Ever pushed aside social media as an afterthought when laying out your business's marketing strategy? You're not alone.
Brands of all sizes have only started taking Social Media Marketing seriously in the last few years, and some are just now realizing its importance. That is to say: if you haven't gotten on board yet, it's not too late!
Social Media Marketing is highly important for a few reasons. One is that social media is rapidly becoming the outlet for younger generations to discover new brands, interact with them, and eventually convert.
The second reason is that Social Media Marketing (SMM) can be entirely catered to your company's aesthetic. You can combine photography, video, and editorial content in one place, where users can get a sense for your brand quickly and easily.
Now, many social media platforms are even offering the option to purchase or sign up for services natively, making social media a direct profit-earning platform.
Ready to up your SMM game? Here are the top 7 essential benefits of Social Media Marketing for your business.
Top 7 Social Media Marketing Business Benefits
1. Social Media Marketing For Your Business: Increase Brand Awareness
While this advantage is not directly trackable per se, it's pretty much guaranteed that if your Social Media Marketing strategy is on point, more people are going to be aware of your brand. For example, you have a summer camp event and you want to attract new campers, then using social media to improve your summer camp marketing efforts will help build more reach.
The more followers you gain on social media, the more people will share, engage with, and return to your content. Using hashtags and geo-location will make it easier for people exploring to see your brand's content. That's why it's also important to have beautiful, eye-catching visuals to draw people in and cut through the competition!
Make sure you're sharing great content on a daily basis, and across all social media platforms. Remember that every 'like' is a potential new repeat customer.
2. Build Customer Relationships
One thing is certain: customers love engaging with brands. Social media is the single best way to interact with your customer base in a way that feels casual, genuine, and friendly. Prior to the rise of social media, retail stores were the only outlet for customers to interact with their favorite brands.
It's best to take advantage of the 24/7 access you have to your loyal audience and share things that make them feel extra special, like exclusive sales, contests, or sneak peeks.
If you need help figuring out what campaigns to focus on, there are tons of resources out there, including companies that create ad campaigns for social through AI that is guaranteed to delight your customers.
3. Create Buzz
Conversation on social is attention-grabbing. Your followers will want to feel like they're in on the conversation, so invite them! By garnering active and regular conversation as part of your social media strategy, you'll foster brand loyalty and even be able to get some valuable feedback on your product in doing so.
A great way to foster communication and create buzz is to ask for it! For example, if you're a brand selling prescription food boxes, try asking things like "tell us your favorite meal prep menu item in the comments!".
You can also foster communication by simply replying to comments and engaging with your audience in a timely, genuine manner.
4. Cut Down On Marketing Costs
At the end of the day, it's your budget that really matters. Social Media Marketing is a great, cost-effective way to successfully market to your customers without spending your entire yearly budget on just a few expensive ad campaigns.
First off, creating an account and posting organic content is totally and completely free. Plus, if you choose to, you can always pay for paid social advertising. You can choose how much you'd like to lean on that, depending on your budget.
Just by investing a small amount of money and time, you can significantly increase your conversion rates and see great ROI's through Social Media Marketing.
5. Enhance Your SEO Ratings
SEO, or "Search Engine Optimization" is how likely your brand's content is to surface on the internet. Obviously, this is incredibly important to grow your brand awareness and make it easier for prospective customers to find you.
Social Media Marketing is becoming an integral part of any SEO rating, which means that you're missing out on a huge opportunity if you don't utilize it. In other words, if you're sharing content regularly on all your social channels, you'll be signaling to search engines that your brand has validity, integrity, and constancy.
6. Improve Customer Service
Social Media can be an important outlet for a customer to voice their issues and concerns around your service or product. These days, instead of calling a customer service line, many people are turning to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to solve problems. While this may sound like bad press, it's really a matter of how you handle these concerns.
Take this opportunity to improve your customer service by addressing concerns empathetically and quickly. This will not only delight your customer but will show others that you stand by your product and you're reachable should an issue arise.
7. Understand Your Audience
Stumped on which direction to grow in or what product to offer next? Turn to social media!
Your followers on social are a free and easy resource for a wealth of information. Because you have a chance to directly interact with your customer base, you'll be able to get a sense for who your customers are and what they like. You can even ask them directly thanks to SMM and messaging!
After all, when you understand your customers, you can produce more compelling content and market to them even better in the future.
