Discover the impact of social media on business, from growth opportunities to risks, and how analytics tools help maximize success.
Social media is the bridge that links modern businesses to audiences, connecting offerings with consumer wants and needs.
A well-constructed social media marketing strategy results in a smooth, constant flow of leads and customers, while a neglected bridge may fall apart, leading to lost connections and isolation.
Whether through organic content or targeted ads, the impact of social media on business can be dramatic. From more meaningful conversations to significantly more sales, social media can help companies thrive. However, businesses must develop a clear strategy to tap into these benefits effectively and avoid potential pitfalls.
We asked 13 social media strategists to share the business impact of social media and the risks.
Here's what they said:
Social media's impact on revenue goes far beyond the traditional use of organic and paid strategies. When you align sales teams with social initiatives, you can drive tangible business outcomes.
Lena Weber-Reed, UK Marketing & Communications Manager at Getronics, highlights the often-overlooked power of social selling and employee advocacy programs, explaining how a coordinated effort between social media and sales can build strong relationships with prospects and customers.
When I managed a large-scale social selling program for a global enterprise, we generated a 7-figure opportunity pipeline through a robust sales-social media partnership. The social team excels at engaging and building relationships, creating compelling content, while the sales team brings deep product/service knowledge to address customer pain points and challenges. - Lena Weber-Reed, UK Marketing & Communications Manager @ Getronics
This type of partnership ensures a seamless transition from social interactions to direct sales opportunities â a win-win for customers and businesses.
The story of Manny's Deli, shared by Scott Emalfarb, Founder and CEO of Fresh Content Society, further illustrates the immense potential of social media to drive sales.
When the pandemic hit, physical customer interactions were no longer possible. Yet, with a heartfelt social media post, Manny's Deli was able to rally its online community. With just one post fueled by sincerity, FCS managed to increase sales up to 1,500% that was sustained for 90+ days, with over 10M impressions, 500,000+ engagements across all channels and media pickup, including CNN, ABC7 Chicago, NPR and many more. We had customers calling from all over the world to buy, ship and support from seeing our social media post! - Scott Emalfarb, Founder and CEO Fresh Content Society
This is a great example of the power of an engaged social media community to help businesses survive even in crisis moments.
Jacqui Morgan, Global Social Lead at Palo Alto Networks, adds that social media is critical in lower funnel actions, especially in B2B marketing.
At Palo Alto Networks, strategic social media efforts directly contributed to pipeline growth, influencing 25% of their Q4 leads.During our recent Q4-24 brand campaign and cybersecurity conference takeover, we seamlessly integrated organic content, influencer marketing, paid boosting, and social-first content creation. This culminated in a livestream event hosted on LinkedIn Live and streamed across all platforms. - Jacqui Morgan
Global Social Lead Palo Alto Networks
The result was a significant improvement in conversion rates, including a whopping 171% higher form fill rate after the LinkedIn Live event and 44% lower cost per lead (CPL) for ads served to users with prior organic exposure.
Social media is not just about visibility but also about creating opportunities to close deals. Follow the best practices below to reap similar benefits.
We've already seen above how a community can be a lifeline for businesses in times of need. Let's see how to nurture that strong brand community.
Kendall Dickieson, Founder of Flexible Creative, emphasizes that while many businesses view social media as simply a sales channel, its real value lies in its ability to foster meaningful connections with customers.
Brands can tap into customer loyalty and long-term engagement by engaging authentically and creating spaces for community involvement.
Kendall's work with Graza, for example, highlights how the strategic use of organic social media and partnerships with influencers like Molly Baz helped build a passionate community even before the brand launched, leading to sold-out products and partnerships with major retailers like Whole Foods.
Social can unlock IRL opportunities for a brand where that retail channel is important by proving the validity of your product via influencers, content (via engagement), and more. When it comes to sales, you can also turn your best community members, like we have, into ambassadors of your brand. - Kendall Dickieson, Founder
Lauren Nicole Jordan, Head of Social Media at LimeLife by Alcone, stresses the importance of prioritizing community and content creation over paid media.
