The rise of social media over the last decade has brought with it entirely unprecedented changes to the way people in our society interact with one another. The first social media sites sought to make communicating and staying in touch with one another easier and more convenient. Social media has undergone a rapid evolution from those humble beginnings to the behemoth it is today with its various functions touching all corners of life, from buying and selling goods to letting friends and family know we are safe after a major incident. Social media also offers a variety of ways to save your business money if you know how to utilise it properly.
Special Internet-Only Offers
Gone are the days when a company maintaining an online presence was part of some niche club; now, it is standard for businesses of all sizes to at least have a presence on social media. Not only does this offer companies an easy and direct way of communicating to their customer base as a whole as well as with individual users, it also provides the perfect platform to reward loyal customers. As such, many companies run competitions through their social media account as well as offering discounts that can’t be found anywhere else. Offering discounts to your followers on Twitter or Facebook is much cheaper than running a full ad campaign and the discount it is promoting. You might be surprised by the diversity of businesses that utilise social media in this way, from discounts on eating out and ordering take aways to UK wedding savings – the full spectrum of business and product types is represented.
Localised Offers
Social media is a very powerful tool for reaching specific audiences and the potential this offers is of particular interest to small, local businesses. You can create and administrate groups on most social media platforms, and through this, you can connect with your local customers and generate offers specifically for those who are local or loyal. This kind of intimacy with your core customer base is a direct way to increase brand loyalty and score some personal recommendations; even in the internet age, word of mouth is very important.
Freecycling
Freecycling is a portmanteau: ‘free’ + ‘recycling’. Initially coined by a company of the same name, the term has now come to take on a more generic meaning and is essentially referring to the way people post ads for stuff they don’t want any more online, offering the items for free to anyone willing and able to collect them. This is something done by both individuals and now and then by businesses and other organisations, meaning you could easily save your business money on essentials such as tables, chairs and lamps, which are the kind of items regularly available.
Social media offers numerous opportunities to save your business some money, whether you use it to run special discounts and generate some buzz or just to put out announcements and communicate with your customers, there is always opportunity to get creative and the more creative you get, the more impact you will have.
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