Social media is where more people spend their time online than on any other type of website. There are over 5 BILLION users on various social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, and more. Social media isn’t going away anytime soon and is ONLY growing in usage and popularity. This is why businesses must learn how to leverage social media channels to promote themselves and generate more sales, brand awareness, and engagement.

If you are looking for a way to connect with your target audience, you must understand not only the importance of social media but also how to properly leverage it for your specific business, market, and target demographic.

Statistics Don’t Lie

First of all, let’s break down the statistics of social media platforms and the activity that each of them get.

• Facebook has over 3 billion (yes, you read that right. 3,000,000,000) monthly active users.
• Instagram has over 2 billion active users monthly and 500 million daily.
• TikTok has grown RAPIDLY, also with 2 billion registered users worldwide.
• LinkedIn, more so for businesses and professionals, has over 1 billion users across the globe.
• Reddit, another growing platform, has surpassed 500 million users as of 2024.

The use of social media on mobile devices has grown by 30% every year for the past several years and it’s only growing! Additionally, over 3 million businesses are using Facebook advertising as a way to promote products and services.

Social Advertising

Facebook Ads is one of the most effective forms of advertising available today. Social media advertising, in general, has grown considerably since 2015. It allows you to establish your target audience, including the gender, age range, and geographic location of who you want to see your ads. Additionally, you can target specific likes, such as hobbies and industries. From there, it takes on the form of pay-per-click advertising, allowing you to control how much you spend in order to penetrate the social media platform. People can click on the ads and be taken directly to your website, a landing page, or even your Facebook page.

You get to enjoy targeted reach as well as lower ad costs. Plus, you get to experience real-time performance analysis so that you know what is and isn’t working to continue to improve your return on investment each time you place an ad.

Business Pages

You can set up business pages on the social media platforms at no expense. It’s a chance to connect with people who do a search for a product or service that you offer. You can make posts regularly to share details about what’s going on. Plus, you get real user reviews. Many consumers want to read reviews on businesses before deciding who to buy from. Social media allows for unbiased reviews because real users can go onto the business page to leave reviews.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization and social media go hand-in-hand. There is a higher chance of being found on a web search because social media websites dominate the front page of search engine result pages. Although social spheres have no impact on the ranking of a website, social media profiles do. This ensures that if you create profiles on various social media platforms, you will be seen more readily within the search engine result pages.

Brand Exposure

You can enjoy a significant amount of brand exposure using social media. It is a stress-free and profitable platform that will allow you to gain a greater level of visibility. You can start by creating profiles. From there, you begin networking with others. Even using hashtags that are associated with your industry can help to increase traffic. Applying various social media strategies will also help you to increase brand recognition. By posting on a regular basis, you can heighten the user experience and ensure that more people know about you. Your audience can expand week after week.

There is simply no other form of advertising that is going to do for you what social media will. It allows you to have an online presence where you can engage with your target audience. It’s cost-effective to use and free to get started.

For more information on how social media can help your business grow, contact Intero Digital.

Daniel Esquivel is VP of paid media at Intero Digital, a full-service digital marketing agency that offers comprehensive, results-driven marketing solutions to help clients achieve unprecedented growth.