Why social media is important for business marketing

 

Let's start with a simple fact: your business needs a social media presence.

It doesn't matter if you run a small local shop or a large national company. Social media is more than just a trend. It is an essential part of your business marketing strategy.

But by itself, social media is not enough to drive business growth. Social platforms can help you connect with your customers, increase awareness of your brand, and increase your leads and sales.

But you need to start with an always-on mindset and a solid content marketing strategy.

Quick Takeaways:

 Social media is an effective way to reach new audiences with interesting content

 Social engagement helps you build trust, authority and showcase your brand personality

 You need a solid plan for engaging content to distribute through social media

 🤫 PS – Check out our weekly blog content service that includes social media support!

 Over three billion people worldwide use social media each month, with users and engagement on major platforms continuing to grow.

What you may not know is that you are ready to get your company's social media off the ground right now. You don't need to know every scary buzzword or have a magical number of followers. You can get started right away—and enjoy yourself in the process.

Social media offers immense potential for businesses as consumers log on to it daily and come in contact with companies. It also presents major challenges for businesses, however, as it is an ever-changing place that is very noisy and crowded.

Keeping up with evolving trends on social media can be difficult, so B2B reviews and ratings firm Clutch partnered with social media marketing agency Smart Insights to learn the current state of social media marketing; They surveyed 344 social media marketers from around the world to find out the value of social media, the most engaging content to share, common challenges and what social media resources businesses are investing in.

The result?

 52 percent of social media marketers believe social media positively impacts their company's revenue and sales.

 Five Most Valuable Social Media Platforms:

 Facebook (89 percent)

 LinkedIn (83 percent)

 YouTube (81 percent)

Twitter (80 percent)

 Instagram (56 percent)

 About 80 percent of companies share mostly original content on social media.

 The most important metrics for companies are engagement (36 percent) and conversion rates (35 percent).

 Social media is more valuable to B2C (58 percent) than B2B companies (46 percent).

 The biggest challenges with social media are:

 Lack of adequate human and financial resources (26 percent)

 Lack of a formal strategy (24 percent)

 Building a community of followers and influencers (24 percent)

 If you're still not convinced, here are six things you can try yourself to realize that social media is a smart business move.

 1. Pay attention and create awareness

 If people don't know about your business, they can't become your customers. Social media increases your visibility among potential customers, allowing you to reach a wider audience with less time and effort. And creating a business profile on all major social networks is free, so you have nothing to lose.

 Here's a fact: Social media content gets attention.

 However, it is really easy for users to get overwhelmed with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms full of noise from companies trying to promote their brands. How can a company create relevant content in such a crowded space?

 In the survey above, articles, videos and images were the most successful in engaging customers and breaking through that noise.

"These content types are effective at getting cut-through in newsfeeds, so it's important not only to use them, but to invest in them so the quality is there," said Dave Chaffee, CEO of Smart Insights. said Insights CEO Dave Chaffee.

 This is where original content meets quality design. Between GIFs, memes, Facebook Live and more, a content strategy must be carefully thought out and executed. What message do your customers want to see, how are they going to identify with your brand, and what will get them to click on your post or comment on it to interact?

 Define what you want to achieve from social media to develop a social media strategy for brand awareness. Do you want new customers to discover your services? Do you hope to bring more local shoppers into your stores? By being specific about your strategy, you can determine which social media channels are best for your business.

 2. Communications Authority

 Customers are becoming more and more discerning and more discerning about which businesses they support. Before making a decision, they will do a quick search to browse your website and social media.

 Will they find an empty storefront or a rich source of information? Setting up strong profiles that you update frequently with relevant content will increase your brand authority and ensure that you make a positive first impression through social media, showing that your business is trustworthy, knowledgeable and approachable.

 Find ways to showcase your expertise as a thought leader in your industry—such as writing pieces related to your expertise or expanding on your company's mission. By showing what your business offers and the value, you will establish trust with potential customers.

