Business owners’ marketing plans are filled with a wide range of tools and options. However, nearly every business can benefit from social media marketing. With so many consumers using social media, you can reach your target audience and boost sales via social media marketing strategies.
Social media experiences differ by industry, business type and organizational scope — plus, social media marketing is constantly changing. However, every business stands to gain significant advantages from using social media as a growth tool. We’ll explore the benefits of social media for business and highlight some mistakes to avoid.
What are the benefits of using social media to grow your business?
Approximately 5.66 billion people use social media worldwide as of October 2025, representing 68.7 percent of the global population. Users spend an average of 2 hours and 21 minutes daily on social platforms. With this high usage level, it makes sense to find your customers where they are and connect with your audience on social media.
Here are four benefits every business can realize from an effective social media presence.
1. Social media helps businesses learn about their target audience.
The first and most obvious benefit is identifying your target audience and learning about their needs, thoughts, desires and experiences. People online are often more receptive to brands and products and willing to discuss their experiences.
To learn more about your customers and prospects, check out competitors’ social media profiles. Also, visit groups where people discuss your niche. For example, to create content for your gardening website, find Facebook gardening groups and see what people are discussing. Do you notice that most members have similar pain points or questions about growing climate-specific flowers? Then use that information to help build customer personas and a content marketing strategy.
Research and collect survey data to learn where your audience hangs out online. Your target audience may spend significant time on platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, where short-form video content dominates. Consider that 46 percent of Gen Z consumers prefer discovering brands through social media rather than search engines. If many potential customers like X (formerly Twitter), create an active X presence where you interact and respond to consumers.
The more you know about your target audience, the more you can personalize the marketing experience.
2. Social media helps create personalized advertising.
Digital advertising continues to expand rapidly. According to Statista, social media advertising spending in the United States reached $83 billion in 2024.
As you learn more about potential customers, you can create personalized ad campaigns on platforms like Facebook, X and Instagram. Many consumers want to see products and offers relevant to their lives and experiences.
There are several ways to create personalized ads on social media, including the following:
- Use retargeting pixels on your website. This tactic involves placing tracking pixels on your website. When consumers visit your site but leave without purchasing, your website drops a browser cookie that enables you to show them relevant ads later. These retargeted ads can feature the specific products they viewed, along with special offers to encourage conversion.
- Target ads to consumer interests. Use the data you glean from researching your target customers to create ads personalized for them. For example, if you learned that most customers want tips for repurposing garden tools, you could create an e-book on the topic and offer it as a lead magnet.
Create a landing page on your website where social media followers will arrive when they click your advertisement. Consider your ads’ scale and frequency before creating your landing page to make the best design decisions.
To monitor your digital ads' effectiveness, track key social media metrics like engagement rate, click-through rate (CTR), cost per acquisition (CPA), return on ad spend (ROAS) and conversion rate alongside traditional metrics like reach and impressions.
3. Boost your SEO ranking and improve site engagement via social media.
Boosting your SEO ranking and improving engagement are closely connected. Contrary to popular belief, the number of likes and comments doesn’t directly correlate to your SEO ranking. If that were the case, it would be easy for anyone to game the system and get an undeserved ranking.
Instead, improving your social media presence can indirectly lead to higher SEO rankings. For example, creating engaging social media posts drives traffic to your website, which sends positive user engagement signals to search engines. Additionally, social media profiles often rank in search results for brand names, providing additional visibility and credibility for your business.
One SEO strategy for encouraging website traffic via social media is promoting a giveaway on your social media channels. This tactic will improve audience engagement on the social platform while encouraging consumers to head to your homepage and browse your content.
4. Social media helps businesses build social proof.
Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people are more likely to buy a product if they see other people using and enjoying it. Many businesses add testimonial pages and positive customer reviews to their websites to build social proof. While this tactic is excellent for enticing curious consumers on your site, you can create social proof online through your social media profiles.
For example, if a customer writes a glowing review of your business and tags you, share it on your profile; you should also thank them for their feedback. When people find your profile, they’ll see what others are saying about your business.
If your content marketing strategy involves writing guest posts for other publications, share these posts for additional social proof. If someone sees your guest post on a site they already follow and trust, they’ll automatically have confidence in your brand.
When can using social media for your business backfire?
Like all forms of marketing, social media marketing is only as good as its strategy — and the people implementing it. Faulty social strategy or execution can create negative consequences for a brand. Here are some examples.
1. Social media can backfire when you sell too hard.
Social media users want entertainment, connection and education; they don’t venture onto their social platforms seeking a hard sell. While they understand businesses must make sales and social media is a sales channel, they expect a more friendly, casual and low-key approach.
Limit your promotional posts and share helpful and interesting content. As a rule of thumb, use the 5:3:2 rule for social media, which says that for every 10 posts:
- Five should be curated from other sources.
- Three should be content you have created.
- Two should be personal, fun content that appeals to your target audience.
2. Social media can backfire when you appear fake.
Authenticity is prized on social media, particularly if you want to build a brand that speaks to younger generations. A recent study found that 98 percent of consumers consider brand authenticity to be important when choosing which brands to like and support. Followers expect companies to be real with them — admitting when they make a mistake and presenting their human side.
If your social media account looks too polished — for example, overusing stock photography and models — your followers will likely abandon or attack you online.
Show real people in your posts and ads, not models. Include photos and videos of actual employees doing their jobs.
Create a
user-generated content strategy by encouraging social media followers to create and post authentic content about your brand.
3. Social media can backfire when you are deceptive.
The internet is not kind to businesses caught in a lie or deception. When you make a claim, it must be true and backed up by action.
For example, let’s say you claim your business prioritizes customer service. In that case, you must display consistent, high-quality customer service via social media as well as phone, web and email channels. If you say your company has a sustainable business model, be ready to back it up with proof and action. Social media users are increasingly vigilant about greenwashing and will punish your brand for misleading environmental claims.
4. Social media can backfire when you’re out of tune with your audience.
People on social media like to follow brands that express values consistent with their own. Don’t promote values that are out of sync with your target market just to make a point. You will end up alienating them and losing followers.
According to a Harris Poll survey commissioned by Google Cloud, the vast majority of shoppers (82 percent) prioritize purchasing from companies whose principles match their personal beliefs, with three-quarters having ended their relationship with a brand due to misaligned values.
If your values differ fundamentally from those of your target market, focus on relatable values. For example, your political views may diverge, but everyone can get behind your commitment to product quality.
5. Social media can backfire when your content is low quality.
People use social media to find value — educational, interesting, surprising, funny, entertaining and helpful information. If your content doesn’t meet these criteria or your graphics and photos are poor quality, followers won’t stick around.
Quality matters more than quantity on social media. Focus on creating high-value content that resonates with your audience rather than flooding their feeds. Before posting anything, ask yourself if it’s something your audience will want to share or comment on — in a positive way.
Social media is a tool for business growth
There’s no question that every small business should embrace social media as a marketing tactic. With billions of active users worldwide and the average person checking social media multiple times daily, these platforms offer unprecedented access to potential customers at every stage of the buying journey.
It’s your job to pinpoint your target audience and learn about its pain points and goals. Once you understand whom you’re targeting, start creating personalized ad campaigns for potential customers. Nurture your consumer relationships by sharing comments, replying and interacting with other businesses. Finally, gather and act on detailed analytics and find new ways to grow your audience and improve sales.