Social media is an integral part of our daily lives. It is no longer a trend but a stark reality that is intertwined into every part of our lives. Its reach continues to increase very passing day as it conveniently wraps itself around all facets of the digital world.
In today’s world social media marketing is as important as traditional marketing methods, if not more. 90% marketers say that social media marketing has considerably increased their reach. 66% marketers who spend at least 45 minutes every day on social platforms have agreed seeing an increase in leads. Regardless of the type of industry you are in, social media is a powerful marketing tool that can help you expand your business' potential, filling up your wallet and bank account.
You have a business that’s running. You employ all marketing tools to generate leads and capture clients. However, if you haven’t tapped into this powerful tool yet, you are missing out on a major chunk of audience. It is just like flaunting a flip phone in a meeting when you are supposed to carry an IPhone.
But some people are still adamant to own flip phones. They would sneer at the sound of social media and question scornfully “What will social media do for me? Do I even need it?” Yes, you do need social media and here are a few things that it is capable of doing to your business.
Regardless of the industry that you are doing business in, a huge chunk of your potential leads is on social media. According to a recent study by Pew Research Centre nearly 70% of adult Americans regularly use Facebook. 80% of Americans aged between 18 to 24 years old are Instagram users while 45% regularly follow Twitter. 37% of Americans aged 65 and above use one or more social media platforms.
With the liberty to approach all these audiences, you can conveniently boost traffic to your website. When you post something new on your website or blog, it can take quite long to get traction with Google. This means that existing as well as new users won’t know about updates made on your website unless they specifically look for those keywords or products on the web.
Social media posts are just the right way to update users about any new activity on your homepage or blog. These posts allow audiences to visit new web content, clicking through your website. Since these updates mostly appear in feeds of people that are interested in those items, the traffic is specifically targeted. So it not only increases web traffic, but also brings you the customers that are likely to purchase your products.
With this kind of potential, you can expect staggering results. A link on Reddit can attract around 20,000 visitors and StumbleUpon posts can increase views up to many thousands in a single day. Who wouldn’t want to utilize the potential of such a huge margin?
The more traffic your webpages attract, the higher they will rank on Google. Although a sound content strategy is integral for positive search rankings, getting traffic on your optimized webpages will help them rank much faster.
The reason why social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter are extremely popular marketing tools is because they make interaction with your potential client possible.
By just getting a bird’s eye view of their updates and tweets, you can easily decipher their buying behavior. You can easily answer questions such as:
The answer to these simple insights can have significant results on your business. When you know about the tastes about your customer, the things they like and the ones they dislike, you can tailor a content strategy that specifically meets their needs, which in turn would increase website visits. However, the benefits can have many positive consequences including helping you identify your customer problems, enhancing sales and even redefining your product strategy altogether.
Your potential clients generally view Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as social networking sites rather than marketing mechanisms. Most business owners adopt a selling approach by flooding accounts of their clients with discount offers and customer reviews. When the accounts garner insignificant results, they abandon them altogether deeming them ineffective.
Customers on social media do not want to be pushed for sales. They want to be engaged in manner that remains casual while addressing their needs.
Therefore, it is important that business owners stop viewing social media as a means to increase sales. Rather they should consider it a medium to connect to their customers on a personal and deeper level. This realization will help you transform your brand. You interact with your customers by sharing content that’s fun and informational. Start by answering their queries and removing any ambiguities, forming bonds over shared interests.
A great consumer following can boost your public profile. You can form connections with industry leaders, sharing excellent stories and interesting topics that experts can post on your profile . With time your posts won’t be regarded as brand updates, they will have a distinct identity of their own, becoming an integral part of community.
This would result in some notable ROIs, more than your sales team would bring in, generating leads. With patience, you can steer these leads to become your followers. Continued consistency can convert your followers into customers, who in turn can become your most loyal clients.
You can utilize ad feature of social media that helps you target a customized audience. For example, you can use Facebook ads to target customers by using demographics such as age, education, location and even user preferences such as the pages the user has liked.
Gone are the days when customers waited for days to get their products replaced. Now, quick customer service is not an added benefit, it is an essential feature every consumer is willing to use. However, there are just a few companies that are providing their consumers with speedy solutions to their problems. Multiple studies reveal that consumers are willing to pay more to companies that offer quick fixes to their problems.
The world of social media marketing is quite saturated. It can be quite challenging for you to combat competitors who have multi channels on various platforms. However, despite having various accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, these companies have tailored inadequate policies. And this is the opportunity that you can tap onto.