There was a time where social media was purely used to stay in touch with family and friends.
As more and more people joined, it became clear there was potential for social media marketing due to the sheer amount of people utilising the platform.

Now, social media, especially Facebook, is recognised as one of the best marketing tools available.
It has enabled businesses to grow in ways they couldn’t have imagined.
If you’re not convinced, find five benefits of social media marketing below.
You will be jumping on the bandwagon in no time.

It increases brand recognition
It can be difficult to establish yourself in the marketplace, especially when foot traffic is slowing down in many parts of the country. How do you get your brand out there? How do you get your business to be on the minds of your potential customers when they require a service or product you offer? The answer is social media marketing. In a time where 74 percent of online adults use social media, it makes complete sense to break into the market to make yourself known.
Social media marketing can help you achieve this easily. Once you build your business Facebook page, you can easily start pushing your brand through paid adverts and organic growth.
The most important thing is to make sure you’re active online in order to slowly achieve that goal.

It helps to grow a long term and loyal customer base/audience

It can be a hard task to establish a loyal customer base, especially when there are potentially so many other businesses offering the same products and services as you.
By joining Facebook or other social media platforms, you can be on a level playing field with your competition. Keep your page active with information about your products and services and reap the benefits of a loyal customer base or audience who will be with you for the long haul.

It can increase website traffic
Many business owners battle with directing traffic to their website.
This can be made even harder if you don’t have good levels of search engine optimized content to direct people there from Google.
Social media marketing can help direct traffic to both your website and your Facebook business page. It’s about choosing the right ‘call to action’ button. For example, if you run a post with items for sale, you can opt to have a button which directs potential customers to your website.
The results can be astounding. However, you do need to spend money to make money.
The most effective way to get the best reach is by ‘boosting’ your post. You will need to pay money to reach as many people as possible.

You can experience more word-of-mouth referrals

Believe it or not, your online presence is being noticed by a range of people in your area.
The more you make yourself known online to people in your local area, the more your business name will come to mind. Businesses which are active online are generally more involved with what is going on around them. Customers notice and tend to follow that page to find out more.
It is also believed that over 70 percent of today’s business referrals come from social media.

It’s cheaper than other forms of marketing

Considering social media marketing is one of the most inexpensive forms of marketing, it’s actually one of the most effective. Gone are the days where businesses would sell their wares in newspapers and have people lining up to take advantage of a sale. Although it’s sad to see the newspaper losing its hold on marketing, it’s good to know there’s another form ready to step up.
Social media marketing is available in many forms, and there are many platforms on which you can advertise. The best part about social media marketing is you can track your results.
Unlike newspapers, billboards and radio advertising, social marketing enables you to find out what works and what doesn’t. You can tell if people are taking notice of what you’re posting and you can adapt it to suit.
There has never been a better way to get your business out in the public eye.