Social media has become one of the seminal marketing tools at our disposal, providing a way to reach billions of people all around the world with a simple click. If your business doesn’t have an active social media presence, read on to find out why you should change that – and how we can help you.
As the name ‘social media’ suggests, Facebook and Twitter are platforms where people interact with friends and peers. A lot. All of this interaction renders a veritable wealth of data, which is yours for the taking. Whether you are peeking in on the competition to see what their offers are, measuring your followers’ reactions to your posts in real time or using the effortlessly sophisticated targeting tools that are available, the insights available for you to realise are endless. As each day progresses, more trends, more data and, ultimately, a deeper understanding of your customer base is up for grabs.
Brand awareness is a top priority for any business – nobody can buy your product or service if they haven’t heard of you. Every single day, 1.18 billion (yes, billion) people log on to Facebook alone. Never has a small or medium sized enterprise had such plentiful access to an engaged audience. There are 1.66 billion active mobile users on Facebook, allowing you to speak to customers where they are, instead of intrusive or irritating marketing alternatives (cold calling, anyone?).
Because of the social nature, brands are able to be a little bit more fun and authentic on platforms like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. That team picture from the celebratory lunch you had for beating your sales target or the coffee morning you held for a charity has no place on your carefully designed website, but social media allows you to show a more personable and relatable side to your business and its operations. This further increases engagement with your brand, so customers (and potential customers) feel that they are involved. The feeling of being understood and being part of your brand’s journey can be further amplified with relevant, timely or even humorous content, curated to show off your business’ best side.
Another way to show off your business’ finest angle is to use social media for customer service. Often, a complainant can be turned into brand advocate – that is to say they market your business for you. Doesn’t that sound great?! The transparency of social media adds another level of trust to transactions for potential customers, as they will be able to see how well you deal with issues that other customers have had. In today’s relentlessly convenient society, time is precious, and most people don’t want to waste time on hold or navigating through a myriad of ‘Contact Us’ pages – online platforms provide a quick, easy and convenient way for your users to contact you and tell you what they need.
Last, but by no means least, there is the subject of revenue – it is a nearly indisputable fact that well run social media pages drive sales. To be clear, 75% of businesses who adopt social selling practices see a rise in sales over 12 months. A cool 31% of all website referrals come from social media and, if that isn’t enough, note that Twitter posts now display in Google search results, meaning social media activity can help with your SEO goals too.
We’re in the business of providing engaging, cost effective content across a variety of platforms. Everyday, 500 million tweets are sent, 4.5 billion likes are posted on Facebook, and 95 million Instagrams are uploaded – some of those should be yours!
