The Impact of Social Media on Business Growth

As entrepreneurs navigate the digital realm, harnessing the power of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok has become paramount for fostering growth and sustaining success. Through insights shared by seasoned entrepreneurs, this article explores the profound impact of social media on business growth, unveiling strategies and perspectives essential for thriving in today’s interconnected world.

Influencer Marketing

Last year, we prepared 500 units of stock for a new item, planning to test the market and make adjustments according to customers’ feedback. As it was a new listing, we expected to sell all the stock in a few months. However, we sold out everything within one day, a few days after the stock became available. 

We did not understand why until we found our product featured in a video of a big influencer on Instagram. Apparently, she bought it and liked it, so she decided to promote it with a link to earn a commission. The video went viral, and so did our sales. After that, we saw the power of a good influencer and decided to work with selected influencers to boost our sales.

Yalu Xu, co-founder of Momo Lifestyle

Personalized Engagement

Social media has helped our business reach a wider, more specific/targeted audience. We did this by creating posts that are not just generic but speak to our target audience directly.

Just because you are selling a service doesn’t mean all you have to post on your social media platforms is “buy now” or “don’t miss this sale.” You have to make your target market feel that you relate to them — their fears, the challenges they face, and the obstacles they encounter — and then offer your business a solution to those problems.

Customers are geared toward businesses that don’t just sell them products or services. They trust businesses that actually understand what they are going through. They don’t want to deal with salespeople; they want to deal with humans who can relate to their situation.

Vlad Khorkhorov, co-founder & CEO of WebsitePolicies.com

Driving Website Traffic and Conversions

Social media’s impact has greatly increased our audience and number of conversions. Simply sharing links to our blog along with a brief snippet from it has attracted so many people to our website. I’ve heard from customers how easy our website made it for them to find the service they were looking for. That kind of praise spreads through word of mouth, too, so our social media presence expands beyond the platforms.

Dan Bailey, president of WikiLawn Tampa Lawn Care

Bridging the Gap in Legal Communication and Recruitment

Working in the legal field comes with many challenges when connecting with customers. However, using social media provides an opportunity for lawyers and legal professionals to explain what they do, the importance of their work, and how they can help others. Through this connection, social media can be a tool for both marketing and talent recruitment. Here’s how that works. 

Legal professionals often have their work misunderstood. Educating the public humanizes lawyers so people are more likely to work with them and reach out when they need help. This connection can also help customers understand what lawyers can do for them so they don’t go without representation when it could make a difference. 

Social media also allows lawyers to connect with others who may want to do work in advocacy or other branches of the legal field. There are many ways people without legal degrees can work in a law office. Office managers, marketers, and web development teams are all examples of essential roles that law firms rely on.

J. Tucker Merrigan, managing partner and attorney at Sweeney Merrigan Law

LinkedIn: The Key Platform for Business Growth

I do SEO promotion and consulting in the marketing domain. From my practice (plus, I write a lot of reviews of marketing research), what works great now is LinkedIn! This, for me, is the best business platform, nothing extra, just business. I experimented with Facebook, Instagram, and paid advertising but was not happy with the result. Therefore, I don’t recommend it. The two main platforms for business are a website (with good SEO promotion) + LinkedIn (or a personal, professionally oriented profile or work profile).

I have made detailed instructions in a guide on how to best upgrade LinkedIn for your business and how to avoid mistakes. You can read my article here.

Alex Phoenix, owner of Phoenix Consulting

Strategic Social Media Advertising

Based on hands-on experience, Facebook Ads and Google Ads have helped out a lot in marketing our services. Word of mouth and passing on flyers or sticking up signs for marketing sure reel in leads or clients, but lead generation made it much more doable, albeit not easier. We garnered more than a handful of leads every day. The impact is huge, especially when handling concerns and showing what we can bring to the table every Christmas season. 

One social media strategy I would recommend is lead generation on Google or other social media platforms. Running ads on Google has also helped us get more leads, and putting up a listing on Google has made it easier for customers to know we are a 100% real business. When customers can see our reviews and feedback from other customers, it certainly did tip the scale.

Tim Guercio, investor, fund manager & owner of The Christmas Team

Leveraging User-Generated Content

One social media strategy that is highly effective, as well as incredibly easy, is to use customer-generated content. Your customers can write reviews, take pictures of your products, etc., and you simply repost them to your own social media. You’ll not only reach new potential customers by tagging the customer in the post, which gets your post seen by their audience, but it’s also a ready-made post for you. It’s a simple way to leverage your social media presence with only a minimum effort required on your part. 

