How Differing Digital Sectors Can Benefit From Social Media
Walking down the street, sitting on the train, cozying up on the sofa at home, or enjoying a well deserved bite to eat during the lunch hour; all of these are (admittedly rather domestic) pastimes that we can all attest to have experienced a few times during the past week, but they’re also all times during which we were probably connected to or interacting with social media. Buzzfeed, Facebook, Twitter and the like all have exploded in popularity as smartphones and internet connections have spread across the world. Facebook has nearly 1.5 billion users, WhatsApp has 800 million, Twitter has 316 million, Buzzfeed has 130 million. These figures speak volumes, perhaps most poignantly for business owners, but just how can different business sectors benefit from the modern love of all things social?
E-Commerce
Whatever an e-commerce site is selling, be it a fashion retailer or a purveyor of cutting edge technology, an engagement with social media can truly pay dividends. Through social media, a literal world of customers is opened up. By opening your own page on social networks you can advertise and market your business and products to the right demographics, afford your present customers the ability to share your pages with friends if they particularly enjoy the service, and finally, by keeping an eye on the pages of successful competitors, you can learn of the newest and most popular trends in your given e-commerce sector. Etsy, an online supplier of all things vintage, is a perfect example of using social media; the site’s sellers use social media greatly to advertise their digital storefronts.
Entertainment
It often seems as if the internet was built for the provision of entertainment, and this is indeed very true. Entertainment businesses can gain some of the greatest returns by engaging with social media, primarily through content engagement – driving up user, viewer and player numbers through posting interesting content pertinent to the entertainment being offered. Take online gaming site Royal Vegas Casino, a site that has boosted customer numbers by posting interesting content on a variety of social media sites, and used this content to analyze its social media approach. Royal Vegas uses social search tools such as Google Analytics to see which posts are resulting in increased online footfall, using this information to craft a more cohesive and hard hitting social media strategy that turns clicks into profits.
Service Providers
Whether you run an energy company, utilities provider or travel service, social media’s most important use is for improving the provision of customer service and feedback. AirAsia is adept at this use of social media; the company replies to practically every comment it receives on its social pages, answering queries, noting issues and generally making itself seem less of a faceless business, and one that is far more customer friendly.
Small Businesses
Plumber? Carpenter? Gardener? You might think that social media is purely for big business, but it’s definitely not. By setting up a page and being engaged with your pages, you can enjoy practically all of the benefits outlined in the above sections, all for free. Promotions can also be displayed to customers and followers, boosting profits as a result.
