Having a social media presence is something that many people have, including big-name companies, brands, and celebrities. SUGA, one of the rappers from the famous Korean band BTS, has 55 million followers on Instagram. Louis Vuitton, a world- renowned fashion company, has over 700 million views on YouTube. alphagraphics, an Arizona-based graphics company that has hundreds of stores across the nation including one in Idaho Falls, has over 2 thousand followers on X themselves. No matter how little or well known the company, person, or brand is, they all know that having social media is essential to marketing and recognition towards a digital audience.
According to a 2024 article written by Morgan Stonehocker, an employee at Alphagraphics, there are multiple reasons why businesses of all sizes should prioritize having social media pages and using them for strategic purposes. One of these key reasons is that it’s incredibly cost-effective. “With targeted advertising options, businesses can reach specific demographics and optimize their marketing budgets for maximum ROI (return on investment). Additionally, the ability to track and analyze campaign performance in real-time allows for ongoing optimization and improvement.”
Another key reason Stonehocker states is that there’s direct engagement with your followers. “Social media provides a direct line of communication between businesses and their target audience. Through real-time interactions, brands can gather valuable feedback, address customer inquiries, and build a sense of community. This direct engagement not only fosters customer loyalty but also helps businesses better understand their audience's needs and preferences.” There are multiple ways for a business to interact with their followers directly as well. Depending on the social media platform, anyone can make community polls, stories for their audience to react and reply to, and even conduct livestreams.
Besides Stonehocker’s article, a wonderful TEDx Talk by Teresa Heath-Wareing posted in 2018 shows a different way for a brand to use social media, delving deeper into how a business can have direct communication with their audience. A great example she brought up to describe this was how Tesco, a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer, made a Twitter (now X) account, and uses this account as an additional way to perform customer service. If a client has a complaint or an issue, they don’t have to make a phone call, be put on hold until a representative can answer, fill out a form, wait for days for a response, or possibly even be ignored in the end. Besides being cost-effective, it’s also more time-efficient. By making a post and mentioning a business’ account with an @, or even sending a DM directly to a business’ social media page, everyone now has a better chance of receiving help and getting a response within a
fairly rapid amount of time.
If a business is seen as has having more availability and within a customer’s reach, they will be seen as more credible, engaging, and trustworthy. Having engagement with an audience makes the business seem honest and social, for lack of a better word. By being perceived as such and having these traits are things that a business should strive for when it comes to marketing themselves. There is so much more to gain this way, and a business doesn’t have to spend as much money while doing so either.
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References
Stonehocker, M. (2024, February 22). Why Businesses Need Social Media. alphagraphics. https://www.alphagraphics.com/us-utah-logan-us738/blog/blog/2024/02/why-businesses-need-social-media
Tedx Talks. (2018, October 30). How Social Media is changing the face of Marketing | Teresa Heath-Wareing | TEDxTelford. Tedx Talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekPGf3QeBlE&t=417s