Building a social media presence is no walk in the park. At minimum, you need a website, business listing, and at least one social media account. If you want to rank on search engines, you’ll need at least your SEO basics, plus ongoing support to keep your brand on the SERPs.
For some businesses, this is all they can take on. Lack of resources or staff can make spreading your presence further difficult if not impossible.
Because of this, many brands choose to limit their social media presence to one or two channels. While this is a good way to ensure you’re not spreading yourself too thin, a lack of presence across all available platforms can end up being bad for business.
In this article, we’ll explain the benefits of being present on multiple social media platforms. We’ll also explain how social media channels affect your SEO and how you can leverage this to improve your online traffic.
The benefits of being present on multiple social media platforms
We all know social media is a great place to promote your business, largely because of the immense volume of users seen on each platform.
Globally, over 3.6 billion people use social media. The top platforms (ranked by number of active users) are Facebook, Youtube, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Instagram follows closely behind, with over 1 billion active monthly users.
But that’s not all. In 2020, Twitter reported an average of 187 million monetizable daily active users. Also in 2020, Pinterest say its monthly active users grow 37%. Linkedin has over 722 million users in more than 200 countries.
Clearly, being present on social media means opening up your business to (literally) billions of new customers.
So, what’s stopping you?
Obviously, you can’t just set up a social media profile and expect to start making more sales.
Effective social media means creating content, leveraging paid media, and staying relevant against your competitors. If you want to start selling products on social commerce, that’s a whole new ballpark, and an entirely new strategic arena to navigate.
That being said, there are some clear benefits to being pressent on multiple social media platforms. From expanding your audiences, to harnessing your SEO, and even improving your customer service standards, having a robust social media presence offers significant advantages to your business.
Here are four reasons why your business needs to be present on multiple social media platforms.
1. If you’re absent on social media, you may be missing key audience members
It’s highly unlikely that your audience is concentrated on one social media channel, which means if you aren’t present on multiple platforms, you’re missing key target demographics with your marketing.
Not to mention, as social channels evolve, so do their users. So, even if you were originally catering to a Facebook crowd, you might find success on TikTok, Instagram, or even Pinterest.
It’s important to experiment with new social media channels as well as their features in order to stay relevant to your current and future customers. Even if you think you won’t resonate with a specific social audience, it doesn’t hurt to try. Opening your brand up to new audiences can be an important step in solidifying your brand longevity.
2. Being present on multiple social platforms improves your SEO
Social media platforms are some of the most authoritative websites in the world. Usually, social media accounts are the first, second, and third results in a search engine results page.
As well, social media accounts are content hubs-- and SEO runs on content. The more high-quality, engaging content you have online, the better your chances of turning up in search.
This means that the more social platforms you are on, and the more you post high-quality content on them, the more likely you are to rank high. Even if you don’t have the resources to post content on every channel, simply having your brand name on multiple social media websites will act as a organic backlink for your brand.
3. You should be where your competitors are
Every time you choose not to be on a certain social media platform, you’re giving your competitors another arena to succeed in.
It’s a good idea to check out where your competitors are present, and where they aren’t. If you see them doing well on a platform you haven’t tried yet, it may be worth getting in there and making yourself known. Similarly, if you see potential in a social media platform that your competitors haven’t broken into yet, jump in there. You may just find an untapped market that’s just waiting for a brand like yours.
4. You can provide better customer experiences with an increased social presence
Your brand’s reputation rests on how well you can serve your customers. If you aren’t present where they are, you may risk losing a valuable moment of feedback or concern.
Customers who can’t reach the brands they engage with become frustrated and this can result in lost leads. They may also talk badly about your brand on other platforms, which you won’t see if you aren’t there.
Being present on multiple social media platforms gives you more opportunities to communicate with your customers and fix any issues before they become public. It also allows you to reach out to more customers and build better relationships by using communication methods they are comfortable with.
Help your brand stand out online
If you want to improve your SEO, get your website the traffic it deserves, and reach more qualified customers across the globe, then you need to be present on social media.
While not every social media channel is appropriate for every brand, it’s important to be as visible as possible online to improve your chances of being noticed.
Here are the biggest takeaways:
- Consider where your competitors are and how they are performing there
- Experiment with new channels and features as much as possible
- Make sure your brand is widely available for customer feedback
- Remember that social channels affect SEO
Looking to grow your social media presence but don’t know where to start? Contact us to get your next social media marketing strategy started.
