By Kuda Celestial, Editor at Celestial Publications
As technology continue to grow, the world continue to shrink. Communication that used to be very slow, now by just one click, instantly you can reach anyone from anywhere in the world. Still that same click can reach millions if not billions of people in a small space of time. The emergency of social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, WhatsApp and many others has made it possible for communication to be super-fast.
In a technological era entrepreneurs must not lag behind in exploiting these facilities for their own benefits. You know what? If you haven’t begun social media marketing you are not only lagging behind, slowly but surely you are getting out of business. In this article I will show you five top reasons why every entrepreneur must leverage social media marketing. Let’s straightway get into the minutiae thereof.
1. Affordability
Social Media marketing is cost effective. Most of these platforms wont charge you anything to place an ad unless if you want to make it an sponsored ad. All you will pay for is internet connections or data bundles only. While the traditional marketing platforms such as newspapers will charge an average of $8 for an 11 words ad. Now you don’t need an accountant to come and tell you that this is very expensive compared to social media marketing. You don’t only save your pocket, you save time as well.
2. Minimum restrictions To say they’re no restrictions in social media marketing that will be too louse. Restrictions can be there but very minimum. You can market almost anything, from anywhere, anytime on social media. Unlike on traditional platforms, each ad undergo a scrutiny process where it can either pass or fail.
3. Social media is a growing industry
According to TechZim as of July 2013 they were about 1.1 million active Facebook users in Zimbabwe only. According to statista.com they were about 1.79 billion active Facebook users in the first quarter of 2016. From the above statistics it simply means placing an Ad on Facebook has a potential of reaching millions of people. Obviously we may talk of the target market but it is still possible to make sure your Ads reach the right people.
Let’s compare this with traditional platforms like radios.
Now a lot of people have retired from listening to the radio. A few who does follow specific programs. What does this Imply? Every business now need to have a strong presence on social media.
The history of Facebook shows that they were no sponsored ads on Facebook but now Facebook offer a service where you can boost your ads. We decide what to see. We can see the innovative side of Mark Zuckerberg but I decide to look at the business aspect on that move. It only means that Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook Team noticed that now and in future business will be run more on social media platforms.
Did you know you can now start a very cheap online store that directly sell on Facebook? Ooh yeah! Yes you can. I will explore this on my future articles. For now let’s seal the fact that social media marketing is now and the future.
4. User Friendly: Facebook and LinkedIn offer auto posts and even auto messages. This reduces labour on your part as an entrepreneur. The system doesn’t need pro knowledge. Just basic knowledge on how to use a computer or a smartphone you are good to go.
5. World coverage: A person in Madagascar, Uganda, New York or any other part of the world will not have access to read Zim Newspapers. Yes there are now online Newspapers but they just give top stories only with no classifieds. That limit Ads on Newspapers to local natives only, on the contrary social media knows no boundary. Just one post is enough to reach the entire world. With the major upside that it will last as long as you need it while Newspapers are valid for only 24hrs.
