Why you need to get started on social media marketing
It’s 2019. If you haven’t yet used social media to market your business, congratulations. It takes a certain amount of stick-to-it-iveness to hold on to the old guard and a real confidence in yourself to ignore the bandwagon practically everyone else has jumped on.
Or maybe you’re simply super cautious: what if this whole social media thing is just a fad?
Spoiler alert: it’s not.
The good news: it’s not too late to get in the social media game, and there’s a whole world of platforms and strategies at your beck and call. That’s also good news.
And also, bad news.
The world of social media marketing can be confusing.
There was a time when social media marketing meant simply opening a Facebook account or getting a Twitter handle. The options have grown and so has the learning curve. Major networks like YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest each offer distinct formats, audiences and rewards for your marketing efforts.
Instagram, for example, reaches one billion users each month, most between the ages of 18 and 29 and largely female. It’s a great platform for visual branding and lets businesses make a personal connection with their customers. Pinterest, at 250 million users per month, has a smaller audience, but it’s great for driving traffic to blogs and is especially good for e-commerce retailers.
Here are more reasons you should get into social media marketing.
Your customers are already there. According to Statista, a leading provider of marketing and consumer data, 70 per cent of the U.S. population has at least one social media profile. The number of worldwide social media users is expected to grow to about 3.1 billion people by 2021. Your customers are out there.
So is your competition . Guaranteed…your competitors are already involved with one or several social media channels. This is actually a good thing. First, it means your potential customers are also on those channels. And second, it offers you the opportunity to check out what others in your industry are doing -- then set your brand apart from the competition.
You get to eavesdrop. Ok, it’s called social listening. And it lets you gain insights into what your customers care about, what their challenges are and what they think of your business, your brand or your marketing campaign. That information allows you to make changes to address what your customers want and create your own content around the topics they’re talking about.
Social media generates word-of-mouth. When consumers are looking for recommendations, they turn to social media. And research shows people trust online reviews as much as they trust reviews from friends and family. A good online review of your business, products or services can go a long way towards generating new sales. Best of all, word-of-mouth is free.
It’s cost-effective. Much of your social marketing strategy will involve interacting with customers and potential customers, and creating content that builds your brand and drives audiences to your site. In these cases, your biggest investment might be your time – and even that doesn’t have to be a huge investment. According to HubSpot, 84 per cent of marketers say they’re able to generate increased traffic with as few as six hours a week committed to social media.
Of course, there’s also paid advertising on channels like Facebook and Twitter, but even those are relatively inexpensive, especially when compared with traditional advertising vehicles. Besides, social media offers so many options, you’re bound to make an impact, no matter your budget.
One more good reason to use social media marketing: all you need to know about it is right there at your fingertips. Go online now and start building your presence!
Resources: