social media plays a big role in the way you communicate your brand and interact with customers. So online retailers should be prepared with a strategy that brings an optimal return on investment.

You need to have a good grasp of which platforms are out there, how to approach them and what you expect to get out of them.

In this article we will:

1. Outline the benefits of using social media
2. List the big four social media platforms
3. Talk through other the important platforms

What are the benefits of using social media?

Social media has become an essential element of every online business. If you are launching an online shop, social media needs to be at the centre of your marketing, communication and even your sales strategy.

“It should be at the centre of your plans,” says Jonny Ross, managing director at Jonny Ross Consultancy Ltd.

“Ten years ago, a website used to be a supporting mechanism for a high street shop but now it has turned around – brick and mortar shops have faded and social media is now playing the supporting role for the website – driving traffic and giving a brand multiple touch points away from the website.”

So why has social media become so essential?

Reach a wider audience

When you are launching a new online shop, your target audience generally doesn’t know about you yet. They will not be going to your new store, because they don’t know it’s there.

In order to get their attention, you also need to have a presence in the places they do frequent online – social media sites.

Once you have access to them on these sites and you can communicate your brand to them in a way they will appreciate and they should not only give you a visit, but also spread awareness of you among their network – casting a wide net.

SEO

One of the biggest and perhaps less obvious benefits of having a presence in social media is the boost your SEO will get.

“Social media is at the core of any SEO campaign,” says Ross. “It helps you to generate links to and from your site and it is a vehicle by which you can publish lots of blogging material which you will fill with relevant keywords.”

The more you put out on social media, the more chance search engine crawlers have of finding your website. The platforms owned by Google such as Google+ and YouTube are especially good at increasing your Google page rank.

Cultivate a close relationship with your customers

Online businesses struggle to recreate the experience of engaging with customers face to face. The interactions take place through a screen rather than in person and this can dehumanise you as a brand.

Taking part in social media can help to break this barrier down. You can engage with your customers in a more natural way and they can start to understand who you are and why they should shop with you.

Customer service point

The idea of using social media as a customer service tool might be quite a scary one. No-one wants to air their dirty laundry public – however it can work in your favour if done well.

Customer service is an essential part of an online business – you need to make it as easy as possible for your shoppers to contact you if they need to and social media allows this. As long as you are swift and honest with your replies you will do well. A well-handled complaint is impressive for your audience.

You don’t want to look old-fashioned

This is less of a benefit as a warning. Your audience will probably expect you to have a presence on social media and if you don’t have one you risk looking unprofessional and outdated.

Look at your competitors – chances are they are all using social media. It would be a mistake not to take part in what has become an unstoppable trend in the way we work and communicate.

So what is the Big Four?

If you hear people refer to the Big Four in terms of social media they are probably referring to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

These are the big players who have been around the longest and gathered a lot of momentum. Facebook and Twitter are bigger than Google+ but the search giant’s offering is gaining momentum and as we have already mentioned, it is great for SEO to have a Google+ account.

When it comes to ecommerce, having a presence on LinkedIn is probably less important from a sales point of view. If you are trying to get your name out there as a recruiter and are looking for top talent then LinkedIn is for you – but until that point, it is less relevant.

Who are the other players?

There are a number of newer platforms which are rising up the ranks. Pinterest is the biggest of these – many would argue that it is actually one of the big four already. Also to be taken into account is YouTube – also owned by Google and with some 1 billion visitors a month.

The younger platforms are Instagram and Vine although they are swiftly becoming firm favourites of ecommerce brands thanks to their visual nature.