You won't believe it, but 72% of internet users have a social media account, and that is where most of them spend all their time online. It is also estimated that 42% of adults online use multiple social networking accounts. These statistics present unique challenges and opportunities for startups.

Most marketers already know the four Ps of marketing which are Product, Place, Price, and the Promotion, but what really is social medial marketing? Social media marketing is simply the use of social media platforms, apps, and websites to promote a product or service. Unlike other marketing methods like search engine optimization and other traffic building marketing methods, social media marketing is all about people, engagement, and building relationships, and so has to be approached differently.

Startups often have many challenges, and often have to grapple with financial issues. Why should any startup devote considerable time, energy, and resources on social media marketing? I will well you a few.

To Increase Sales

More than half of startups collapse after operating for only 5 years. You wouldn't want your startup to have this problem, and so although most startups focus on creating a great product, getting early sales as well should help consolidate the financial position of your startup. Since most people are spending all their online time on social media, an effective marketing campaign on social media should yield great rewards. You will have more leads and your sales will increase.

To Increase Followers

You need to do social media marketing so that your followers will increase. Followers are what will make your social media account valuable. The more followers you have the larger the number of people who will share the content you post, and the greater your conversion rates will be.

To Increase Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty

You need to engage in social media marketing in order increase brand awareness and brand loyalty. To do this post and promote content regularly. The content could be photographs, articles, videos, infographics and the like. In building brand loyalty, do not forget that content is king. Make sure that the information you post is valuable. When you do this overtime, your followers will become conditioned. Anytime they see your logo, they will psychologically feel good unconsciously. They will stick to and promote your brand.

To Increase Website Traffic

Since many people are spending more time on social media, one sure way to get more web traffic is to engage in social media marketing. You could use the organic methods such as creating a Facebook page, increasing your number of followers, posting quality content. Besides this, you could embark on a PPC campaign. PPC campaigns on social media are relatively cheap, but are just as effective. All these will drive up your web traffic, increase engagement with your content, and translate into sales.

To Increase Page Rank

As a startup, you will want to rank high on the search engine result pages. One sure way to do this is to get high quality backlinks. If you create valuable content and share them on social media, chances are that many people will want to enrich their websites by linking to yours. When they do this your page rank will increase, which should lead to a higher ranking on search engine.

To Get Work Done Effectively

Social media marketing can help you build a strong and useful social network with which you can get work done. Social media platforms like Linkedin, and Second Life allow users to share professional information. As long as you are prepared to make your knowledge and resources available, others on your network will do the same. Your workers can then leverage this network to get information, and other resources needed to get work done. Spending time and money in order to get more followers or more people on your network will definitely make your network effective.

Whether it is Twitter, Google, Linkedin, Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, or Instagram, you will get these benefits by investing in social media marketing. Lastly, don't forget that content is king. Valuable content will make your social media marketing worthwhile, whether your startup is about property management, software development, biotechnology or some other field.