Carl and Reece invite your questions
Dear Carl and Reece
I read in the paper recently that more people than ever are shopping online! Can smaller businesses benefit from this boom?
Brian
Hi Brian
In answer to your question, yes, SMEs can certainly benefit. Nearly 6 in 10 working-age adults (58.4%) now shop online every week. 2021 was a year when social distance regulations and non-essential business closures forced management teams to build a stronger presence away from the high street.
It's important to review all your digital channels (website, app, social media pages) to ensure these are still attracting customers and resulting in sales.
The figures in this report by Hootsuite also reveal that 560 million Facebook users and 187 million Instagram users see ads each month while they scroll through their favourite posts. People are spending longer reading, tweeting and posting online, at 2 hours 27 minutes a day. Having a paid social media strategy will enable companies of all sizes to publicise their goods to these new and enthusiastic audiences.
Here are some other key points:
Social media activity is up 10% compared to 2020, with 58% of the world – 4.62 billion individuals – on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Facebook remains the world’s most used social platform, followed by YouTube and WhatsApp.
Emerging platform, TikTok, increased its reach by 7% (60 million users) during the last three months.
Reece Matthews and Carl Hewitt are the Managing Directors of Hewitt Matthews, Hampshire's fastest-growing digital marketing agency. Contact them with your questions at: carl@hewittmatthews.co.uk