If you run a business and you're interested in extending your reach and spreading the word to as many potential customers as possible, then ignoring social media is simply not an option. It is an incredibly powerful tool for any business that wants to promote itself to a large audience and has been instrumental in the success of many modern products and services.

In case you're still thinking you can do without it, read on to see five of the reasons you should definitely be using social media.

1. The Market is Huge

It's a well-known fact that Facebook would be the third largest country in the world were you to take every member and put them in one place. That's an absolutely insane number of users that you can gain access to then, simply by signing up to the platform and starting to promote yourself there. Then if you consider all the other social media platforms available, this is simply too huge of an opportunity to miss.

2. It's Conducive to 'Virality'

If you want an idea, video or article to 'go viral' then you need social media. Social media's design makes it perfectly suited to helping media to go viral as all the tools for sharing and are right there and the networks are already in place.

3. It's Interactive

It isn't just about reaching your audience though it's also about interacting with them. Because social media lets you respond to comments, it means that you can actively engage with them and thereby build a relationship.

4. It's Personal

It is also personal and often the networks that are in place are based on real-world social networks. So when you see that someone 'likes' a product that isn't just a meaningless statistic it is a referral from a friend or colleague who you trust.

5. It's Targeted

When you sign up to a given social media channel as a user, you will start out by giving your personal details. These include your name, age, marital status and more. In other words, you are providing tons of information that can then be used by businesses to identify their precise target demographic. You don't just have a huge market here but a tailored one!

And there's more!

It has many benefits beyond these five though. Whether it's the incredible networking possibilities you're interested or the tools and apps that make it so easy to manage your accounts there are many more ways that social media sets itself apart as one of the most powerful tools available to businesses of all sizes.

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