It is no secret that in an age where everything is digital, the Internet has become king. According to online retailers and service providers, over 39 percent of all of customers come from search, and eCommerce sales topped $200 billion in 2011.

More and more companies are executing online marketing strategies, including search engine optimization techniques, hosting, and social media campaigns. While most of us have experience with social media on a personal level, there are also several advantages to utilizing social media as a proactive business tool.

First, social media hosting helps you to gain traffic to your website. Social media draws visitors to your site in a different way than SEO or search marketing does. Social media is typically a more practical draw to your site than a standard landing page does, because it has more engaging qualities. For instance, you can draw readers to your website through engaging blog articles or white papers, which are of more relevance and interest to your customers than chunks of text about your company history.

Social media hosting also allows you to interact and form bonds with your customers. Customers can respond to blog posts, and engage in discussions with you and each other, which will ultimately promote your business. You can share photos and videos about what your business has been up to, such as new products you are working on, awards you are receiving, events you are holding, etc. This helps your customers to feel involved in company activities, and if instances with things such as events, can actually allow them to interact with you and your business on a more personal level.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, social media hosting allows you to increase Revenue! Aside from drawing visitors to your page, which increases your chances for conversions, social media is also relatively inexpensive, which will save you money in the long run. Since revenue is about ROI, you are likely to increase your revenue by properly executing a social media campaign.

Social media is not just for college kids. There are several great advantages to help your business disseminate its brand and to interact with your consumers.