Dan Gallagher, VP of operations at Aegle Nutrition

Tailored Content Strategies Across Multiple Social Media Platforms

Social media can really provide a great tool for expanding your audience and growing your business. I’ve found that the best strategy is to establish a presence on most major social media platforms (Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even TikTok) and tailor content specifically for each platform. This might sound like a lot of work, but I tend to approach it by approaching the same content through a slightly different lens. This can help your content be more applicable to the demographics on each platform and can be a more effective way to draw engagement and grow your audience over time.

Carter Seuthe, CEO of Credit Summit Consolidation

Expertise Showcase through Facebook Live Q&A Sessions

Facebook Live has been a game-changer for our insurance business, particularly live Q&A sessions. For example, we recently held a session to address frequently asked questions about life insurance for new parents. Our users loved it — they got their questions answered on the spot, and we got to show off our expertise without sounding sales-y. Customers don’t usually jump at the chance to talk about life insurance, so I do not doubt that the increased engagement we saw was a result of the platform and not the topic.

Rikin Shah, founder & CEO of GetSure

Leveraging Conversations and Curiosity on Social Platforms

I’m the founder of PLI Writers, and I’ve had clients reach out to me on Reddit not because I explicitly posted that I’m offering services but rather a question like “How can I improve SEO for my writing business?” If someone needs writing services, they’ll see this and might contact me. I’ve also seen a post about “Will this impact my traffic?” The owner talked about how he already had a lot of traffic and was wondering if doing this would impact his traffic. That generated curiosity, and some comments asked about what his site is and how he got that much traffic.

Obviously, this doesn’t have to be only on Reddit. I think the point is not to say “I have this business, anyone interested?” because no one cares. Instead, generate a conversation and curiosity and very gently mention your business/niche so the people who are actively looking for relevant services will find you.

Darren Oliver, founder of PLI Writers

Microblogging for Business Marketing and Customer Engagement

Microblogging is actually a really good social media strategy for marketing a business. Think about it: Why do things “go viral” on social media? Most social content is short, easy to understand, and usually has something that catches your eye, like a picture or a quick video. That’s what’s so smart about microblogging — you always have something to share, and you can do it quickly. Talking to your customers more builds trust and a stronger relationship.

For example, LinkedIn is a big chance for B2B companies like ours to share useful information with their audience. When we microblog on LinkedIn, we show our brand as a leader and reliable source in our niche. 

By the way, social media microblogging is great for interacting with people on mobile devices. That’s already a business growth marketing hack, considering about half of all internet searches and most social media interactions are now done on mobile.

Victor Karpenko, founder & CEO of SeoProfy

Keeping up With the Times & Being Transparent

Social media has greatly impacted our growth because it allows us to show our work, successes, and client wins. I believe that one key social media strategy is to be transparent. Don’t fake it until you make it. What you put out on social media should be authentic and relevant to what your business does. Highlighting the people behind the organization is also important. Social media is a “social” hub where people go, not to be advertised to at all the time, but to see what others are doing and strengthen ties with their community.

Jessica Munday, founder of TRIO

The Power of Storytelling

Social media offers unique avenues for brand narrative, customer interaction, and even feedback that can generously fuel business strategy. If I were to recommend one strategy, it would be storytelling through artisan profiles. 

We highlight the stories and skills of our global artisans, and it helps us not only put our crafts in the spotlight but also establish a powerful emotional connection with our customers. 

Posts relating to the artisans’ journeys, their craft-making process, and the cultural significance behind each product fetched us high engagement rates, helped us stimulate awareness about our sustainable ethos, and, importantly, drove sales.

Guillaume Drew, founder & CEO of Or & Zon

Utilizing AI-Driven Chatbots

One unique strategy we implemented was the introduction of our AI-driven chatbot, AiDen. Its purpose is to redefine customer engagement in line with digital-age needs, and it has been shown to significantly improve the overall customer experience by providing personalized and instantaneous responses. Through AiDen’s interactions, we have captured an invaluable dataset of client needs and preferences. In turn, that made our content production strategy more action-oriented and resonating with our audience. 

This strategy has strengthened our community interaction and driven more traffic to our platforms. Therefore, I urge businesses to consider exploring AI-driven solutions as part of their social media strategy. The fusion of AI and social media allows real-time customer service and enhances your brand’s personality.

Matthew Montez, founder of MBC Group

Interactive Training Sessions & Instagram Stories

Social media platforms (such as Instagram and Facebook) allow me to share my enthusiasm for sports and promote its health benefits, ultimately enabling a wider audience to get involved.

I would recommend interactive training sessions as a unique social media strategy. I have found immense success with live, interactive Pickleball training sessions on Facebook and Instagram. 

These live feeds allow participants to enjoy a sense of community from their homes (and it was useful, especially during lockdown periods). 

Another example would be using Instagram’s story features to showcase quick workouts of the day or health tips, which create a daily engagement routine for our followers, motivating them to stay active and fit.

Marc Massad, certified pickleball trainer & IFP pickleball ambassador at Velocity Paddle