Why Social Media Marketing is Crucial for Your Business.
It’s tempting to think of social media as something frivolous or trendy, where people only care about selfies and cat videos. Nothing could be further from the truth. While social media users do enjoy having fun on the major platforms, they’re also relying on them as a source of information. Increasingly, consumers are looking to connect with brands on social media, and they’re also checking out what their peers say about those brands. Here’s why most businesses can benefit immensely from social media marketing.
Social Media = BRANDING
Today’s consumers are inundated with sales pitches and special offers. Many of them are skeptical from the outset, especially if they’re shopping online. Product reviews, testimonials, and other forms of social proof are more important than ever. However, you don’t have to wait for it to come to you. By establishing an active social media presence, you give your most loyal customers a chance to sing your praises, and you can also demonstrate your commitment to your audience.
This will great for you branding especially as you no longer have to “sell” to your audience. Others will do it for you!
Regularly post content that will get engagement, and don’t be afraid to respond to comments — even negative ones. How you handle objections and complaints says a lot about your brand. A classy, helpful response may sway other users toward your brand. With social media, you can turn a mean comment into an opportunity to demonstrate your value. And of course, it’s a great place to obtain user-generated content, positive feedback, and other ways to build awareness about your brand.
Social Media is an Opportunity for Organic Growth
PPC advertising is a time-honored way of driving traffic toward your business. Unfortunately, it requires continued funding, sometimes with a large budget, to get results. While there’s certainly a place for PPC advertising in your digital marketing strategy, social media marketing offers a way to organically connect with your target audience. For the price of only time — and some premium copy and design — you can capture and nurture leads within the platform. When done well, social media marketing has a generous ROI and not to mention while building your brand.
If you don’t have an ad budget at all, social media marketing is your best bet for generating leads and promoting loyal customer relationships. That’s because it’s an opportunity to authentically engage with people and show them how you can solve their problems. Plus, it’s a great way to reach people who have trained themselves to ignore ads!
Social Media lets you research and analyze your ideal customers.
Every good marketing plan includes your target audience, including personas and your ideal client avatar. It likely includes some market research as well. However, until you start getting regular business, you’re working with hypotheticals. As you engage with your audience on social media, you might find that your target customers don’t quite behave as you expected — or even that your offerings are more appealing to different audience segments altogether! Social media is an excellent place to get real insights into what your customers care about.
Plus, you can use any platform to monitor trending topics, pain points, industry trends, and other factors that impact your marketing. Consider social media a massive source of free, highly valuable information and inspiration. By maintaining a presence on it, you can gain actionable insights into how to best position and promote your brand. This will help you be the authority in your niche by really understanding your audience wants and needs which will build credibility for your brand.
Social media is here to stay, which means marketing on social media is crucial to reaching your best audience. Not all the major platforms may be appropriate for your brand, but each of them has a large base of passionate users who are looking for answers. If you can address their pain points and connect with them on a deep level, you can ensure that your brand makes a lasting place in their minds.