From Esther Suhasini 
New Delhi, Jul 25 (KNN)  Regardless of whether you have a storefront business or not, you need to have a virtual one, considering the number of people active on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ these days.

Social media presence can help build your brand and establish it by enhancing brand loyalty with existing customers and at the same time attract new ones.

“It is a non-traditional method of advertising by which you can broadcast your message to several thousands of followers who show interest in your product,” said Director and Promoter of Bengaluru based Paarmita Sofware and Consulting Private Ltd, P Chandrasekaran.

“On social networking sites, people subscribe to certain interests, be it a person, a product or a service.  Therefore, your product will be delivered to whoever shows interest in it,” he added.

Take for instance plastic and steel; each of them has a whole range of products.  While the organisation selling steel will have dedicated sections describing their products, prices, availability in India and abroad, price volatility and policy, the organisation making plastic would have similar sections. 

“Both steel and plastic may have 100,000 followers each.  But a customer will only receive information about the product he has subscribed to,” Chandrasekaran said.

Social media presence therefore addresses a target audience’s interest.  That way, you are assured of more hits than misses.  Thus, it is an effective way to spread the word about your business and increase brand awareness. 

Significantly, although social media may not lead to increase in sales, it should result in lead generation, according to the IT expert.   In India however, not more than 20 per cent of business units use social media for advertising.

The most common social media sites used in India are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus.

With an estimated 1.1 billion users, Facebook presence is vital.  Considering that the number of users is constantly growing, undoubtedly, your customers are on it.  Unlike what is commonly perceived, it has many seniors using it; it is not just for the youth. 

If you would like Facebook users to see your business, you will first have to create a page for your business, and get people to ‘like’ it.  However, you will need to keep a separate business page and not your personal Facebook profile.  There is no need for potential customers to see your personal pictures.

But to attract more likes, you may have to buy a Facebook advertisement.  You can even choose the audience you want to reach, based on their location, age, gender or interests and have the ad customised.   It is worth going through the tips that Facebook offers on how businesses can use the social media network online at Facebook.com/business.

“Advertising on social media is far less than print media or TV,” Chandrasekaran said.

LINKEDIN on the other hand has 225 million users in 2013 in more than 200 countries.  While the site is popular for job seekers with information on businesses, recruitment and HR; it can also be used by small business owners who can create a company page on the online professional networking service.

You can add contact info, products and other information about your business to the company page. LinkedIn has videos and guides on how to set up a company page at http://linkd.in/12Vun9E.

Meanwhile, TWITTER with over 200 million users, has a big following.  It is often used as a platform by opinion leaders and politicians to air their views.  However, businesses can follow people or companies that they think will be interested in their business; because opinion leaders are likely to check their page to see who is following them. 

Businesses can also use the site to deal with customer complaints, or to thank people who say good things.  Twitter's guide for small businesses can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/12L2XlS.

Google+ is a multilingual social networking and identity service with approximately 359 million active users.  It is the second-largest social networking site in the world, having surpassed Twitter in January 2013.

Google Plus helps you build new connections, find new interesting people and discover content.  It is designed to let you define exactly what you want to see and from whom.  You can control who sees what you post.

Having said that, is there a downside of using social media? 

“Well, just as in traditional advertising, all customers may not respond to your page or necessarily buy your product.  However, you need to have the infrastructure to handle queries and convert them into orders,” Chandrasekaran adds.

Secondly, the site needs to be monitored, queries responded to, so that you don’t miss a potential customer.

But first, you have to make your business shine virtually.  A lot goes into a business, even a small one and the same can be said for a business website.

It should tell others everything they need to know about your business, from who you are to what you do and what you have to offer. Regardless of how active you are on social media, your website should sit at the center of your online marketing strategy, and it needs to be eye-catching, user-friendly and clear in its message.

A regular stream of helpful, relevant online content plays a role in finally convincing a prospect to cut that purchase order. (KNN)

Feedback: newsdesk@knnindia.co.in