7 Advantages of Social Media Marketing for Your Business
When social media first came to the scene, many business owners ignored it and thought of it as a channel for young people to interact. Today, business owners are realizing the potential benefits of marketing their businesses through social media platforms. Findings of a survey done at Global Web Index revealed that 30% of all Internet users search for products on social media. The findings also indicate that 37% of internet users follow their favorite companies or brands on social media. The platform offers many benefits to businesses as discussed below.
Increasing brand awareness
Social media is a great platform to increase your brand recognition and visibility. You have an opportunity to market your brand to new customers every day instead of reaching the same people with your marketing messages. The way to increase your business’ visibility is to create profiles on all major social platforms.
Create shareable content daily and encourage your stakeholders to share your page and content on their platforms. The stakeholders, in this case, include partners, employees, and sponsors. You reach new prospects every time your followers share your content. Every new like is also a potential repeat customer.
Increase traffic and search engine rankings
One of the strategies of marketing your business on social platforms is to include links to your business website on your posts and profile. Post content on your website or blog and then share it on all social platforms. Every time your followers click on your posts, they are immediately directed to your website. “Using social media consistently also improves your search engine rankings,” says the CEO of Allkitchenfind.com.
You can improve your rankings by including your target keywords and phrases on social media posts. Add photos, infographics, blog posts, and case studies to your content as well. The target here is to reach many followers with quality content that they can easily share. Another strategy is to follow influencers in your industry who can provide quality backlinks to your website.
Building customer relationships
People like to do business or interact with people and not institutions. Social media gives you and your employees an opportunity to build close relationships with your clients and potential clients. You add a human touch to your posts by responding to your followers’ queries and comments. It is now easier for customers to ask for information about your business or products on social media.
You increase their level of satisfaction by responding to their queries on time. Train your employees to respond to negative comments or complaints with compassion. Your customers need to know that you care about them and not just selling products to them.
Increasing your conversion rates
When you personify your brand through social media, your conversion rates will begin to increase almost immediately. You build trust in your brand through quality content and continuous interactions with your followers. The importance of responding to all reviews and comments including negative comments is that it builds confidence and trust in potential customers.
More than half of marketers have reported that building strong relationships with customers through social media has led to significant increases in sales. Increasing your brand awareness and visibility increases your sales as well. Potential customers will consider your business when they need products or services.
Improving brand loyalty and authority
The highest percentage of social media users is the millennials who also form the largest consumer base. This generation engages brands on social media and develops strong relationships. Studies show that about 62% of customers that interact with brands on social media become loyal customers.
Sharing accurate, relevant, original, and credible content increases your brand authority. Interacting with your customers increases their level of satisfaction and encourages them to share information about your business.
Reducing marketing costs
Marketing your business on traditional offline platforms is expensive especially when you want to run several campaigns. Social media offers a cost-effective method of advertising with the potential of reaching millions of customer. With the right social media strategy, you can spend a few hours every week to reach thousands of customers without incurring any costs.
Paid advertising on social media is also cost-effective. You can start small and run a few ads before scaling your budget. You adjust your strategy and budget based on the results on your conversion rates.
Gaining customer insights
One of the goals of conducting marketing research is to understand your customers’ needs. With this information, you can introduce products in the market that meet those needs. You have direct access to this information while interacting with your customers on social media.
You can tell from their responses and comments to your posts the type of product and customer service they expect from your business. In addition, you can also gather insights on their personalities, interests, and likes from their posts and profile. Such insights will help you come up with relevant posts for all customer segments.
If you have not tried marketing your business on social media, you need to start immediately. Your competitors are already doing it and this may be the reason they are ahead of you. Create profiles and share posts that represent your brand well and start engaging your customers on all platforms. You will eventually see the results on your customer base and sales.
Check out a great Motivational Video for more tips on using social media to your advantage.
