Social Media is a very powerful tool: with billions of users worldwide, social media platforms offer an unparalleled opportunity to reach out to potential customers, build brand awareness, and engage with your audience. It is impossible to ignore the power that Social Media holds over us and how we interact with others; however, even knowing the impact of Social Media, not everyone has embraced Social Media, and some still operate without any online presence.
What Does not Having Social Media do to a Business?
Nowadays, having no Social Media presence is like opening a business and hiding it under a rock expecting a miracle to happen. Not having Social Media presence will translate into:
- Missed opportunities
- Lack of brand awareness
- Negative Brand Perception
- Customer Service Deficiencies
- Limited Audience Insights
Missed Opportunities
An obvious consequence of not being on Social Media is the fact that you are missing out on potential business opportunities. With 72% of American adults using at least one Social Media platform as of 2021, Social Media platforms are a tool for personal and business networking. With a well-crafted strategy, Social Media will allow you to reach out to potential customers, engage with your audience, and drive traffic to your website. It might be hard to connect with your audience if you are not on Social Media, and you might be on the right track to losing out on potential sales.
Lack of Brand Awareness
Social media is a powerful tool for building brand awareness. Creating and sharing content that resonates with your audience can help you increase your visibility. Making your business as accessible as possible will help traffic and conversions: 70% of consumers will go to a store because of the information they find online.
Without a presence on social media, you may struggle to get your brand in front of potential customers. The lack of visibility can be detrimental, especially if you operate in a competitive market.
Negative Brand Perception
In addition to missing out on potential business opportunities and lacking brand awareness, not being on social media can also create a negative brand perception. Customers today expect businesses to have an online presence, and if a business is not on social media, it may be perceived as outdated, unprofessional, or even suspicious. Remember when we talked about Social Validation? This negative perception can damage a business’s reputation and make it difficult to attract new customers.
Poor Customer Service
Social media platforms have become an increasingly popular channel for customer service as people often turn to social media to ask questions, report issues, or provide feedback. Voice interactions between businesses and the potential customer are declining as the generations that grew up in the digital age have adopted alternate forms of communication: 75% of millennials avoid phone calls as they’re time-consuming.
Without an online presence, it might be difficult to monitor and respond to customer inquiries in a timely and effective manner which can lead to frustrated customers and potentially negative reviews.
Limited Audience Insights
Back in the 60s, gathering insights about your clients and audiences was a massive task. Business intelligence was based on very fragmented data that was sold and passed from business to business and required a lot of work and skills to get useful information out of the databases available. Social media platforms offer a wealth of data about user demographics, behavior, and preferences. This information can help you better understand your target audience and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.
From missed opportunities to negative brand perception, not having social media presence will make you struggle to compete in today’s digital landscape. Social Media is now a critical component of marketing strategies.