Final Thoughts on Social Selling for Businesses
When it comes down to Social Media Marketing for your business, it's somewhat of a choose-your-own-adventure. You can put as much or as little money into it that you want, but having a social presence at all will greatly increase your brand's value.
Stay ahead of the curve and whip your Social Media Marketing strategy into shape today! Check out the rest of our site for social selling ideas and tips — we look forward to working with you and growing your business with social media influencer marketing!
1. Social Media Marketing For Your Business: Increase Brand Awareness
While this advantage is not directly trackable per se, it's pretty much guaranteed that if your Social Media Marketing strategy is on point, more people are going to be aware of your brand. For example, you have a summer camp event and you want to attract new campers, then using social media to improve your summer camp marketing efforts will help build more reach.
The more followers you gain on social media, the more people will share, engage with, and return to your content. Using hashtags and geo-location will make it easier for people exploring to see your brand's content. That's why it's also important to have beautiful, eye-catching visuals to draw people in and cut through the competition!
Make sure you're sharing great content on a daily basis, and across all social media platforms. Remember that every 'like' is a potential new repeat customer.
2. Build Customer Relationships
One thing is certain: customers love engaging with brands. Social media is the single best way to interact with your customer base in a way that feels casual, genuine, and friendly. Prior to the rise of social media, retail stores were the only outlet for customers to interact with their favorite brands.
It's best to take advantage of the 24/7 access you have to your loyal audience and share things that make them feel extra special, like exclusive sales, contests, or sneak peeks.
If you need help figuring out what campaigns to focus on, there are tons of resources out there, including companies that create ad campaigns for social through AI that is guaranteed to delight your customers.
3. Create Buzz
Conversation on social is attention-grabbing. Your followers will want to feel like they're in on the conversation, so invite them! By garnering active and regular conversation as part of your social media strategy, you'll foster brand loyalty and even be able to get some valuable feedback on your product in doing so.
A great way to foster communication and create buzz is to ask for it! For example, if you're a brand selling prescription food boxes, try asking things like "tell us your favorite meal prep menu item in the comments!".
You can also foster communication by simply replying to comments and engaging with your audience in a timely, genuine manner.
4. Cut Down On Marketing Costs
At the end of the day, it's your budget that really matters. Social Media Marketing is a great, cost-effective way to successfully market to your customers without spending your entire yearly budget on just a few expensive ad campaigns.
First off, creating an account and posting organic content is totally and completely free. Plus, if you choose to, you can always pay for paid social advertising. You can choose how much you'd like to lean on that, depending on your budget.
Just by investing a small amount of money and time, you can significantly increase your conversion rates and see great ROI's through Social Media Marketing.
5. Enhance Your SEO Ratings
SEO, or "Search Engine Optimization" is how likely your brand's content is to surface on the internet. Obviously, this is incredibly important to grow your brand awareness and make it easier for prospective customers to find you.
Social Media Marketing is becoming an integral part of any SEO rating, which means that you're missing out on a huge opportunity if you don't utilize it. In other words, if you're sharing content regularly on all your social channels, you'll be signaling to search engines that your brand has validity, integrity, and constancy.
6. Improve Customer Service
Social Media can be an important outlet for a customer to voice their issues and concerns around your service or product. These days, instead of calling a customer service line, many people are turning to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to solve problems. While this may sound like bad press, it's really a matter of how you handle these concerns.
Take this opportunity to improve your customer service by addressing concerns empathetically and quickly. This will not only delight your customer but will show others that you stand by your product and you're reachable should an issue arise.
7. Understand Your Audience
Stumped on which direction to grow in or what product to offer next? Turn to social media!
Your followers on social are a free and easy resource for a wealth of information. Because you have a chance to directly interact with your customer base, you'll be able to get a sense for who your customers are and what they like. You can even ask them directly thanks to SMM and messaging!
After all, when you understand your customers, you can produce more compelling content and market to them even better in the future.
Final Thoughts on Social Selling for Businesses
When it comes down to Social Media Marketing for your business, it's somewhat of a choose-your-own-adventure. You can put as much or as little money into it that you want, but having a social presence at all will greatly increase your brand's value.
Stay ahead of the curve and whip your Social Media Marketing strategy into shape today! Check out the rest of our site for social selling ideas and tips — we look forward to working with you and growing your business with social media influencer marketing!