With over 14 years of experience in social media, I quickly discovered the profound impact a strong community can have on a brand. - Lauren Nicole Jordan, Head of Social Media LimeLife by Alcone
Lauren advocates for investing in organic social first, which leads to more sustainable, long-term growth. She gives an example that shows how community building helps brands reduce their dependence on paid ads and achieve ongoing results.
Jasmine Gilbert from StrategiQ and Venessa Santiago from Well Go USA Entertainment further illustrate the value of social media communities.
Jasmine shares how a fitness brand's social media refresh led to a significant increase in community interaction, with organic social media reach skyrocketing from 1.8k to 19k monthly.
Beyond social media, the campaign had a direct impact on customer purchases â and they've grown from 17,000 to 25,000+ users worldwide. Social media remains one of their top drivers of traffic to this day", she explains. - Jasmine Gilbert, Social Media Manager StrategiQ
Venessa, on the other hand, explains how fostering relationships with influencers and creating engaging content grew Well Go USA Entertainment's reach and engagement, establishing social media as a primary source of discovery for their audience.
This year, we saw impressive growth: our social media reach increased by 22.2%, content interactions increased by 89%, and our following grew by 62%. How? By refining our social media strategyâcrafting human-centric copy, asking questions that matter, fostering our community, emphasizing video content, reels, and building influencer relationships and collaborations. - Venessa Santiago, Digital Marketing Specialist Well Go USA Entertainment
If social media strategy is the bridge, communities are its pillars that have the power to drive engagement, build trust, and even impact sales. The examples above prove that brands must view social media not just as a megaphone but as a space for relationship-building.
Speaking of a successful campaign she ran, Lauren explains:
I analyzed content performance, focusing on the pieces that generated the highest engagement and views, especially from non-followers. By continuously tapping into daily metrics, I gained a deep understanding of what resonated with my audience, driving consistent growth.
Employer branding through social media helps companies strengthen their online presence, attract top talent, and nurture a stronger sense of community internally.
Bozhena Sheremeta, Product Marketing Manager at Embrace Software for Educators, shares how empowering employees to contribute to social media content can significantly enhance brand perception and recruitment efforts.
At one of her former B2B clients, the company's social media strategy initially centered around sharing standard corporate updates. However, after introducing authentic employee-driven content â including videos where team members shared professional insights â the impact on both engagement and brand visibility was substantial.
Before the experiment, their posts averaged 200â300 impressions. However, within a few months, the average reach soared to over 1,000 impressions per post, while engagement rates increased from 5â7% to over 10%, mostly coming from people's comments and clicks. - Bozhena Sheremeta, Product Marketing Manager Embrace Software
Additionally, she highlights how involving employees as content creators organically improved the company's HR efforts. Without any paid job ads, they saw an influx of job candidates.
Turning employees into brand ambassadors turned out to be more engaging than emails and much more cost-effective than paid social, she concludes. - Bozhena Sheremeta, Product Marketing Manager Embrace Software
Through employee interaction, companies humanize their brand and create a more authentic image. Moreover, employee-driven content helps build a sense of pride and ownership among the team, generation engagement both on the job and on social media.
Social media platforms not only allow brands to introduce new products to a wider audience but also enable them to gather valuable feedback and make improvements.
What makes social media so effective in product launches is its ability to engage audiences in real time and generate UGC.
Fatima Baig, Founder of The Ăclat Agency, highlights how a modest social media campaign for a new chocolate launch exceeded expectations, impacting sales and driving brand visibility and long-term customer engagement.
Social media has ripple effects far beyond your initial goals, impacting various areas of your business. - Fatima Baig, Founder The Ăclat Agency
A mix of organic and paid social media strategies resulted in a 50% increase in boutique foot traffic, a 34% boost in web sales (even for unrelated products), and 2.2K new followers within just two weeks. The campaign's success continued to show during the holiday season, when the products sold out even before promotions began, demonstrating the lasting impact of social media on brand performance.
