Because they have to. Business today IS social. But there is an important distinction between simply "doing" social and "being" social. Businesses find they are more successful when they aren't simply doing social because "everyone else is."
Consumers and marketers alike are realizing that mass marketing or traditional marketing is NOT the most effective means of reaching your target audience.
In today's world where people are hyper-connected and busier than ever before, businesses are challenged to find more creative means to get in front of their customers. Enter social media marketing to the scene.
Borrell Associates, a well-known research and consulting firm that tracks advertising, surveyed over 4,000 small to medium-sized businesses, and discovered that over 60 percent of these companies have a presence on social media sites.
Facebook is the most popular platform, favored by 60.7 percent , ahead of blogs (44.2 percent), Twitter (44.1 percent), YouTube (36.4 percent) and LinkedIn (36.3 percent).
Startling statistic from Borrell: Local spending on social media marketing is predicted to increase seven times by 2016 among small to mid-size businesses. Seven times. That's 100 percent growth per year, year after year. From $1.1 billion now to $7.8 billion in 2016. That's $7.8 billion businesses plan to spend trying to gain new and repeat business.