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Why a strong social media presence is crucial for new businesses

Founding a small business is a monumental undertaking, and it requires lots of patience, hard work, and capital. Unsurprisingly, there are a number of different factors to consider when creating a startup. New business owners have to manage everything from finding an office space, to registering a website, to making hires all in a relatively short space of time. The bad news is that, almost inevitably, this means that some vital areas may be ignored when a small business officially launches. One such thing that businesses cannot afford to overlook, though, is social media. Indeed, no company can reasonably expect to succeed in any significant way without a strong social media presence. Don’t believe us? Here are five reasons why growing companies require effective social media support:

Credibility

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Credit: sweetym

Consumers rely on social media pages to contact businesses and other organizations. However, if a company doesn’t have a Facebook or Twitter account –– or if the account is underdeveloped or totally unresponsive –– it’s likely that customers will lose some (if not all) esteem they held for that given company. Simply put, not having at least an adequate social-media presence can act to damage brand reputation.

Growth Potential

Many new businesses rely on face-to-face meetings and word-of-mouth reviews to attract their first clients/customers. And while there are many benefits to networking to promote your business, eventually these old-fashioned techniques reach a limit. Conversely, companies that utilize social media tools to their full potential have a much better chance of increasing their customer base in a significant way.

Website Visibility

It doesn’t make much sense to create professional, engaging blog posts if you’re not then going to share them on social media. In short, active social media pages can help businesses generate meaningful traffic for their website, and ultimately, close sales as a result.

Consistency

New businesses with multiple locations need to ensure that they maintain social media compliance across the board. Two or more accounts that contain conflicting information or outdated branded material can act to confuse and irritate potential customers.

Profitability

It costs a business next to nothing to set up and manage a few social media accounts. Yet, at the same time, the potential benefits a company can receive as a result of positive interactions with customers on platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be invaluable. At the end of the day, there’s no good reason not to have a social media presence. Even relatively low-key efforts on social media can prove beneficial for growing businesses. And the good news is, the more business leaders choose to invest in social media, the better their returns from it will be as a result!

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