Times have changed. Sending a letter or spinning your finger around a rotary dial phone are no longer the only ways to get in touch with someone. The digital world is growing and consumers are growing with it. People all over the globe are engaged in all kinds of social media outlets which means your business should be too, and there many reasons why social media is important for businesses.

Consumers are already on social media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google+, you name it, they’re using it. This means that your business should be using social media, too. According to a 2011 report by Neilson, Americans spend nearly a quarter of their online time on social networks and blogs. http://bmighty2.com/why-is-social-media-important-for-small-businesses/. If you want a chance to connect with your consumers in a way that will resonate with their needs and wants, being on social media is important for your business to thrive.

It gives your business a competitive advantage

It does this by increasing brand recognition and loyalty from consumers. Imagine a customer scrolling through Twitter and they stumble across an advertisement for your company. Just like that, your brand image is in the back of the consumers’ mind. The power of social media is important for businesses to create a positive image of their brand.

Feedback through social media is important for businesses 

Feedback allows your brand to connect with your consumers on a personal level. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have given brands and companies the ability to create a personal relationship with their consumers because of the ability to directly respond to consumer’s praise and complains about a brand. Quickly. Speed is everything. Timelines and dashboards are uploading faster than you can type, which means there needs to be someone in charge of responding to customers as soon as possible. Creating a personal nuance for your brand will make consumers much more engaged with your products and messaging. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-marketing/#5adecab82a4d.

Get with the times, people. Every day something new is popping up in the digital world. Your company must understand the importance of and have a grasp on social media if they want to succeed and have an advantage over their competitors. So, throw out that rotary dial phone and starting connecting with consumers the right way.