By now, most businesses across the world realize the importance of social media in their marketing campaigns. The statistics speak for themselves. With over 4 billion people using social media globally, the average user moves between seven social media platforms per month, with an average of 95 minutes per day spent browsing them. Facebook itself is responsible for a quarter of digital marketing spending, with Instagram in a close second place (78% of digital marketers used the platform in 2021 alone).
For new businesses attempting to stake their claim amongst a mass of competition and rivals, social media is a perfect way to cut through the wall between the customer and the consumer, reaching them at the source and engaging potential customers with engaging content.
So what is it about social media that has led to these kinds of statistics when it comes to digital marketing? Here are five ways in which social media has become the ultimate marketing tool:
One of the best things about social media is that it can act as a doorway to your website. Of course, your website is where the juicy content should be. Social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook are simply ways to catch people’s attention with short, snappy posts that can lure them in. Believe it or not, if potential consumers stumble across your website, it takes them around 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) to form an opinion about it.
When it comes to social media, however, short and simple posts of around 40-90 characters can hold a viewer’s attention just enough to get them interested. Your post should have a beginning, middle, and end that can be a journey in itself, leaving the door open for the customer to learn more. As mentioned previously, your post is essentially readily viewable for up to 4 billion people, so you can spread the net as wide as possible and try to entertain and engage as many of them as possible.
According to a recent survey, as much as 90% of consumers say that they buy from brands they follow on social media. This shows how important social media is for forming relationships and trust between businesses and consumers. This is not just a B2C benefit, either. Looking specifically at LinkedIn, 72% of B2B buyers use this platform to share information about a business and discuss their needs, priorities, and desires as a company.
Amongst all of the B2B marketing channels to go down and explore, 92% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to interact with these customers, demonstrating how beneficial it can be if you are starting up a B2B company. This is another way to provide the transparency that is so integral for B2B too. Customers want to know that you are listening to their viewpoints and concerns, so not only do platforms like LinkedIn help you to market yourself, but it also forms a transparent basepoint between yourself and your customer that will help you to build relationships and prosper in the long run.
One of the other good things about social media as a marketing strategy is that it allows you to streamline your marketing plan. Any company needs to not only build their client base but also monitor exactly what they are looking for and interested in. Social media allows you to identify trends in the market, search for keywords that your audience is using and focus on creating content and products that will match these interests.
As well as this, you can get feedback and ideas about how to build from the customers themselves. Social media customer service is a great way to provide transparency and garner information about how your company should improve, not to mention it is available for everyone to see, meaning potential customers can witness how you are there to help and listen to your customers’ needs.
