Back in 2004 when Facebook started gaining attention and businesses began utilizing social media, it changed the strategies that companies had set into place up to that point. These days, it doesn’t matter if you run a small local shop or a big national company - social media is more than just a trend. It is an essential piece of your business marketing strategy.
With more than three billion people around the world using social media every month, the users and engagement on major platforms just keep increasing. Also, research shows that 89% of marketers believe social media is important to their overall social media strategy. (Buffer, 2019)
But with all of that being said, social media is not enough to drive business growth. Social platforms can help you connect with your customers, increase awareness about your brand, and boost your leads and sales. But you need to start with creating a solid content marketing strategy that aligns with your company’s goals and will supplement your other marketing tactics.
1. Gain Attention and Build Awareness
If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your customers. Social media boosts your visibility among potential customers, letting you reach a wide audience by using a large amount of time and effort. And it’s free to create a business profile on all the major social networks, so you have nothing to lose. Define what you want to get out of social media to develop a social media strategy for brand awareness. By keeping your strategy specific, you can determine which social media channels are the best fit for your business. Word of mouth is extremely important when it comes to getting your name out there and 71% of consumers with a positive interaction with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to family and friends. (LyfeMarketing, 2018)
2. Humanize Your Brand
Introduce your followers to the people who make up your company and showcase how existing customers are using and benefiting from your products. In order to truly engage with your audience, it has to feel like they are talking to a human. Creating conversation and talking with your audience, not at them, through social media can help you further understand your audience. It can make your brand appear more trustworthy and establish a sense of credibility. The main goal here is to be maintain and be consistent with your tone of voice on social media.
3. Stay Top of Mind
Modern research believes that the average consumer needs to view an ad at least 7-8 times before it'll really sink in. Targeting your customers through social media allows your company or brand to stay on a consumers’ mind and increase the amount of times they see your brand. Each time an individual is exposed to your brand, it increases the chance of them taking an actionable step towards becoming a customer. Being top of mind in your category can have powerful results for any brand, but the psychology behind the strategy is simple. As a consumer, when we’re familiar with a brand and are exposed to it regularly, we develop a sense of trust and even a preference for it.
4. Increase Website Traffic
Social media is said to be the primary source for generating eCommerce traffic. Social media leads ahead of the traditional media in driving traffic to your website. They bring in ample of opportunities to gain the business visitors and convert into leads. Incorporating clickable website links or buttons into your posts is an easy way to increase the amount of traffic you have to your website. Promoting your content on multiple platforms helps not only spread the word but increase the possibilities for consumers to head towards your website. Ensuring that your profiles and website are optimized can make or break the potential of an individual turning into a customer.
5. Generate Qualified Leads
In many marketing campaigns, most of the target recipients are possibilities at best. They may or may not be interested in your offering now, and some may never be interested. You can’t be sure they’ll take advantage of the offer or even take the time to look it over.
This is not the case with most of your social media followers, which is a big reason why social media is important for business. Building your reputation on social media platforms allows credibility to be built and leads to flow.
Bottom Line: If you’re not taking advantage of social within your digital marketing strategy, you’re missing out on a fast, inexpensive, and effective way to reach almost half the world’s population.
