Written by Janice Hunt.
30 September 2026
Reading time: 1,8 minutes
Smart mouth: what your social media says about your business
‘When humour goes, there goes civilization.’ Erma Bombeck
‘Social media for business is no longer optional. It’s an essential way to reach your customers, gain valuable insights, and grow your brand,’ says an article titled 22 Benefits of social media for business by the National Business Association. And they’re not wrong.
Whether you love it or hate it, social media marketing is essential for your brand. Forbes Councils Member Vikram Joshi thinks so too. He says, ‘Social media has revolutionised the way businesses connect with their target audience. It has become an indispensable tool for marketers seeking to build brand awareness, engage with customers and drive sales. In this digital age, ignoring social media can be tantamount to neglecting a significant portion of your potential market.’
Today’s consumer uses social media like their own private investigator. They look at a brand, what it offers, what people are saying about it, and then decide if they think it’s a good fit for them. Sometimes a purchase decision is made based purely on the strength of your social media manager’s posting, which is why handing it off to an overloaded intern is probably not a strategic business decision.
Simply put, social media marketing is about reach. Your audience may browse social media sites such as Facebook, X and LinkedIn, or surf Instagram, Threads and TikTok. But whatever their social media habits, the fact remains that every post you make, link you share and comment you like reaches a wider audience than ever before. Added to this is the power of paid ads that can be targeted based on consumers’ age, location or interests – it’s a much smarter, more curated way of reaching your target market.
By using links and reshares, businesses can also direct more traffic to their websites, which is always a good thing.
Social media can help build relationships with your audience using comments, replies and direct messages, which in turn creates a sense of trust through communication. Brands that are accessible are seen as more accountable and potentially more transparent.
Socially engaged brands such as MapQuest, Beyond Meat and America’s National Parks Service use a mix of humour, social commentary, and real-time engagement to build brand awareness while creating viral entertainment that expands their reach. Wendy’s is known for their satirical comments and ‘roasts’, while Duolingo uses a mix of mayhem and humour to create popular short-form videos for TikTok. The Aquarium of the Pacific has gone viral for responding to requests for sea life images. These are all excellent examples of brands that are masterfully wielding the power of social media to drive brand awareness, build relationships, and remain relevant.
The beauty of harnessing social media is that you can track it – that means data, analytics, and measurables on you as well as your competitors. Tracking likes, reads, reposts, and engagement can provide real-time feedback. It also allows businesses to respond to the good, and the bad, quickly and effectively.
But remember… your social media manager needs to be smart, quick on their feet (or with their fingers), flexible, and rooted in the brand. Dashing off a response to a viral storm can be make or break – just ask Novig and Ed Sheeran (IYKYK) – which only goes to show the power of social media and how important it is to get it right