Social media has become a fundamental method of increasing exposure and driving traffic to websites. Consisting of over 4 billion users across a variety of social media platforms, this effective marketing technique gives businesses a first-class opportunity to widen their customer base and generate far more leads for potential sales. Social media marketing not only increases brand exposure but also offers a wide range of other unique advantages that could turn your small-scale business into a leading company in the industry.
If you’ve not already joined the recent craze of social media marketing, you’re definitely missing a trick and here’s why:
Your customers spend most of the day on social media
It’s a well-known fact that people spend far too much time on social media. A study carried out by The Mirror found that individuals spend more than 24 hours each week scrolling through social media profiles in their free time. More than 80% of internet users now have a social media account on one or a number of platforms, meaning that marketing on these sites has the biggest customer base you would ever target.
Cost-effecting marketing
In comparison to other forms of marketing, social media doesn’t require any costly materials or printing services that can take large sums out of the business budget. In comparison to leaflets, newsletters and posters which are traditional forms, social media marketing will surprisingly cost far less. It’s completely free to create a social media profile in which a following can be started up with the like of friends, family and acquaintances.
Yet businesses should be aiming to push their campaign further, in which companies such as CPS Media provide a Facebook advert service to drive thousands of new leads to your website each month. All that’s needed on your part is to determine the budget you’re willing to spend and the professionals will take care of the rest for you.
Better opportunities to convert
Every time you create a post on social media, it’s an opportunity for customers to convert. Each time you post a photo, video or status, it gives followers the chance to react and potentially pay a visit to your website. Not every site visit will lead to a sale, but the more frequently you post on your account, the more inclined they will be to make a purchase in future
Tells your brand’s story
Using social media for marketing is an ideal way of creating a story around your brand and publicizing your message and mission. The way in which you choose to create your posts will impact the way your brand is perceived, so planning a weekly structure of your content ensures you have the brand’s neatly message neatly incorporated. For example, you may wish to include that you work alongside a specific charity or you could share stories of those who use your product or service. If you receive great feedback, be sure to share it with your follower base. If someone takes the time to write positive feedback, it showcases that your brand is trustworthy.
Enables good customer service
In the past, the only way customers could ask for advice would be via phone or sending a brief message through the company’s website. However, customers now expect a near enough immediate response when they need assistance, which is where social media is used to communicate with ease and effectiveness. It also incorporates a much more personal approach to dealing with issues as soon as they arise.
Develops customer loyalty
- Social media allows businesses to build customer loyalty free of charge. Studies have shown that those who follow brands and react to their content are far more likely to make a purchase with them than browsing competitor websites for similar products or services. However, ensuring that customers remain interested and loyal will need a bit of effort on your part too. Here are some useful tips:
- Offer promotion codes: Give your customers a little token of thanks for sticking with you by offering promotion codes to receive a percentage off your stock.
- Ask questions: Users are far more inclined to respond to posts if they have the inclination they’ll get a response. When asking an open-ended question to generate a discussion, try and react to each of your follower’s comments. Doing so will establish your brand as reliable that cares about the individual person, rather than the follower base as just a number.
- Giveaways: As followers are already keen on your brand, giveaway competitions are a great way of portraying the image of generosity, but also stimulates discussion. Current customers are more likely to continue following you, and you may also notice that you’ll gain attention from new users who discovered you through others sharing and commenting on your content.
Build relationships with your customers
For every business, the key to understanding who the target market is will help establish direction. Social media makes this easier to investigate than ever before.
Through data metrics, businesses can analyze what their target market is talking about and where their interests lie, to go on to adapt the content shared to cater to the needs of the follower base.
Ensures you post the right amount
Every time a user logs into their social media account, they will notice your posts within the news feed, ensuring that you won’t be forgotten in a hurry. While it’s important to post on a regular basis, don’t overdo it with meaningless content that doesn’t provide a purpose for the user. Posts should either entertain or educate in between posts geared to pushing sales, or you may find you start to lose followers as a result of a poor strategy.
Gets people talking about your product
Word of mouth has always been the best policy and social media can create leads when working with influencers to promote products. Encouraging users to tag you in customer photos or collaborating with influencers are both ideal ways of drawing attention to your brand through public promotion.
By Steve Conway
Steve Conway is a content marketing professional and inbound marketing expert. Previously, Steve worked as a marketing manager for a tech software start-up. He is passionate about discovering new software that will that will advance his already well-honed digital marketing techniques.