Social media platforms have revolutionized marketing and blogging. Search engines like Google and Bing even validated the importance of social platforms. So, if you think you only need SEO to generate traffic, you thought wrong. Hoping that your SEO strategy is going to send you thousands and thousands of leads to your website isn’t the only viable way to ramp up your traffic. Smart content strategists are also leveraging social media to increase targeted traffic. The digital world is everywhere. With more and more people being connected to the web via smartphones and tablets, social media has quickly become one of the main forms of communication today. Not having social media presence, let alone a social media marketing plan, is really a matter of sinking or swimming.
Social Media Isn’t Going Anywhere Anytime Soon
It’s no secret that the social media business is booming. Roughly 78% of the American population are active social media users according to statistica. Facebook has been leading the way since the days of Myspace are now long gone, and they’ve held that number one spot year after year, with Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest following in suit. More and more people are adopting social media tendencies daily, especially those 55 and older. Who would’ve thought? Not being active on social media is no longer a choice.
Purchasing Decisions Are Influenced By Social Media
Have you ever read reviews, went on a company’s Facebook or Instagram to see what other customers are saying about their product or service before committing or making a purchase? I know I have, and I’m certainly not alone. What people are saying about your product or service on social media plays a huge role when it comes to your success. You want to make sure that your company is portrayed in the most positive way. Interact and engage with your users, happy or mad, to show you care and are a part of their buyers journey.
Strategy. Strategy. Strategy.
It’s very uncommon to find companies without a social media presence. Even more so, they are starting to align their social media strategy with concrete business goals. Lack of strategy lends hands to feed business to competitors. If you are posting just for the sake of posting, how do you know if your campaigns are relevant to your customers and turning a profit for you? You don’t.
Your Core Audience Are All Active Social Media Users
It’s extremely important to post content that will ignite your customer base and make them want to interact with you. And, it’s equally important you engage back with them. It’s no surprise that almost all your consumers are active on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It’s not uncommon for consumers to engage with companies and organizations on some form of a social channel rather than visiting their direct site or reading a blog post. Understanding the role social media plays in customer communication is key.
Increase Brand Authority
I know I turn to social media all the time to read customer reviews whether it be on a specific product, service, offering, restaurant etc. What people have to say about your brand can make or break your reputation. Sure, you can’t always be 5 star, 100% approved. And, that’s okay. It shows that you are REAL. Transparency is on your side here. It’s imperative that when someone has something negative or a complaint about your company, that you respond and are empathetic towards them. See if there is a way to resolve the issue at hand and make things right-invite them to come back, offer a discount, replace the product etc. But, don’t just address the negative comments, also engage with your happy customers. Show them you appreciate their business and support and encourage them to spread the word to family and friends, come back again-whatever it may have you. It’s the little things that let your customers know you appreciate them.
Web Traffic Skyrockets
Having a blog is a great way to increase your organic traffic and SEO. But, solely relying on your blog to send traffic to your site is the wrong mentality to have. You should have multiple streams of content sending traffic to your site and social media is simple and great way to do this. Say you typically put out a new blog post weekly. You e-blast the blog post to your fan base, but sharing the link on your social profile paired with a catchy description and the right hashtags, you’ll not only reach more potential leads, but you’ll also send them directly to your site to read the article in full. And hey, who knows, maybe they click around and spend more time on your site than you originally anticipated.
Decrease Marketing Costs and Increase ROI
Let’s be frank. The amount of money and time it takes to create, implement, and sustain a social media channel and strategy is pretty minimal. Roughly 6 hours a week and a few hundred dollars is all it takes to have the right presence for your brand. Social media channels allow brands to run ads that are catered or targeted for their specific customer base. Ads usually come at a fairly low cost, too. Compared to Google Adwords or CPC campaigns where you can spend easily thousands of dollars to rank for a specific keyword that often your competitors are also bidding on. On the upside, social media ads can run you a few hundred dollars and will reach your client base and location.
Find Customers You Never Knew Existed
Social Media has evolved immensely over the past few years. There are automation tools that allow companies to track specific hashtags and keywords to target customers that they may not have even known existed. Social media gives you an opportunity to gain valuable information about what your customers are interested in and how they behave, via social listening. Try monitoring user comments to see what people think of your business directly. You can segment your content syndication lists based on topic and see which types of content generate the most interest—and then produce more of that type of content.
Tip: We especially like Hootsuite and Sprout-both offer free versions of their social platforms.
Build Brand Loyalty
Social media opens the door to brand loyalty. When your customer is happy with your product or service they often take to social media to brag about their experience. They are your essentially your number one brand ambassadors. They have the power to digest, share, re-tweet, recommend everything your organization has to offer to their followers- family, friends, professionals. This in turn can lead to new customers and increase your bottom line.
Take a look at your Social Media pages and posts. Are you connecting and engaging with the people who like or comment on your posts? Are you posting at different times of the day to reach a wider audience? Do your posts, images, and even content convey your brand image to your audience? Are you posting often enough or too much? Are you capturing your social media stats and making improvements based on this data? Do you know where your core audience consumes content online?
Social media marketing can seem overwhelming and time consuming. It doesn’t have to be. If you need help streamlining or assessing your social footprint, send us a message. We’re happy to help you get where you need to be.