First published in
Thriving Women In Business
By Debbie Mrazek

Many of us have come to believe that any time we spend on social media is a waste of time. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Social media has opened new doors and marketing techniques that have proven to be beneficial for businesses. The only thing is, you have to commit to them in order to reap the benefits. As with any type of marketing campaign, you need to commit to it in order for it to be effective. While you may not notice immediate results through social media, as you continue to build your fan base and become more active you will soon notice that your audience is responding.

For this article we are going to focus on the most popular and widely used social media site, Facebook. Many businesses that are a part of this social network have seen their sales dramatically increase. This is because Facebook allows you to give your company a voice and a personality. Rather than simply being a logo on a webpage, your business becomes approachable. It now has a voice and can interact and communicate with your customers.

As your customers discover that you are now on this social media platform, you will notice that you are gaining followers and they are now interacting with each other on your page. As a business owner, this is marketing magic. Your customers now have a platform in which they can express their opinions about your products or services. But, you should not simply observe the interaction taking place on your page, you need to get involved. Customers love it when businesses respond to their comments. It makes them feel that their opinion really does matter and that you care about what is being said about your business.

Social media also allows businesses to offer special promotions that are only available to their followers. This is another way to make your loyal customers feel rewarded and singled out from others. You may want to consider offering your followers a coupon code or discount that can only be seen by them. Not only does this reward them for their loyalty, it also gets them to visit your website.

Facebook can also be used as marketing tool to promote a new product or service that your company may be offering. Using your Facebook page as a marketing tool allows you to promote your new products and services for free to all of your followers. If you product of service is beneficial or innovative, your content may be shared by your followers which can then increase your online visibility.

You do not have to limit yourself to only using Facebook, there are other social media platforms that have been shown to be just as effective. You may want to consider implementing YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram into your marketing plans. They can help you reach millions of potential customers which can help increase your sales dramatically.