 3. Show authenticity

 Customers are not interested in businesses that publish dry, corporate-style social media posts.

 Instead, let your brand's personality shine through in everything you share on social media. What is your brand voice? How does it reflect who you are? While brands need to be polite and empathetic to their audience, finding a voice and taking a stand is more important.

 Practice getting your tone right, whether it's casual and funny or formal and friendly. Be true to who you are, not what you think you should be. Followers want to see the real people behind your social profiles. Show them.

 4. Encourage engagement

 Sometimes, a seemingly simple social media post, such as one promoting a pair of shoes, can garner many likes, comments and shares. People can also ask strangers in the feed if they received their shoes, how long shipping took, if they liked them, and other questions.

 Social media opens up conversations for instant interaction, relationship building, and customer loyalty.

 "It's really important that companies have the right organizational structure to support social media," said Josh Krakauer, Sculpt founder and CEO. "A customer support team and a product development team are very effective."

 Social channels evolve, constantly releasing new features, and this rapidly changing environment can be intimidating for some business owners.

 But remember: you don't have to do everything. Play with new ways to connect with your audience, and allow yourself to learn as you go. One day, you might post a series of Instagram stories to give clients a behind-the-scenes tour of your office. Next, you can host a quick Q&A session via Facebook Live video streaming. Over time, you'll get a better idea of your followers' preferences.

You can create interesting video content for social media with a simple setup—good lighting, a smartphone, and a tripod. Also, do a test run before going live to make sure your internet connection or hotspot has enough speed to avoid delays and interruptions.

5. Increase affordability

Yes, social media is not a place to be very salesy, but ultimately, it is a marketing channel and you don't need to ignore the opportunity to make a sale, should it present itself. Sponsored information on timelines, videos with CTAs, cross-channel retargeting and shoppable posts are social media mainstays.

Marketing costs add up, and not every business can afford large campaigns. But you can get a lot of value for your dollar with social media advertising. Regardless of your business, size or budget, there is an opportunity to grow your audience and reach your goals through advertising on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Although platforms like Instagram are primarily geared towards engagement, there are established ways to increase sales on them.

Most businesses are data-driven, but social media is not a set-in-stone science. For example, you might scroll through an ad that has a picture of a large scoop of melting chocolate ice cream, topped with a mound of whipped cream. You might not think twice about it, but three days later, you might stop by Baskin-Robbins because you were craving a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Social media can thus contribute to the buyer's decision-making process.

"Social media, unlike other types of advertising, can be very difficult to track," said Steve Pearson, CEO of Frandemic. "Most consumers say it takes too many touch points in their customer journey before purchase. Many of these are undoubtedly on social media and online review sites, but customers don't necessarily refer to them. Giving when they come to a business as the final touchpoint that brought them to where they are today.

When creating an advertising campaign, know who you're trying to reach and what goal you want to achieve so you don't waste any of your budget on unhelpful advertising. Avoid overly salesy ads, and choose content that educates or entertains (or does both at the same time).

6. Provide support

Social platforms have successfully broken down the barriers between companies and their customers. Now, instead of calling a customer service line, many people turn to Facebook or Twitter to solve problems or find information.

Develop your reputation as a responsive, caring brand by offering support through social channels:

 Create a system to track customer comments, questions and complaints on social media.

 Respond to questions and concerns as quickly as possible.

 Go out of your way to be positive and helpful.

 Listen to criticism and make customers feel heard.

 Know when to resolve public conversations into private messages.

Social media is essential for businesses

Social media is an important part of your business marketing, but it doesn't have to be stressful to manage. Take the first step, create a profile, and start connecting with your customers.

As it continues to weave itself into the daily patterns of our lives, more consumers will turn to new and upcoming social platforms for purchasing decisions. Those with a strong social media presence and branding will increase conversion rates, while those without active social media campaigns may lose potential customers. Which company do you want to be?