Social Media Marketing

We make a habit of continuously talking to our customers and understanding what works for them and what doesn’t. With our varied clientele, we have the opportunity to truly understand how social helps all types of businesses. Also, much of your activity and profiles on social media sites can be made public, meaning they can be indexed by search engines — one more way to make sure your business or organization comes up as the answer when someone is searching for a solution to a problem.

Social media is one of the most stress-free and profitable digital marketing platforms that can be used to increase your business visibility. By giving your business brand the social media touch, you not only generate more business but also connect with your customers better and serve them on a higher level. At the forefront of social is mobile, because most of the social activity that is being done is being done through a mobile device. Remember that most internet activity is being done through mobile devices; plan accordingly when developing your social strategy. Everything on a mobile device can be shared with any social network, take that into perspective. Your website most likely will be viewed through a mobile device, be sure it is compatible and offers the viewer a positive experience.

When using social media, small businesses can connect with their customers online. Small businesses are more likely to respond to their customers than large businesses. As a small business, you can easily handle the influx of comments from customers, so make sure you reply quickly. It is a great way for people to talk about products or services. To increase customer engagement, ask customers to post pictures on social media with the company’s product. And, welcome reviews, questions, comments, and concerns from consumers.

As a small business owner, you can easily foster connections with individuals on social media. Current and potential customers will have more respect and appreciation for a business who provides timely responses.

Below are a few social media marketing statistics that just may push you into starting a social media marketing (SMM)

1. According to We Are Social, 2.80 global social media users equaled 37% penetration.
2. 25% of Twitter users are active. People who tweet can improve your sales while convincing co-workers and clients that you are the real deal.
3. Adults who surf the net aged 18 to 24 are most likely to follow your brand on social media. When you target your social media sites consider your audience and demographic.
4. 71% of consumers who have good brand exposure on social media will share and recommend to family and friends. With social media, you can increase your brands engagement while winning new clients and customers.
5. There are 2.56 billion mobile social media users on the planet. That is equivalent to 34 percent penetration. Optimize your social media. These relatively inexpensive ads allow you to test multiple versions to see what works best for you and your company.

Social Media & Social Networking Sites

Like with content marketing, due to the continuously developing internet marketing industry, there are countless digital media and social networking sites, all of which have a unique characteristic and purpose. As part of an introduction, here are a few social network examples.

• Facebook

Is the biggest and arguably most powerful social network in the world with 1.55 billion active monthly users. Regardless if you are a startup or fortune 500 company, you need to be on Facebook and start engaging with your consumers.

• Twitter

Is known as the ‘‘in the moment’’ platform and boasts a respectful 255 million active monthly users. Twitter is a perfect online marketing tool for businesses that want to reach out to people (and are ready for a reply)

• Instagram

is a visual platform designed for customers to post, share, comment and engage through digital media. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

• LinkedIn

Is regarded as the professional social networking site. LinkedIn largely focuses on B2B marketing rather than B2C.

Google +, YouTube, Foursquare and Pinterest are other social network sites that harshly miss out on the list. And then there’s Snapchat, the new kid on the block, who recently recorded six billion daily views.

Benefits Of Social Media Marketing

• Increased traffic

One of the other benefits of Social Media is that it also helps increase your website traffic. By sharing your content on social media, you are giving users a reason to click-through to your website. On your social account, the more quality content you share, the more inbound traffic you will generate while making conversion opportunities.

• Gather Data From Audience Research To Improve

Audience research is similar to social listening. It searches the keywords your audience will be using, but it’s more focused on your specific product. You can use social media to gather this information.

• Social media encourages two-way communication

Social media gives you the power to learn more about your audience, their interests, and collect feedback. Ask your customers to share their thoughts, questions and ideas to get to know them better. You can respond just as fast, without having to pick up the phone or worry the customer isn’t seeing your response.

• Branding

With every profile being unique, businesses can give brands a personality on social networks. How they interact, the look and feel of the profile, all encompass the general characteristics of the brand. For many businesses your social profile may be more important than your website. However, your social media marketing strategy can take any shape you want. But understand that you can boost brand recognition if your marketing strategy is effective. Over 91% of marketers using social media marketing strategies claims they were able to increase brand visibility and achieved other benefits.

• Social media is cost-effective

As more social networks add algorithms that filter what users see in their news feeds, your organic content may get lost in the shuffle. Take advantage of the low-cost advertising features offered by the social networks to promote your content and special offers. Most social media advertising are cheaper than traditional advertising, so you don’t have to spend a lot of money to reach more people, increase your audience, and grow your business.

• Build Customer Loyalty

What could possibly be better than building brand loyalty for free? Customers follow and interact with the brands they enjoy. But what’s interesting is that 53% of customers who follow your business are likely to be loyal to your business specifically. It’s an obvious direct correlation: If customers follow you, they are more likely to choose you versus your competition. Furthermore, if they’re loyal customers, they’ll increase your traffic.

• Enhanced SEO rankings

Social media presence is becoming a vital factor in calculating rankings. These days, to secure a successful ranking, SEO requirements are continuously varying. Therefore, it is no longer enough to simply optimize your website and regularly update your blog. Businesses sharing their content on social media are sending out a brand signal to search engine that speaks to your brand validity, integrity, and constancy.

When customers are at your business, you can take the time to connect with individuals. You can answer where your products come from, how long your business has been around and where you got the inspiration to start your business. Personalized attention isn’t just applicable to consumers who are at your physical business location. On social media, small businesses can give more than scripted responses to customers.

Social media marketing helps to validate your brand and it’s no longer optional. It’s an essential way for companies to reach consumers, and when done correctly, tells those consumers that their brand is active and focused on communication. The longer you wait, the more you have to lose. When done effectively, social media marketing can lead to more customers, more traffic, and more engagement. Having a social media presence without an active social media marketing strategy can be just as catastrophic for your business as having no plan at all.