Business. Social Media for Your. The Importance of. A brief guide to: -Social Media Platforms -Advantages of Social Media -Social Media Do s & Don ts

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1 The Importance of Social Media for Your Business A brief guide to: -Social Media Platforms -Advantages of Social Media -Social Media Do s & Don ts PRODUCTS OF HERSHEY CREAMERY CO. - NOT AFFILIATED WITH HERSHEY S CHOCOLATE

2 Pinterest Facebook Instagram Twitter CENTERS ON DISCOVERY & SHARING 96% of USERS ACCESS Facebook via SMART PHONE ALL ABOUT SHARING PICTURES & 60 SECOND VIDEOS MICRO BLOGGING SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE Top 3 Categories: 1. food & drink 2. diy & crafts 3. home decor 20% MALE Users are: 80% FEMALE users share 1 MILLION LINKS every 20 minutes of U.S. residents use Facebook SEVERAL TIMES A DAY # companies market through the use of HASHTAGS POSTS USING AT LEAST ONE HASHTAG RECEIVE 12.6% MORE ENGAGEMENT THAN POSTS EXCLUDING THEM 25% of Instagram ads are single videos There Are Over 69 MILLION Twitter Users In The ON AVERAGE 350,000 TWEETS HAPPEN PER MINUTE 200 MILLION 2.2 BILLION 1 BILLION 336 MILLION

3 Advantages of Social Media for BUSINESSES What is the value of having a social presence online? 82% of smartphone users use a search engine when looking for a local business more than HALF of near me searches result in a store visit more than 70% of Americans use social media mobile searches for where to buy frozen desserts have gone up 470% social media reaches ALL AGES & DEMOGRAPHICS 52% of people WORLDWIDE use social media 78% of businesses now get at least ONE QUARTER of new customers via social media 35% of Americans check brand pages regularly 78% of consumers said that social media posts impact their buying decisions 71% of consumers who have had a good social media experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others 90% of business owners say their social marketing efforts have increased exposure for their business Save money! Social media marketing is significantly cheaper than traditional marketing 81% of consumers agree that recommendations and posts from friends & family directly influenced their buying decisions

4 Social Media Share high quality visual content Less words get more engagement. Four times as many consumers prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it. And high-quality images make it much more likely for a post to be viewed, as well as shared with others. Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than tweets without images. Respond to consumers Almost HALF of consumers prefer to purchase from brands that are responsive to their customers on social media. Make your best effort to reply to each comment, review, and message. Most folks expect a response within four hours, the average wait time is a whopping 10 hours. By then, about a third of customers have already moved on to a competitor. Be aware of current events When something newsworthy is taking place in real-time, people take to social media to check in with loved ones and to glean facts about what s happening. This is not a good time to post because chances are high that your post will be overlooked and/or drowned out by posts referencing the events happening. Use hashtags properly The use of # s varies by platform. Before using them, do research on the proper way to use them for that particular social outlet. Don t post just to post Make your posts meaningful. Your content should always be engaging and you shouldn t just try to sell, sell, sell. 51% said they would unfollow brands on social media if they posted too frequently. Don t be combative when responding to negative reviews Your response to an unfair review is not so much a response to the reviewer, it s a public means of showing potential customers that you re not only reasonable, but you re committed to customer service. You may not be able to change the original reviewer s mind, but you do win the opportunity to influence the opinion of potential customers. Don t downplay the importance videos 1/3 of the time people spend online is devoted to watching videos. 90% of customers say videos help make buying decisions and 64% often buy a product online after watching a video about it. Don t write robotically Using social media professionally can be a challenge because you feel you have to adjust your tone to be more professional. But you should be conversational. Your tone should be relaxed yet informative. Give it some oomph! If you re too stuffy or use too much jargon, your customers are going to scroll right by your content. Speak as if you re talking to them in person.

5 Okay, so we ve just thrown a lot of information at you! You ve learned all about the most popular social media platforms, and who uses them. You ve seen real-time statistics and numbers that back up the importance of a social media presence. And you ve learned some basic do s and don ts. I bet now you re thinking, What do I do now? The answer is put all of that great information to use and become active in social media! Below are some links to great info to help you get started. We have started to develop some social media guides just for our Dealers! You can find Intro to Facebook for Businesses, Advanced Guide to Facebook for Businesses, and a brief introduction to Hershey s Yelp Program on our Dealer Site ( If you do not yet have a Dealer Site account, you can sign up for one here: Below are informative links from the 4 platforms we discussed in this infographic. The first for each is how to create an account and the second is tips and advice on using the account: