Olasunbo Sobogun
In this ever increasing age of information technology, using social media and social networking for business has become a quintessential part of marketing products and services as they have changed the business landscape both for companies that have adopted them and those who have not.
Social media by description, is a platform where members share contents with a wide audience, with the focus on contents while social networking is more centred on conversations and groups and with shared interests.
“Social media is becoming an increasingly important part of any business marketing and client base development platform as it has become a must for any business seeking to secure a place”, said Jessica Bosari in 2016.
According to the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 94% of all businesses with a marketing department use social media as part of their marketing platform. Almost 60% of marketers are devoting the equivalent of a full work day to social media marketing development. 43% of people aged 20-29 spend more than 10 hours a week on social media sites. 85% of all businesses that have a dedicated social media platform as part of their marketing strategy reported an increase in their market exposure and 58% of businesses that have used social media marketing for over 3 years reported an increase in sales over that period.
The primary social media outlets that businesses use are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google+.
The importance of social media in promoting business can be summarised as brand exposure, more visibility, promoting healthy competition, open conversation, brand transparency, effective marketing, information dissemination, improves responsiveness among others.
