Each month, the average American spends nearly six hours on Facebook, the largest social networking website to date. With over 800 million users, that is a huge market for your business.

If you are not currently using social media, you are missing the opportunity to connect with these users, as well as many other benefits of social media as a marketing platform.

1/ Social Media Gets Your Customers Talking

When your customers start talking about your business via social media, it can garner new interest from new potential customers because people trust recommendations from friends.

Social media gives you a platform to get these recommendations organically.

One way to get more people talking about your business is to run promotions that people will want to share.

A contest giving away a free item to people who “like” your Facebook page or Tweet about your promotion will draw attention to your site.

For the cost of one free item, you could gain hundreds, if not thousands, of new contacts.

2/ Customers Can Take You With Them

People take the Internet with them wherever they go thanks to smartphones and tablets. If your site is optimized for mobile users, then you can keep your company in your clients’ back pocket.

In 2011, the mobile Internet audience increased by 62 percent, according to a study by the Nielson Group, and that number is growing. This means you have the potential for a constant connection with your customers.

To take advantage of this, have your site optimized for mobile users, or set up a mobile specific site they can access.

3/ Improves Search Engine Ranking

You want your website to rank high in the search engines, and social media can actually help with this. Search engine optimization (SEO) improves any time you get more traffic to your website.

When people start using Twitter, Reddit and Facebook to share your promotions, blog posts or articles, your ranking will improve.

The changes to Google in 2011 also mean that these popular sites are now being indexed by the search engines. The more people on social media sites are talking about you, the more active and valuable you will appear to the search engines, and the higher your rank will be.

4/ Connections on Social Media Can Increase Your Sales

While getting people talking about and interacting with your brand is valuable, your number one goal is to increase sales. Social media can do this.

According to statistics in the UK, for example, 28 percent of British businesses reported an increase in sales due to their social media efforts.

People who are researching purchasing options through social media are likely to make their purchase online, and if your presence is strong and positive on their favorite site, then you have an increased chance of landing that sale.

These statistics show that social media has a positive impact on those businesses that use it well. It costs nothing to launch a social media campaign other than your time.

Even if you opt to hire someone to manage your social media efforts, the cost is still far less than what you would spend on traditional marketing, and the return is often much better.

Now is the time to take advantage of these free marketing platforms and start creating some buzz about your business.

Bio: Darren Bradley is a SEO professional who writes for deals.servicebundles.com which helps supply people with FiOS Internet. If you would like to learn more Click here.