Fatima concludes:
Social media does more than meet your immediate goals; it creates lasting, compounding effects across your entire business. - Fatima Baig, Founder The Ăclat Agency
Another powerful example of social media's influence comes from Sheeza Anjum, Social Media Strategist at Havas People, who highlights KFC's innovative approach to launching a new product by leaning into customer feedback.
KFC used criticism about their old fries as a way to introduce a new recipe on Twitter. This bold strategy gained the brand an impressive 66,000 new customers, proving that social media can turn even negative sentiment into an opportunity for growth.
Audiences want authenticity. In a sea of clichĂŠs and dull content, brands have the chance to use social media platforms to stand out.
Nicole SimĂľes, Brand & Content Manager at Eleven Eleven, emphasizes that social media has evolved into a comprehensive, all-encompassing solution.
In today's world, social media plays a vital role in expressing a brand's vision, mission, and personality. It amplifies a brand beyond the confines of a website or logo. - Nicole SimĂľes, Brand & Content Manager Eleven Eleven
Social media goes beyond simple brand updates, becoming a strategic platform across various departments â from customer support to sales and product development.
Nicole presents the case of Fastjet, an African airline that used social media to revolutionize its operations. Through strategic social media campaigns, Fastjet increased customer support response times from 40% over five days to 100% within an hour, while also boosting sales by 40% in just a year.
The brand's social media efforts helped grow its Instagram following from 30,000 to 200,000, and its Facebook presence expanded to 1 million followers, becoming the second-largest among African airlines.
Moreover, by showcasing their company culture online, Fastjet improved talent acquisition by 30%, positioning themselves as an employer of choice in the region.
Even in terms of competitor analysis and product development, the insights gathered from social media allowed the brand to expand its network strategically, solidifying its place as a dominant player in the Pan-African market.
This single experience was the catalyst that deepened my passion for brand social media and ultimately motivated me to pursue new career opportunities abroad. It shaped my perspective on social media's power and potential to drive real change in business operations, and it has contributed to how I analyze and plan brand social media strategies. - Nicole SimĂľes, Brand & Content Manager Eleven Eleven
Think back to the bridge we mentioned in the beginning. It can be purely functional (and boring), connecting two sides of a river. It can also be both functional and beautiful, like the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the Tower Bridge in London, which have become worthwhile attractions for people's eyes and cameras.
Similarly, social media is a tool for communication, but it can also be a powerful means to attract audiences and create meaningful connections with them.
As Jacqui Morgan, Global Social Lead at Palo Alto Networks, highlights, by sharing relatable and fun content, brands can nurture relationships that lead to tangible business outcomes.
Since I started at Palo Alto Networks, I've made it a priority to remind our teams that social media is not just a support function. It's a strategic tool and a powerful business driver. In B2B, it's no longer 'business to boring'; it's about telling personal, dynamic, and impactful stories that make a real difference. - Jacqui Morgan, Global Social Lead Palo Alto Networks
Whether through videos of executives engaging with popular social media trends or showcasing lighter, more personal sides of the company, these efforts humanize the brand and open up meaningful customer conversations.
After implementing this approach at Palo Alto Networks, Jacqui has seen not only the personal followings of company leaders grow but also more active, engaged conversations with customers.
We've already given a couple of examples that show the impact of social media on recruitment. It's worth emphasizing again, as social channels have completely transformed recruitment.
Not only can businesses reach potential employees more efficiently, but they can build employer identities that positively contribute to the overall brand image and reach.
Shahveer Imran, Social Media Marketing Specialist with North American Staffing Services, has witnessed firsthand how platforms like LinkedIn and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) have become essential tools in modern recruitment. These platforms offer access to a broader talent pool and provide the tools to engage passive candidates (individuals not actively searching for jobs but open to new opportunities).
