It goes without saying that the advent of social media has significantly reshaped the marketing landscape. But the question is, how useful is social media for businesses? In short, social media is very important for businesses as it offers numerous benefits like increased brand awareness, website traffic, and customer engagement while also allowing for cost-effective marketing.
Even if you are skeptical about the viability of social media marketing, you simply cannot deny just how many people use social media.
“Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2024, over five billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to over six billion in 2028”. – Stacy Jo Dixon
Summary
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Best Social Media Platform for Businesses
To reap the full benefits of marketing through social media, it is crucial to understand exactly what social media platform to use for your business needs:
Social Media Platform | Best For | Key Features | Statistics |
B2C, Local Businesses, E-commerce, Service-Based Industries | Business pages, Facebook Shops, Facebook Ads, Groups, Events | 58% of people learn about products/services on Facebook. | |
B2C, E-commerce, Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty, Creative Businesses | Stories, Reels, Instagram Shopping, Influencer Marketing | 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business. | |
B2B, Professional Services, Recruitment, Thought Leadership | Company pages, Professional groups, LinkedIn Ads, Publishing tools | 97% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn for their content marketing efforts. | |
Real-time Engagement, Customer Service, Trending Topics, News-Based Businesses | Twitter Threads, Hashtags, Twitter Ads, Customer service via DMs | 90% of customers are satisfied when their issues are resolved on Twitter (X). | |
TikTok | Younger Audiences (Gen Z), Creative Industries, Trend-Driven Campaigns | Short-form videos, Influencer marketing, TikTok Ads, Viral challenges | 49% of users are more likely to buy a product after seeing it on TikTok, which also led to “TikTok made me buy it”. |
Visual Inspiration, E-commerce, Interior Design, DIY Businesses | Rich Pins, Pinterest Ads, Idea Pins | 46% of people use Pinterest to discover new products weekly. | |
YouTube | Long-Form Video Content, Tutorials, Product Demos, Educational Content | YouTube Channels, YouTube Ads, Live streaming | Over 90% of people surveyed say they discover new brands or products on YouTube. |
Snapchat | Teens and Young Adults, Fun, Short-Term Campaigns | Geofilters, Sponsored Lenses, Stories | 55% of Snapchat users are aged 13-24. |
Download this table here.
10 Key Benefits of Social Media for Businesses
Now that you are familiar with what social media platform is right for specific use cases, here are the advantages of social media for business:
1. Increase Brand Awareness
With social media platforms offering a lot of tools and engagement opportunities, businesses can significantly increase their brand awareness.
Pro Tip: Stay consistent with your posting; however, avoid content dumping. Only share high-quality, shareable content and engage with followers to boost visibility. |
2. Humanize the Brand
Humanizing your brand is crucial, especially in 2025, as it builds trust, customer loyalty, and a meaningful connection with customers. This is where social media platforms play a huge role. Organizations can forge genuine human connections by introducing followers to the individuals behind the company and showcasing how existing customers benefit from their offerings.
3. Attract New Customers
Leveraging social media as a brand can help you gain authentic followers who are genuinely interested in your products or services.
Pro Tip: Utilize targeted ads and collaborate with influencers to reach new demographics. For B2B marketing focus on LinkedIn Ads. |
4. Build a Strong Brand Image
By engaging with customers and responding to concerns, businesses can build a positive online reputation and enhance their brand image.
5. Increase Website Traffic and Leads
Sharing compelling content with links to a business’s website or blog not only boosts the quantity of website traffic but also improves its quality, as visitors from social media are often already interested in the brand’s offerings due to their engagement with social content.
6. Cost-effective Marketing (Promotions)
Social media platforms has always been ideal tools to promote and tease new products and services. Helping brands easily create hypes and get their audience talking in a cost-effective manner compared to traditional marketing.
Did you know that 46% of Gen Zers use social media to discover new products and services?
7. Boost Sales
With integrated e-commerce capabilities like Instagram Shop and Facebook Marketplace, social accounts are increasingly becoming integral to the sales funnel. Specializing in social marketing can help businesses boost their sales and maximize revenue generation.
Pro Tip: Focus on SEO optimizing your social media e-commerce store and offer exclusive social media purchase discounts. |
8. Leverage Influencer Collaborations
Since collaboration is the core of social media platforms, brands can effectively leverage influencers to build trust, authority, and increase followers and engagement. As per studies, it is a quite an effective marketing strategy.
9. Instant Customer Support
The ability to directly communicate with the customers mean social media can also be used to provide instant support, address concerns, and engage with customers, offering a direct and often faster way to resolve issues and build relationships. Research supports this claim.
Pro Tip: Implement an AI chatbot to offer 24/7 customer support on social media. |
10. Establish B2B Connections
Much like collaborating with influencers, social media opens doors to establishing meaningful business relationships with other brands.
P.S. Looking for results-driven social media marketing? WebSpero Solutions is here to help.
Case Studies: Real-World Examples of Social Media Marketing Success
Numerous businesses, both large and small, have effectively leveraged social media to achieve significant growth. Let’s examine some of the social media marketing examples.
1. Barbie (Movie)
In 2023, Warner Brothers truly leveraged the power of social media. They introduced the Barbie Selfie Generator to utilize user-generated content for the upcoming movie.
This, combined with influencer and event marketing, led Barbie to $1 billion at the box office and Barbie peaking at 100 popularity in August 2023 according to Google Trends.
2. GoPro
GoPro’s Instagram account is approximately 90% user-generated content, and it currently has over 20 million followers.
In particular, GoPro’s Million Dollar Challenge was a picture-perfect social media marketing campaign.
This campaign generated a record 42,446 total video clip submissions, representing a 66% increase in submissions year-over-year.
3. Spotify
Spotify’s marketing department devised an ingenious way to make users market for it in 2015.
Unlike other brands that utilize social media for specific campaigns, Spotify Wrapped provides a personalized music profile for each user, which is easy to share on social platforms.
The results? In 2021, over 156 million users interacted with Spotify Wrapped.
Is Using Social Media a Good Idea for Business?
In conclusion, yes, using social media is very beneficial for businesses. It acts as a powerful and multifaceted toolkit, enabling businesses to grow in the digital landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing, or SMM, is the process of using social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to promote products or services, engage with customers, and drive traffic.
Should I use social media for my business?
Yes, we recommend that all businesses leverage at least one social media platform for brand awareness, increasing sales, and building trust.
Is social media beneficial for business?
Yes, SMM is very beneficial for businesses, especially if a business wishes to improve its brand image or launch a new product. Moreover, it is a cost-effective marketing tool compared to traditional marketing.
Why is social media important for business?
Social media is important for businesses as it increases brand awareness, website traffic, customer engagement, and boosts sales through targeted advertising and lead generation, all while being a cost-effective marketing tool.
How much does social media marketing cost?
The cost of social media marketing depends on many factors, such as:
- In-house or hiring an agency
- The scope of your campaign
- Usage of paid marketing
- Social media platform
And more.
How does social media help small businesses?
SMM can help small businesses by increasing brand awareness and recognition, building strong relationships with customers, driving traffic to their websites, and offering cost-effective advertising opportunities.