An investment in social media marketing could allow businesses to increase their audience reach by hundreds or even thousands, writer Clarissa Wilson revealed.

Cited by examiner.com, Wilson explained the clear benefit of using social media to businesses across all sectors, be they created via a franchise agreement or as an independent start-up.

“When using social media marketing, you need to realise that although you might have only a few hundred Facebook likes, if they like your post, they are also sharing it with friends,” she suggested. “Then, if they friends like your post, they will then share it with their friends and it can on and on to thousands or maybe even hundreds of thousands of people.

“What a great concept that is for businesses who decide to use social media marketing to their advantage.”

However in order to gleam some true engagement off the back of this audience reach, businesses must ensure they include strong calls-to-action in their Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin updates. This can increase the level of engagement and shareability of any content posted.

Her comments come not long after discussions at the Ciett World Employment Conference declared social media to be a great marketing tool. Participants of the discussion agreed on a general conclusion when it comes to mixing social media and business, recruiter.co.uk revealed – that the simple return on investment (ROI) of social media marketing is that ‘your business will still be around in five years’.