Take LinkedIn as an example. In our experience, we've seen a 300% increase in candidate outreach response rates simply by optimizing how we present job roles through targeted posts and relevant hashtags.LinkedIn's ability to leverage data like industry, job function, and skill set lets us narrow down a pool of candidates that fit the exact criteria our clients are seeking. We've even managed to fill urgent positions within 48 hours through paid campaigns that boost visibility to qualified candidates. - Shahveer Imran, Social Media Marketing Specialist North American Staffing Services
On Meta, demographic and interest-based targeting tools help recruiters find talent that might be missed using traditional methods, such as job boards or agency databases.
"Social media has also become a goldmine for competitor research," Shahveer observes. Regularly monitoring competitor job posts, engagement levels, and employer branding strategies gives companies valuable insights into market trends and what's working for other organizations.
Competitor analysis "has enabled us to pivot faster to emerging trends, like emphasizing flexible work arrangements or offering employee perks that we noticed were gaining traction among competitors," he adds.
Shahveer shares a great example of the power of social media competitive analysis.
One notable success story was when we observed a rival staffing company leaning heavily into promoting workplace diversity. We analyzed their engagement and saw how this narrative was appealing to both employers and candidates.We took that insight and began crafting our own tailored messaging, which not only resulted in higher engagement but led to signing three new clients who valued our commitment to diversity initiatives. - Shahveer Imran, Social Media Marketing Specialist North American Staffing Services
Competitive research helps businesses make informed decisions, identify opportunities for growth and partnerships, and mitigate potential risks. And social media is a treasure trove of competitor insights.
Corina Bordeianu, Senior Social Media Manager at Booking.com, highlights the importance of competitor research and staying attuned to emerging trends, particularly on platforms like TikTok.
By benchmarking against competitors, we ensure our content not only stands out but also drives stronger engagement and positive brand sentiment. - Corina Bordeianu, Senior Social Media Manager Booking.com
Through social listening, you can track how competitors interact with customers and what content resonates most with audiences. This data allows you to stay ahead of industry trends and craft relatable, engaging content â that doesn't feel outdated but fresh and relevant.
As people increasingly expect brands to be present everywhere, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X become important tools for managing and improving customer support.
Oksana Danshyna, Director of PR, Communications & Social Media at DigitalOcean, emphasizes the importance of social listening for improving customer care.
In her experience, feedback shared on social media often surpasses what is provided in traditional customer surveys, as users tend to be more open and vocal about their experiences online.
By actively listening to what they are talking about and analyzing trending discussions, we're able to pinpoint the topics and challenges that matter most to our audience. This insight allows us to create content that not only addresses common questions but also delivers real value in a way that resonates with them. - Oksana Danshyna, Director of PR, Communications & Social Media DigitalOcean
Hereâs an example from X, where DigitalOcean has successfully used the tactics above to increase organic engagement and foster deeper connections with their community, improving customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Integrating polls, open-ended questions, and direct feedback into their social media strategy helps companies grasp their audience's key concerns.
The same strategy you can use not only for social media content creation, but for your overall content strategy. - Oksana Danshyna, Director of PR, Communications & Social Media DigitalOcean
With billions of active users and a lot of historical data at their disposal, platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, and TikTok allow companies to refine their audience targeting like never before.
Social media platforms collect vast amounts of data, including user demographics, location, interests, and behavior. Brands get access to this data through the platforms' native analytics dashboards or by using social media analytics tools.
The detailed information enables brands to create highly specific audience segments. For example, Facebook allows businesses to retarget people who have engaged with their content, visited their website, or made purchases.
LinkedInâs audience targeting offers granular segmentation based on job title, industry, company size, and more.
This kind of advanced targeting dramatically improves ad performance and contributes to more relevant social media content pillars.
But the benefits go well beyond social media campaigns. Businesses can draw insights from audience data that help inform various parts of their businesses, from product development to recruitment and strategic decision-making.
As we've seen, businesses that approach social media in a smart, data-driven way have much to gain across the board. However, there are also potential social media marketing challenges that brands must be aware of and manage proactively.
