5 overlooked social media benefits for businesses

1. Improved SEO and search visibility

Google has made it clear that they consider “social signals” in their ranking algorithms. The search giant has moved on from being heavily keyword-focused and now approaches ranking in a more user-friendly way.

With almost a third of the world using social media regularly, it’s inevitable that one day it will become a very important factor when ranking your website – just like mobile page speed became one in 2018.

If your company is just setting foot in the digital world, or if your SEO is not up to the standards, Google is likely to rank your social media profiles. Platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn have incredibly high authority, so they will give you some visibility in Google. It can be a nice bonus for an established company or a good first step for a smaller business.

2. Social media search engines

Google dominates the search landscape, but they’re not the only player. There are many other search engines… and there are also social media platforms.

If your business has social media profiles, there’s a good chance you’re sharing your content on these platforms. You might have heard about the story of someone posting an embarrassing search query on social media thinking it was Google. While this is more of a funny tale, it’s not far from the truth.

People don’t have to rely on Google. Considering how much time some of your prospects spend on social media, it’s often more convenient to find your business there.

3. Built-in analytic tools

Google Analytics is a powerful tool, but it has its drawbacks. Google has to respect the anonymity of its users, while on social media people voluntarily share personal information you can access using built-in reporting.

Sometimes this helps you profile your audience better than Analytics would, on top of monitoring the social media activity of your followers.

4. Engrave your brand in your followers’ minds

One of the top lead nurturing tips is to score multiple “touches” with your target audience. The more they see you, the better – even if it’s a fleeting interaction.

In 2016 Facebook reported that its users watch over 100 million hours of videos each day. An average person spends nearly 2 hours a day on social media and depending on the platform up to 71% visit it daily.

Depending on the quality of your content and considering that the algorithms vary between different platforms, it will expose your followers to your brand every day.

5. It’s a popular customer support channel

Providing customer support through social media has become an expectation rather than a nice-to-have feature. The instant nature of social platforms has made it one of the top choices in the eyes of customers seeking assistance.

Businesses can take advantage of that by meeting the customers’ expectations. Not only does it establish you as a trustworthy company with impressive response times (with the latter being showcased on business pages on Facebook), your customers will spend more the quicker they get your help.

Re-evaluate the ROI of your social media strategy (or lack thereof)

The not-so-obvious benefits of social media for businesses are easy to overlook. Businesses rarely take them into account when deciding whether to use or lose social media. In some cases, these five subtle benefits can sway the scale in your favour.