Over the course of the last decade, social media has evolved from a cyber-meeting point for groups of friends to a generation-defining communication medium. A quick sign up is all that is required to connect you with people you have never met on the other side of the globe.
It didn't take long for businesses to notice the marketing potentials of social media.
Some companies acted upon the new approach and saw their profits going through the roof. Other companies haven't utilized the full potential of social media and have suffered as a result.
Here is why no business should ignore social media:
Build Brand Awareness
The first reason why every business should foster a social media presence is to introduce itself to the rest of the world. Your brand establishes its own persona on a platform; it interacts with other people and makes a name for the company in this virtual space. This process may not be rocket science, but it is as essential to businesses as science is to rockets.
Before making an impression on social media, we need to choose the right platform. Not all are the same, and we must take the nature of the brand into consideration when picking the right one. Business to business services, for example, will have an easier time finding an audience on LinkedIn, rather than Instagram.
Advertising
Targeting social media for ads is a relatively recent approach to promotion, but one that is showing results for both social media and the advertisers. The more companies focus on these platforms, the more they realize it's more effective than traditional advertising methods.
Relying on old-style media to promote products, such as newspapers and TV ads, is more expensive than utilizing social media. Sometimes, counterintuitively, lower costs can lead to better results. The outreach value of targeted social media ads is higher than TV commercials, for example.
Seeing a phrase like "buy weed seeds online" sends an appropriate message in a Colorado-based Facebook group for cannabis enthusiasts. That same call to action could cause an outbreak of hysteria if shown as a commercial break during the wrong TV program.
As an ad medium, social media has another crucial advantage: it allows for the real-time analysis of customer responses. If a marketing strategy is not working, the management can react in the early stages and implement a plan B. As technology improves, so will the algorithms behind social media advert targeting. This enables experts to create a more effective marketing approach by controlling precisely who sees their ads.
Increasing Traffic
Businesses sometimes struggle to break into new markets. Bursting out of your commercial comfort zone is no easy task, but even trying without engaging with social media would be foolish. Inbound marketing is how business, with the help of social media, can reach new people from all corners of the globe.
Blogs, for example, are a way to connect with the audience. The original post, from the business page, can only reach those familiar with the brand. But the clients who like the content will share it, reaching up to ten times more people than the original post.
Improving Search Engine Results
Quality social media activity increases brand visibility on search engines. A successful marketing campaign makes it easier to find the company when googling the name. Social media platforms are little search engines all of their own. There is no downside to exposing your brand name in as many of these sites as possible.
Bottom Line
Some people have difficulty believing that social media is a legitimate business medium. Those who have put their preconceptions to one side and have given the various platforms a chance, experienced their companies growing exponentially, making immense profits.
Social media allows businesses to connect with their audiences across the globe. Marketing strategies are more effective because it allows you to target your audience accurately. Exposure through social media creates keen brand awareness, and embracing this medium improves your visibility on search engines and will increase inbound traffic.
