Incorporate Social Media in Your Business Now or Never

source: slideshare.net/PresentationAdvisors/social-media-for-business-5456817

Companies that shut itself from the digital world have so much to lose. Small businesses and entrepreneurs who haven’t adopted social media yet are missing out on the fun and the big picture of their (potential) market. 

Let’s consider some stats from various sources:

- 74% of consumers depend on social media when making purchase decisions. (Sprout Social)

- 71% of consumers are more likely to purchase based on social media referrals. 78% said companies’ social media posts impact their purchases. (Invesp)

- 4 in 10 social media users have purchased an item online or in-store after sharing or marking it as “Favorite” on their network: Facebook (38%), Pinterest (29%), and Twitter (22%). (Invesp)

- 50% of social media purchases take place within a week. 80% take place within three weeks. (Invesp)

- For online stores that use the Shopify ecommerce platform, Facebook is the dominant source of social traffic and e-commerce revenue, receiving 85% of all online orders from social media.

- Facebook drives 63% of all social media visits to Shopify stores. Pinterest is at far second with 13%. Coming in next are Twitter (10.5%), YouTube (8%), and Reddit (4.5%).

- Entertainment, social networking, and news website Reddit posted 152% increase in orders, the biggest among social media platforms in 2013. Facebook followed with 129%, LinkedIn 122%, and Pinterest 79%. (Shopify)

- Facebook’s conversion rate stands at 1.85%, the highest for all social media e-commerce traffic. Vimeo and YouTube convert at 1.16%, followed by Instagram (1.08%). (Shopify)

- Invesp listed six social media sites that are most likely to influence purchases: Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, and Twitter.

- 72.6% of salespeople who used social media as part of their sales process outperformed their peers and exceeded quota 23% more often. (Social Selling).

What’s the price for not joining social media or not using social media for your business? You probably missed plenty of opportunities to enhance your brand awareness. You probably bypassed thousands, if not millions, of potential customers who would have been interested in your product or service. By leaving your business out of social media or the digital world, you have missed your share of the $2.2 trillion made through eCommerce transactions in 2014.

Outsource Your Social Media

It’s not too late for SMEs to adopt social media as part of their eCommerce marketing strategy. Social networks just rolled out new eCommerce features to make it easier for retailers to sell their products. The important feature is the “Buy” button or link attached to the product images. As if it’s not enough, some networks also include social payment tools.

But should you set up an in-house team to handle your business’ social media activities? You don’t have to. Just as you have outsourced your sales and customer service to a call center company, you can also outsource social media to the experts. Outsourcing social media will help you make up lost ground, and this is the sensible way to gain traction in the digital marketplace.

By using social media for your business, you bring your brand closer to a generation who now purchases through their PC or mobile device, one that relies on product feedback and reviews on social networks. Social media is the new word of mouth.