Social media marketing has been of growing importance for small to medium sized businesses, specifically in the last 12 months. Often directors flock to social media to convert sales overnight, however it needs to be noted that social media should strictly not be used as a sales tool, but a marketing communication platform that allows a mutual collaboration between users.
Below are six benefits of using social media for a business's marketing strategy and also all round company communications, establishing an engaging community amongst their stakeholders.
1.) Popularity
Social media has now become the number one internet activity in the world (I'll let you guess what's number two). With 72% of all internet users now active on social media and 60% of 50 to 60-year-olds active on social media, there is no excuse - your target audience is definitely on social media!
2.) Brand Awareness
Especially through Twitter and Instagram, social media lets you create brand awareness for relevant stakeholders that might not be previously exposed to your business. Think of social media as one big cocktail party, where everyone is there to network and meet new people.
3.) Customer Service
Social media has proven to be a popular, modern communications tool. This has been due to the real-time, quick response rate that is offered. As a result, users have been quick to turn to social media to seek customer service help from their favorite brands favorite brands with the biggest brands, in some cases, launching a separate page purely devoted to responding to customer service queries.
4.) Search Engine Ranking
By having an active social media channel, you are actively being ranked higher up Google's ranking. Google's algorithm ranks social media pages higher up its search ranking as they are seen as active, engaging platforms, with consistent new content - so make sure your social media channels are active!
5.) Relationship Building
Social media can be defined as user generated content, which requires two way user communications. For brands, it is important to bare this in mind as 71% of Tweets and 70% of Facebook wall posts go unanswered by brands.
6.) Social Media Ads
Social media ads are a growing form of paid online media. They allow you to select a specific target audience which make online campaigns more relevant to your target market based on basic demographics, behaviors online and offline, social backgrounds and more. Test the waters when executing social media ads for your business and start with a smaller budget, then increase your budget based on the level of engagement and cost per click you receive.
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