Building a successful social media presence is not an easy job, it requires patience, persistence, and a good level of knowledge of technology. Not to mention the abundance of choice when choosing platforms. Is Instagram for you or should you put your efforts into Tik Tok, Twitter or Pinterest?
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However, what many clients/individuals usually want to know is if it is worth it.
The answer to this question is: IT DEPENDS
Time is of the essence here and considering that being a small business owner often means, you will have to juggle job roles and look after different aspects of the work – there may be no time to do it all or do it well enough to see results. Also, with heightened success stories floating around – like how one good post can generate millions of followers and scale your business through the roof – it may seem like an easy job on hand. However, the truth is that without putting in hard work and consistent, clear messaging it is very unlikely that your social media will achieve the goals you set.
On the other hand, if you have a clear vision and strategy about your marketing and goals or potentially even have the budget to hire someone to look after your business, magical things can happen. Thus it can be truly WORTH it. Here is why:
CLOSE INTERACTION WITH CUSTOMERS
Having the ability to reach out to your customers and vice versa is a great advantage, especially for small business owners. Interactions can create a strong bond that can last for years. This in turn can lead to a strong community that will create a following that has trust, gives recommendations, supports the brand and buys your products and services.
IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK
Being active on social media means you can ask your customers questions directly. The ability to reach out is a great way to get immediate feedback, ask for advice and opinions or even get ideas for your next product, service, or campaign.
CREDIBILITY CHECK
According to recent studies, more customers are researching brands on Instagram, meaning that having a weak or non-existent social media presence can drive customers away. With the technology at our fingertips, it is so easy to find another, similar company that might put a bit more effort in their social media presence thus losing business to them.
SHARING EXPERIENCES
Sharing experiences, such as having food, on social media is such a norm these days and not enabling it or not being part of the experience might just mean you are missing out on an opportunity. Customer experiences help businesses understand better what sells, what people want and who their customers are.
DISCOVERY
With one generous post from an account with greater flowing or an influencer story mentioning your food business it is now easier than ever to be noticed without spending enormous resources on advertising. If you produce quality content day in day out, the chances of this happening exponentially increase.
To summarise, having a successful, well-balanced and targeted social media presence for a small food business is definitely WORTHY because it is a great way to increase brand visibility, discoverability and building community. However, navigating through this jungle requires patience, flexibility, time and a special skillset which are all important to consider before jumping into building your next campaign.
References
How to choose the right social media platform for your business
Finding brands on Instagram – credibility check