Social media has become ubiquitous in most peoples’ day-to-day lives. The majority of people find themselves spending time scrolling through their news feeds, connecting with friends and family, and otherwise entertaining themselves at home, in the office and everywhere else. Facebook remains the most popular and widest-used social media network out there, which makes it valuable to those who are wanting to reach the biggest audiences possible. Countless businesses and brands have found value in using Facebook to promote themselves, but what exactly should a business expect from it? We’ll give you the details below so that you can be informed.

Increased Visibility

Perhaps most importantly, social media can be a strong ally in expanding the reach of your brand. With just a few minutes of time each day, you can build an organic following of like-minded individuals who value what you have to say. While you’ll never be able to sustain an organic social media strategy based on product/service promotion alone, you can successfully mix product promotion with entertaining content with great results. The more likeable your content is, the more likely it is to be shared or commented on – both of these functions are the prime drivers of increased visibility. By pinging your website, its content and a bit of entertainment all rolled into one via Facebook posts, you’ll be able to reach those audiences that you would miss elsewhere.

More Sales

If Facebook were just about giving businesses more visibility, then it wouldn’t be very helpful. Only if you can convert that visibility into sales does it ultimately prove useful – and thankfully, you can! Facebook provides brands with the ability to promote their products through organic posts and paid advertising  campaigns. Some businesses use the latter exclusively, targeting specific audiences with products and services they’re likely to enjoy. When you combine organic reach with paid marketing on Facebook, it can be a one-two hit: your existing audiences can be retargeted with products they’ve shown interest in, while new audiences can be reached for the first time.

Better Reputation

Social media allows businesses to showcase themselves in ways that might not be common in face-to-face settings or through a standard web interface. Social media is all about being “social”: this means you can take a more personal tone with various posts, convey emotion and use a variety of forms of multimedia to express an opinion or convey a thought. Many brands strive to be relatable to consumers, and social media is the primary outlet through which they do this. If you can find ways to connect with your audience – whether it be through funny anecdotes, emotional tales or something entirely different – then you’ll be able to build a better reputation in your niche. It’s worth noting though that you should never be too personal: sob stories and offensive jokes, for instance, do not look flattering coming from any brand.

Rather than pinging your website with content and deals exclusively, give Facebook a try. It can open new doors for businesses that didn’t exist previously and make it possible for your products and services to be found by millions.