The main objective of social media marketing is not to increase sales even though it could be one of your goals, but to increase your visibility and credibility by engaging online with your target audience. The sales will follow after you have established yourself as the thought leader in your niche. To be successful with social media takes time and effort, but if done correctly, the sales will follow.

Social media is all about engaging on the social web with your target audience and to build relationships with them. Become the expert in your niche and people will come to you for information and guidance. The main advantage of social media is that it can transform your business into a social business, opening up your door to may opportunities online.

Find below a couple of advantages of Social Media.

Social media advantages

Social media lasts longer than traditional media: Social media can attract and hold the attention of targeted users via their favorite social media channel. Most people have grown numb to traditional marketing and advertising where you force participation. With social media you are engaging with your target audience in a way that encourages trust and increases message retention.

It is viral: Social media is viral and can reach many people in a short period of time. This is a big opportunity and threat for traditional marketing agencies. While this can reap tremendous growth if used and implemented correctly, it can also have negative viral outcome for businesses that are not properly prepared to deal with it.

It is interactive: Through the use of social media, businesses can now communicate and get immediate feedback from visitors and customers encouraging a process of dialogue between all the parties. For example – enabling comments on a blog can result in a positive impact for many companies to gain valuable customer feedback from their industry.

Increased visibility: Social media holds a favorable position for visibility as it has been blended into our daily online lives. What is the first thing you do when you go online? Go on Twitter? Facebook?