Social Media - 7 x Key Benefits

Believe it or not, there are still businesses that are unsure about utilising social media as a marketing and brand awareness medium. Some still see it as a fad or ‘dark art!’

As a marketer I still, on occasion, struggle to convince business management of the need to integrate social media into their marketing program! This is surprising when you consider that now, more than ever before, people are using social media to engage with brands, with over three billion using social media around the world!

Whether you’re B2B, B2C or a mix of both, by not taking advantage of the relevant social media platforms, your business is missing out on a fast, inexpensive and effective way to remain engaged with existing customers and more importantly – reaching out to potential new ones.

Here are just a few ways in which social media can help your business:

1.       Building Customer Confidence

Social media is often used for research – prior to making contact or a purchasing decision. Social media is used to see if a business and brand measures up in terms of its products and service.

The more relationships and interaction with people, the more likely those people are to do business with you and social media allows this in potentially far greater numbers than expensive printed advertising.

2.   Reputation Management

Like it or not, people are talking about your brand, whether you’re initiating and involved in dialogue or not.

The ‘ugly side’ of social media is that rightly or wrongly, individuals might be saying something that isn’t necessarily good about your company; this can happen no matter how good your  product or service has been.

However, you do have the opportunity to share your side politely and professionally and by achieving a far greater amount of followers and customers who approve of your products and service, most people are intelligent enough to understand that the ‘aggrieved’ individual is most likely being unreasonable.   

If people are talking up your brand, make sure you’re finding ways to thank them, publicly and personally and share the endorsements with followers.

3. Become an Authority and Industry Expert

Businesses and people buy from other businesses and people they like and trust. Social media offers you the chance to achieve this with interesting, industry specific content that makes you and your brand the ‘go-to expert’ for your specific industry.

Ensure that you’re publishing interesting content that your audience can engage with rather than purely sales orientated posts. Remember, ‘social’ is just that; it’s about being interesting, educational and ‘sociable!’ This builds up trust since a constant steam of sales orientated posts results in people putting up their defences and turning away in droves.  

4. Increased Website Traffic

Remember, there’s only so much people can learn from social media posts and ads. Your website is where you can educate people with a broader picture of what your business is about and what you have to offer. So – it’s important to ensure that your website is up to speed prior to engaging on a social media campaign. It needs to be slick, professional, informative and easy to navigate.

Naturally, social media posts should always feature your website address and if posts relate to a certain aspect of your business, then use the specific website page URL..

5. Achieve Sales Leads

Social media provides an easy way for potential customers to express an interest in your business and your products.

Lead generation is such an important benefit of social media for business and most social networks now offer advertising formats specifically designed to collect leads.

If done correctly and with the relevant choice of social media channels, sales will gradually build and let’s face it, that’s what keeps businesses afloat! However, it’s important to remember that it’s about an ‘integrated’ marketing approach; your website has to be right as does your offering and the ability of your sales team!

6. Engaging with both new and current customers

An active, engaging social presence can help keep your brand at the forefront of people’s minds so that when they’re ready to commit to another purchase, they come to you first.

Social media enables you to interact directly with people that are already customers as well as new potential customers – giving them a direct line to your business. By posting about different and new aspects of your business, you are effectively re-educating existing customers making up-selling and cross- selling more possible.

Consistency and frequency ‘wins the day’ as does making sure that you respond to comments and questions that people post relating to your content.

By taking advantage of the analytics that every social platform offers its possible to more readily tailor strategies to be in tune with your target market(s).

7. Analyse Your Competition

Social media is a great tool for observing your perceived competition and to see what people are saying about them. For example, tracking mentions of your competitors might reveal pain points with their products that you could reach out to address, winning new customers in the process.

How fast are your competitors responding to customers complaints? Long enough for you to step in and solve their problems with your brand?

For more information on social media and how to instigate a campaign, get in touch with P&MD.