Everyone knows that the number of people who use social media sites every day is astounding, but the numbers might still make your draw drop. According to stats compiled by Statistic Brain, Facebook alone has some 1.4 billion users from around the world, there are an average of 190 Tweets shared every day, and there are around 490 million unique YouTube users every month. As a result of those staggering stats, social media has become one of, if not the, most powerful aspect of the internet. In order to take advantage of that, businesses are using social media sharing sites and campaigns to build a more dynamic and highly visible web presence that comes with several advantages.

Boost Engagement

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of using social media sharing sites is that they allow businesses to better interact with and engage both current and potential customers. Generally, consumers prefer to do business with other people, and not just a store or company, so using social media to enter a dialogue with consumers and add a human element to a business is a smart choice.

Gain Loyalty

In part because of improved engagement, social media tools help businesses build more loyal customer bases. Consumers are more likely to buy from companies that they trust and believe will do their best to provide a quality product or service. So doing things like answering comments on Facebook or favoriting good Tweets can help improve trust and allow consumers to feel comfortable coming back over and over again.

Build a Better Brand

Uploading unique content and information can help a business improve the visibility of their brand. And, what they choose to share can go a long way towards helping them build the brand tone that they want. While some might share funny videos to seem lighthearted, others might only post vital statistics about the industry they work in to establish themselves as professionals. Whatever the case may be, using social media sharing tools is a good way to establish a specific brand.

Boost SEO

The lines between social media and SEO are becoming less distinctive every day, and updates like Penguin and Hummingbird to Google’s algorithms make shares, pluses, and likes more important than ever before. So if an owner or manager wants to not only engage consumers, but get seen by them on search engine results pages, good social media pages are a must.

With the number of social media users in the billions, and the many advantages, not using social media could prove to be a mistake for any business looking to grow. Though it can be a bit tedious to maintain multiple accounts, doing so can prove to be quite worthwhile.