Why use social media in marketing? The question you should be asking is, why are you not using social media in marketing. That is to say, digital marketing and advertising are largely composed of social media in this day and age. Brands that do not currently have social media accounts are at a definite disadvantage.
Some Social Media Marketing Facts:
- In 2022, ad spending on social media is anticipated to be over $175 million.
- Nearly 60% of adults say that they use Instagram daily.
- 90% of those Instagram users do follow some brand or business.
As you can see, the numbers really don’t lie. Social media marketing is here to stay. And brands need to be on board. Not only do they have to have social media accounts that they manage daily, but they have to have a game plan in place.
Digital marketing and social media marketing are not simply done on a whim. There needs to be strategy. There needs to be perfect timing. There needs to be a cultivated target audience. You get the picture…
Getting Started with Social Media Marketing
Before we dive into why social media marketing is imperative to any business or brand, let’s talk for a minute about getting started in social media. Even a complete novice can easily create a comprehensive social media strategy that makes sense for their company.
And if you don’t have the time to do so, you can always hire a social media marketing manager or a firm that specializes in this type of advertising. Sometimes their expertise and engagement strategies really are the better way to go when it comes to all things social media.
First off, you want to identify the social media channels that are most relevant to your industry or niche. So, for example, if you’re an interior design firm, sites and platforms that rely upon visuals such as Instagram and Pinterest are going to be extremely relevant to your social media marketing campaign.
On the other hand, if you are an accounting firm, visuals may not be all that important to your social media advertising. Platforms such as LinkedIn for instance might work better for you.
Upon identifying which social media channels are most relevant, you then need to set up accounts. In managing the accounts, consistency is key. Just setting up an account and a profile page are not going to do the job.
You have to commit to posting, commit to interacting with users, and commit to maintaining your account whatever the platform. Again, if time constraints don’t allow you to do so, this is when you want to reach out to a marketing firm or social media marketing expert.
Key Reasons Why Brands Use Social Media
So why employ social media in the first place? What’s the huge draw here? Why do companies spend so much time and effort devising and executing social media campaigns?
Enhance your brand
This may be one of the primary reasons why so many businesses take to social media. When it comes to social media in marketing, it’s all about brand exposure.
What exactly is your brand?
Your brand is sort of a calling card. It’s how consumers come to remember you. We all see the Apple logo or the Nike swoosh and immediately our minds go to those companies. Cultivating your brand image on your various social media channels will help exponentially increase your brand’s reach and exposure.
That alone is reason enough to invest in a social media marketing strategy.
You can engage potential leads
Of course, social media helps you to build leads, and consequently, it also helps you to nurture those leads. Here is a platform where you can actually engage with the people to whom you might be selling. Frequently, users will ask questions of brands on their social media accounts. Stay active, answer those questions, engage with those users. In this way, you have the ability to turn a lead into an actual client.
Helps you to establish backlinks
Backlinks are invaluable links to your site from other sites; ideally the other sites are of credible authority. Link building, as many marketer knows, is essential to gaining more web traffic and thus, more customers.
If you put the right type of content on your social media accounts, this content then has a chance of being repurposed on other sites. This naturally of course creates a link back to your site. And voila, more web traffic and more search engine credibility.
A means to educate consumers
We’ve talked about valuable content on social media. One of the primary reasons people search for certain topics is to be able to learn about those topic. This could be to learn more about a product, to learn how to do something, or to gain some insights about something that may be unfamiliar to them.
Using your social media accounts, you can post the kind of content that educates users regarding everything from your products to the type of services you offer to even terminology that they may not be familiar with.
Engage in referral marketing
Referral marketing happens when, in working with trusted vendors, you promote one another. So let’s say you are construction business, and you might really like one brand of window for example.
You could share content on your feed from the window manufacturer. And vice versa as well. This type of mutually beneficial social media relationship happens all the time across many different industries. And it could really be used to help boost your brand.
Use it as a promotional tool
Perhaps one of the biggest uses that brands have for social media is as a promotional tool. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram allow you to showcase products and services in such a way that users can truly visualize what your brand can do for them.
Versus a typical ad campaign or more traditional marketing materials, this is a genuinely interactive way to promote your products and services. Not to mention, it offers a more humanizing perspective of your brand. That is to say, social media marketing enables consumers to see you in a totally different light than they otherwise might, a more “human“ light. And this is a very good thing.
Again, if you’re not on social media or if your social media game is lacking, now is most definitely the time to up the stakes. The other great thing about social media marketing is that it is relatively inexpensive. It’s a great way to convey a message and enhance your brand across an array of channels.
You have the potential to get maximum reach if you use social media for marketing and advertising. Now of course you can do this yourself. However, would your time be spent better elsewhere?
Leaving social media marketing up to an expert who understands the strategies and nuances of the different platforms out there could produce optimal ROI for your company.
If you are ready to get started on your social media campaign, click the Blue “Request a Consultation” in the upper right hand corner today!
