As a business owner, you might have a lot on your plate on a daily basis.

Between corralling clients, managing projects, handling your employees and the countless other aspects of running a business, maintaining an online presence might sometimes be a struggle. You may even think you don’t have enough time to actively manage your company’s social media accounts.

But consider this 2018 survey from the Pew Research Center that reviewed how many American adults are active on social media:

• 68 percent of U.S. adults actively use Facebook.
• 35 percent of U.S. adults actively use Instagram.
• 25 percent of U.S. adults actively use LinkedIn.
• 24 percent of U.S. adults actively use Twitter.

These numbers are quite significant. Many of your existing customers, along with potential customers that could be interested in what your business offers, are likely active on social media.

To answer the question posed in this blog’s headline: If you want your business to be competitive in 2019 – regardless of whether you’re a custom integration firm, a manufacturer or even a restaurant – it’s highly recommended that you are active on social media. Below, we explain why.

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Engage With Existing Followers

Let’s first talk about your current audience – the followers on your existing social media pages. These are people or other businesses that are already familiar with what you offer; a significant portion of that audience likely includes previous customers.

By staying active on social media and posting updates on recent projects, sharing blog posts or exciting news about the newest inventory, you are able to continually raise brand awareness.

People who “like” or “follow” your pages easily will be able to view those updates from your company. Your posts will show up in their newsfeeds. Your company will be top-of-mind, even if you have not had much interaction with that person or other business in years. And that’s a big deal.

If a previous client comes across your social media post and then recalls how your business helped him or her previously, it could be the inspiration for them to reach out and reignite that partnership.

Expand Your Business To New Audiences

In addition to using social media to stay engaged with your existing audience, you also can use social media as a tool to expand your brand.
One way to accomplish this is to include relevant hashtags in your posts. Consider that some people might search hashtags for content they are particularly interested in whether that is solution-based such as #hometheater or #smarthome, or brand-based, such as #Sony or #Lutron.

Through posting content that includes hashtags related to the content you are posting, you are expanding your post’s reach beyond your existing audience and to people who are already searching for those hashtags online.

Another way to expand your business’ reach is through paid social media advertisements. On Facebook, for example, you can create sponsored Facebook posts targeted to your ideal audience. You can control who sees your ads based on:

• Location (including by a zip code’s average income)
• Age
• Gender
• Interests and more

Best of all, these paid posts will show up toward the top of newsfeeds as “sponsored” posts, guaranteeing people will see what your business has to say.

Each Social Media Platform Is Different

It might be obvious, but not every social media platform is the same, and the types of content you need to post to be successful varies across each platform.

On Instagram, for example, you need to ensure the content you are posting contains visually-engaging photos. On LinkedIn, you might want your content to build relationships with potential trade partners. On Twitter, you have to battle a 280-character limit for each post.

By understanding the differences between each social media platform, you can craft relevant content that best engages your audience on each account.

What Can You Do To Be Active On Social Media?

For much of this blog post, we have explained why it’s essential for your business to be active on social media. But how can you make the time to actually commit to social media?

If you have the scheduling flexibility, block out some time every week to maintain your social media accounts – preferably an hour or two a week. Or, you can delegate social media tasks to other members of your staff.

The One Firefly team is here to help, too. We have a dedicated team of social media experts here to maintain your company’s accounts – from Facebook or LinkedIn to Instagram or Twitter and beyond.

We even can coordinate Facebook advertising campaigns that range from increasing website clicks to building up page likes and engagement to even dedicated campaigns for native lead generation.

Want to find out more about One Firefly’s custom social media services? Reach out to our team today by chatting live with us below or contacting us here.

We look forward to hearing from you!