Social media is big business. In the UK, 91% of 25-34 year olds use at least one social networking channel (according to ONS), while 52% of 55-64 year olds can be found on social. So why are some companies still scared of making social media part of their marketing mix?
Whether you don’t have brand social channels at all, or whether they’re just a little bit neglected, we’ve put forward seven reasons why you should give social media the love it deserves in your marketing mix.
Help build awareness
According to Sprout Social’s 2019 Social Index, 70% of social marketers name increased brand awareness as a main reason for using social channels – and it’s no wonder.
Social media helps you to get in front of your target audience, and by delivering fresh content, you can stay front of mind. Providing visual-led content with a story helps to drive eyeballs, whether you’re a fashion brand on Instagram or a software brand on LinkedIn. The Social Index found that 87% of consumers who follow a brand on social media are likely to visit that brand’s website or app.
Creating a social media strategy and defining who – and where – your audiences are, means you can reach the right people, in the right place, at the right time.
Customer service
When it comes to making a purchase, 64% of people say that customer service is more important than price – and having a social media presence can help you to quickly and easily handle small issues.
People will be talking about your brand either way, so it makes sense to utilise the channels so that you can respond. Large companies may choose to have a separate Twitter account, but in the first instance one account should be fine.
Engagement
More than just responding to complaints, social media helps to drive engagement with your brand – such as people talking about a new product you’ve just launched or showing how they’ve used your product.
With 90% of social media users saying that they have engaged with a brand on social in some form, you’ve an active audience who are keen to engage. It also provides a great platform to learn what is working, and where there is room to improve.
Our senior community manager Richard has written a blog providing five top community management tips - perfect for those looking into social media marketing for the first time.
Budget efficient
If you pay for a billboard ad or TV ad you can’t guarantee who your post will reach. With social media, you can organically reach those who are interested – and targeted advertising means that you can also reach new potential customers.
On most channels, you can create a ‘lookalike’ audience of people similar to those who currently engage with your page, as well as targeting people based on their interests. Social media advertising can be very granular: looking to target parents of a toddler – Facebook has you covered. Seeking senior developers in London – LinkedIn has your back.
You can even create A/B ad tests to see what performs best on a small budget, before rolling out the winning post.
Drive ROI
This small budget can help you deliver great results.
Depending on your business, objectives may range from brand awareness and customer satisfaction to business leads and actual revenue. Whatever your goal, there is a social media strategy that can help you.
Discover how Arnold Clark, Worldwide Cancer Research and Netball Scotland use social media to generate ROI.
Retargeting
While on the subject of ROI – as well as helping to create sales, you can also help to re-engage with those who have abandoned their basket, or those who have only purchased once.
Retargeting across channels can help you target ads down different levels: from awareness, to desire, to purchase. Creating ads that show at different stages of the buying journey creates a seamless path for users and can help convert those who may have been on the fence.
Using a Facebook Pixel, for example, you can retarget those who may have added an item to their basket, but haven’t bought it yet – just reminding them that the item is available, letting them know there is limited availability, or even offering a discount if they complete the sale.
This also allows you to retarget those who have bought in the past - think Amazon: ‘people who bought X also bought Y…’
Influencer marketing
Social media also offers the opportunity to jump on the influencer bandwagon.
There’s been a lot of contradictory theories on whether people buy after seeing a post from social media influencers: a study by media agency UM found that only 4% of global internet users trust information shared by influencers.
However, while macro-influencers with millions of followers, who rave about a different product every day may be falling out of fashion, now is the rise of the micro-influencers: those with just a few thousand followers. Yes, there is less reach, but more engaged followers who trust the author, which means more potential clients for you.
The key is to choose influencers who resonate with your brand – and to correctly tag any adverts so you don’t fall foul of the ASA.
New Instagram options allow influencers to tag up branded posts in a way so brands can check out the results easily themselves: meaning less money wasted from fake accounts.
Want to find out how your social media ranks against competitors on over 40 different factors? Discover how Hydrogenetics can help you.
Hopefully we’ve helped persuade you that there’s more to social media than just cute animal pictures (although they always help) and given you the ammunition you need to take social to the next level. However, if you feel a helping hand to get there, feel free to drop us an email.