Social media campaigns can increase brand awareness and engagement, but it can be difficult to tie these efforts directly to sales or other tangible business outcomes. This can lead to uncertainty in assessing social media ROI.
To address this challenge, ensure analytics tools are functional and integrated across the customer journey, from website analytics to social media dashboards. Instead of struggling to centralize various data points on your own, choose analytics tools that do the work for you.
Tired of keeping up with frequent algorithm changes? You're not alone. The moment you think you got your social media strategy down, you have to change it again â and pay a higher price to get the same results.
This can drive up overall marketing costs, especially for smaller businesses that are trying to compete with larger players who have more resources.
Social media measurement can help you optimize your spending and allocate resources to areas of the most impact â and avoid getting distracted by changes and irrelevant trends.
One misstep on social media can quickly go viral. Whether itâs a poorly worded tweet, an unfortunate joke, or an insensitive response to a public issue, social media makes it easy for negative feedback to spread rapidly.
This can result in long-term reputational damage that's difficult to recover from.
Fortunately, you can use social media listening and social sentiment measurement to stay ahead of negative waves and proactively intervene to turn the emotional tide.
As we've seen in DigitalOceanâs case above, online comments can be harsh, but with real-time monitoring and prompt reactions, brands can turn frustrations into loyalty.
All social media best practices strive to create more social media engagement, but not all is positive.
Negative comments, trolling, and customer backlash can impact a companyâs online presence. This can turn potential customers away, leading to lost business opportunities. Continuously managing this type of engagement can also drain customer care resources and affect morale.
You can't avoid all negative engagement, but you can make it almost invisible when there is a lot of positive engagement. Create a strong community around your brand and encourage interactions that put your brand in a good light all the time, not only in times of crisis.
Businesses often collect and store sensitive customer information via social media channels. With privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA, failing to protect customer data can lead to penalties and loss of consumer trust.
Ensure your social media marketing team works closely with legal partners to check for compliance with the latest regulations and with development to implement robust cybersecurity measures.
Customers are very exigent and expect brands to be available 24/7 on social media. They want their problems solved immediately, and if that doesn't happen, they can generate negative engagement.
All this can cause customer dissatisfaction and a spiral of incurred costs by allocating more and more resources to meet the high demands.
To reduce this challenge, be crystal clear to customers about response times. Create automated messages in social media inboxes to manage expectations and ensure your team has good processes in place to manage incoming requests promptly.
As weâve seen throughout the article, social media can be a treasure trove of data that can positively influence the entire business. But it can also be a burden when too much data creates noise, not insights.
Social media managers often struggle to make sense of the detailed analytics available on separate platforms. The result? They end up ignoring potentially vital information because of a lack of time and skills to centralize and interpret information.
Avoid data fatigue by using a tool like Socialinsider that integrates data from multiple platforms into easy-to-use, comprehensive reports that provide information about your own channels, social media competitor analysis, and trends.
Use Socialinsiderâs Organic Value feature! Itâs like having a translator that translates metrics into $. This means when your boss asks about your social media ROI, you can finally give them concrete numbers instead of trying to explain why 1,000 Instagram likes is totally different from 1,000 LinkedIn likes.
The tool looks at three main areasâhow people engage with your content, how many eyes youâre reaching, and how your audience is growingâand gives each action a monetary value that makes sense for each platform (based on how much money youâd have to invest in paid ads to get the same results). The best part? You can customize these values to match whatâs closest to your business context, for a more accurate estimate.
Social media directly impacts business in both positive and negative ways. On the one hand, it can boost sales, improve customer engagement, and offer valuable insights that help businesses grow and be competitive. On the other hand, social media can be a public relations ticking timebomb and can drain resources without strategic allocation.
To minimize the risks and maximize positive outcomes, businesses must actively monitor public sentiment, get real-time insights, and efficiently leverage data for smart, timely decisions. Try Socialinsider for free to see how easy it is to make sense of social media analytics and turn risks into opportunities.
Social media can have a great impact on a business' growth journey, helping generate brand awareness, sales, brand loyalty, and more.
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