If it were possible to do something for free that would ultimately give you substantial return, wouldn’t you invest time into it?

With more than 665 million daily active users on Facebook and over 500 million registered users on Twitter, companies can’t afford to ignore today’s most-visited and engaging social platforms.

Luckily, most marketers are getting with the program  – the marketing program, that is. According to a HubSpot report:

• 92% of marketers said social media was important to their business
• 80% confirmed that social media helped increase traffic to their websites
• More than 58% of marketers who have been using social media for one year or longer improved search engine rankings

The stats speak for themselves. But if you need more evidence of the power social media can bring to your marketing communications campaign, here are four tangible benefits it can help you reap.

1. Added Brand Recognition
Social media makes your brand more recognizable and, in turn, more credible. Every chance you have (and take) to increase your brand visibility and establish a voice in the marketplace is worth money for your company. Consider making content syndication an integral part of your marcom program. Republishing the useful, engaging content you’re already writing on third-party influencer platforms helps you not only continue to establish your company as a thought-leader in your space.

2. Synergy with Other Program Components
Marcom programs aren’t limited to a particular strategy or medium. Advertising, lead generation, web copy, asset development and influencer engagement are all fair game. Social media works in conjunction with each of these other puzzle pieces and creates a synergy that improves the performance of the overall marcom program. You can get more – not to mention better – results when you fuse the deep engagement of social media with the reach and effectiveness of more traditional efforts.

3. More Opportunities to Convert
A social media presence offers you more opportunities to connect with prospects and convert them to brand advocates and customers. Some marketing gurus claim that a consumer needs to see one message three separate times before they even consider taking action. Being active on social media helps a brand reach this “three message” quota more organically and offers more variety in messaging and delivery. For example, a prospect might receive an inbound email, see an ad and then engage with a Facebook post before entering another phase of the sales funnel.

Some studies have also found that social media has a 100% higher conversion rate (from lead to close) than outbound marketing. So, the more active you can be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram – and the list goes on – the better.

4. Learn What Customers Want
How often do you practice social listening? And no, we don’t mean paying close attention during boring conversations at cocktail parties. Social listening – we mean listening to social sentiment about your company and brand on social channels – is a great way to gain valuable insights into what your customers, both current and potential, want, expect, like and dislike about your product or the industry at large. It offers you the unique opportunity to collect information that could lead to your next product update, offering or even corporate identity.

Don’t be afraid to be more social across all of your marketing communication initiatives. When incorporated into your organization’s overall marcom strategy, social engagement can connect your brand with both new and existing customers and help bolster every marketing effort. While you’re out there, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.