I’m writing this blog in the last hour of Social Media Day 2016 – it’s the only hour today that I haven’t been fully immersed in the world that is social media

Mashable launched Social Media Day in 2010 as a way to recognize and celebrate social media’s impact on global communication

And what an impact – Social Media really has changed my life, changed local businesses lives and changed our way of life

Social Media is such a part of our daily routine that many questioned “Why do we need a Social Media Day as every day is a social media day” – but like many national awareness days, it acts as a reminder about why the subject is so important

It’s important for small businesses out there that we don’t come complacent and we don’t forget how important social media is for businesses

Here’s a reminder about why it’s important for you and YOUR customers

People Consume local news on Social Media
“More than half of online users get their news from Facebook and other social media platforms, refusing to pay for news and using ad-blocking, which hurts publishers’ revenue” Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ)

That’s the official line on a study commissioned this year

But you knew that right? Because you’re the very same people they’re talking about

Think about where you normally hear about local news – new business openings, business closures, council updates, community events

You’re consuming it daily on the scrolling newsfeed finding about local news in real time

You are no longer having to wait till Thursday or Friday each week to find out in the local newspaper

And you’re no longer consuming the adverts in the printed papers that local businesses are paying for

Consumers See Social Media as a Valid Communication Platform
“Research from JD Power finds that an estimated 67% of consumers now tap networks like Twitter and Facebook for customer service”

“Further, Nielsen has found that 33% of customers even prefer to contact brands using social media rather than the telephone”

These are 2 great stats compiled on Social Media Today about Customer Service and Social Media (Read in full here – http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/24-statistics-show-social-media-future-customer-service )

We are living in the social media age and we need to be where our customers are interacting and looking to feed back to us

About once a year there’s that moment where somebody asks you to send something by fax rather than email and you give a huge sigh and think why why why

The same sighs are happening when consumers realise they can’t contact a company via social media

And those customers are then looking for competitors who offer open communication on social media

Social Media Marketing Is Marketing In To People’s Spare Moments
All we are doing as marketers is marketing into people’s spare moments

Chances are you read this blog because you were scrolling through Twitter / Facebook / LinkedIn when you had a spare 10 minutes

The average person in the UK picks up their phone 150 times a day – those moments on public transport, those moments on a lunch break, those moments when your colleagues are running 10 minutes late for a meeting, the TV ad breaks. when out with friends and family members. Even on the toilet

As marketers that’s what we’re marketing into – the space, the quiet and the spare moments

But what that can mean is customers get to spend with you rather than the competition

One post can literally mean cash in tills where it be £5 or £10,000

Social media isn’t just part of life – it is life
“For this generation, social media is where they make sense of the world. It is increasingly where everything that is important to them is taking place. Going online is no longer the thing you do to take a break from real life. It is real life” reported The Guardian recently

It was an article on teenagers use of Social Media and yet i’d argue that this is applicable to “every generation” from teenagers to
grandparents

The genie is out of the bottle

CHAT TO US
Chat to about Social Media for YOUR business so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your business

We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting to you

Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk

Alex

Alex McCann is owner of Altrincham HQ – a social media management and training company based in Altrincham, Cheshire that has worked with 100s of local business developing their social media strategy. Alex has 500+ LinkedIn testimonials and is Ranked Number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK via independent customer reviews on Freeindex.