The importance and benefits of social media
It's 2020! A decade is starting and let's face it, we all have a pretty good perception of how social media works, right? Many people have increased their brand awareness through social media platforms and even build their brand and businesses. We all use daily, at least one, social media app either for work or fun but do we really know everything about them?
Let’s go back to the basics. What is marketing? Marketing is the activity and process for creating; communicating and delivering offerings that have value to customers.
Now, let's take a look at social media marketing.
The purpose of social media marketing is to build a brand and increase a brand’s visibility, through building relationships and communicating with potential customers.
These two seem to go hand-in-hand. Although you may still be wondering, why social media?
Social Media and Social Networking Sites
Similar to content marketing, due to the continuously developing internet marketing industry, there are countless digital media and social networking sites, all of which have a unique characteristic and purpose.
Let's see some social network examples:
Facebook is the biggest and arguably most powerful social network in the world with 1.55 billion active monthly users. Regardless if you are a startup or fortune 500 company, you need to be on Facebook and start engaging with your customers.
Twitter is known as the ‘‘in the moment’’ platform and boasts a respectful 255 million active monthly users. Twitter is a perfect online marketing tool for businesses that want to reach out to people (and are ready for a reply). The key is to be quick and smart!
Instagram is a visual platform designed for customers to post, share, comment and engage through digital media. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
LinkedIn is regarded as a professional social networking site. LinkedIn largely focuses on B2B marketing rather than B2C
Snapchat and TikTok, which is constantly growing, especially between younger ages!
What’s your take on any of the above social networking sites? Are there any other sites you display your digital media and connect with customers on?
Social Media Marketing Strategy
Having a social media presence without a proper strategy and plan can be just as damaging for your business as no plan at all.
“A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and maintain a clearly-defined audience.”
Set Goals. Start big and work down.
Know your target audience. Don’t just use demographics but expand.
Social Media Platform. Decide which platform will help you connect with your audience. Will this take the form of a blog, video, podcast, etc?
Social Network Strategy. Focus on a social network that adds value. Just because a network has over a hundred million active users doesn’t mean it will instantly contribute to your brand’s objectives.
Measurement and Testing. What does success mean to you? You need to constantly analyze your strategy to understand how effective it is. Engage with your audience, find out what works and what doesn’t.
The benefits of social media
1.Increased Brand Awareness
Social media is one of the most cost-efficient digital marketing methods used to syndicate content and increase your business' visibility. Executing a social media strategy will considerably raise your brand recognition since you will be engaging with a large audience of customers.
2.More Inbound Traffic
Without marketing your business on social media, your inbound traffic is limited to your usual clients. The people familiar with your brand are probably searching for the same keywords you already rank for. Without utilizing social media as part of your marketing strategy, you'll have much more trouble reaching anyone outside of your loyal customer circle.
3.Improved Search Engine Rankings
Although posting on social media might get your business some site traffic, more effort than that is needed to see significant success. Search engine optimization is very important for achieving higher page rankings and gaining traffic to your business website. While social media doesn't immediately increase search engine rankings, Social Media Examiner states that more than 58% of marketers who have been using social media for one year or longer still see improved rankings.
4.Higher Conversion Rates
With increased visibility, your business gets more chances for conversion. Every blog post, picture, video, or comment may drive viewers to your business's website and increase traffic. Social media marketing allows your business to provide a positive impact through a humanization factor. When brands are interactive by sharing content, commenting, and posting statuses on social media, it personifies the brand. People prefer to do business with other people, rather than companies.
5.Better Customer Satisfaction
Creating a voice for your company through these platforms is important in making more friendly your company. Customers appreciate knowing that when they post comments on your pages, they will receive a personalized response rather than an automated message. Being able to answer each comment shows that you are attentive to your visitors' needs and try to provide the best experience. Every customer interaction on your business's social media accounts is an opportunity to publicly demonstrate your kindness for your clients.
6.Improved Brand Loyalty
One of the main goals of almost all businesses is generating a loyal customer base. Acknowledging that customer satisfaction and brand loyalty usually go hand in hand, it is important to continually engage with your consumers and begin forming a bond with them. Social media is not just restricted to introducing your brand's products and promotional campaigns. Customers see these platforms as a service channel where they can interact directly with the business.
7.More Brand Authority
Customer satisfaction and brand loyalty both play a role in making your business more authoritative, but it all comes down to communication. When consumers see your company posting on social media, especially replying to customers and posting original content, it makes you appear more trustworthy. Constantly interacting with customers shows that your business cares about customer satisfaction, and is available to answer any questions that they might have. Happy customers are eager to spread the word about a great product or service and they usually turn to social media to express their opinion.
8.Cost-Effective
Social media marketing is perhaps the most cost-efficient piece of an advertising strategy. Signing up and creating a profile is free for almost all social networking platforms, and any paid promotions you choose to invest in are a relatively low cost compared to other marketing tactics. Being cost-effective is such an asset because you can see a greater ROI and retain a bigger budget for other expenses.
9.Gaining Marketplace Insights
One of the most helpful benefits of social media is marketplace insights. What better way to know the thoughts and needs of your customers than by straight-talking to them? By monitoring the activity on your profiles, you can see customers' interests and opinions that you might not otherwise be aware of.
It's obvious that social media marketing has its benefits, so if your business doesn't already have the appropriate profiles, create them now! Fill out your business' info and post some engaging content to begin getting followers. Ask people related to your business to "like" and "share" your page to help build your profile. With consistent updating, the right social media marketing strategy will lead to increased traffic, better SEO, higher conversion rates, improved brand loyalty, and much more. There are no reasons not to include social media in your marketing strategy. As it is so cost-effective, there is hardly anything to lose. Your competition is probably already on social media, so don't let them take your potential customers. The sooner you start, the better the results for your business.
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