Do you remember Arby’s tweet “Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs” that generated 81,764 retweets and 48,437 favorites?
(Arby’s later bought Williams’s fedora for $44,000 and donated the money to his charity).
A humor and (less than) 140 characters can lead to a great exposure on Twitter.
But why should you care?
Let’s take a look:
Product information found on social media influences shopping behavior of 75 % of Americans (Adroit Digital)
33 % of consumers discover new brands, products and services on social networks (eMarketer)
72 % of marketers use social media to create and develop loyal fans (Social Media Examiner)
92 % of all marketers indicate that investing in social media results in more exposure for their businesses (Social Media Examiner)
That’s why you should care.
However, although social media marketing has an enormous potential, many still don’t quite understand how to take advantage of social media and increase sales and brand awareness.
If you don’t trust the numbers, let’s look at some of the ways you can use social media marketing to promote and improve your business.
Social media are channels that introduce your brand to people – new ways to increase your visibility and make your company more recognizable for customers.
If your brand is present on multiple social networks, your potential users and customers can become better acquainted with your product or service – this in one of the main benefits of social media.
If people are unaware of your business, they won’t buy your products or be interested in your service.
According to Relevanza, 78 percent of small businesses attract new customers through social media, so make the most of your social media networks and send the right message to your potential users.
If “your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room” (Jeff Bezos) than your company’s brand is (quite often) what people say about it on social media.
People turn to social media when they want to compliment a product or a service; the more they talk about your brand, the more new users will want to learn about you and follow your updates.
The bigger the interaction, the higher the brand authority, especially if you can get major influencers to talk about your brand.
Similarly, the more engagement on social media, the higher the loyalty from the customers.
Social media provide great tools for your brand to connect with your audience and make users brand loyal.
The key concern of many customers today is the customer service.
Even if you have a dedicated customer service department, it’s crucial to understand the method of communication your consumers prefer, and today, that method is through social media.
Social media allow business to quickly and easily respond to customers’ comments, questions and concerns and consumers to instantaneously receive help. Moreover, by answering to consumers’ needs in public, businesses can show the quality of their service and a certain level of transparency.
71 % of consumers who receive a quick response on social media are more likely to recommend the brand to other people, acccording to Forbes.
Social media allows you to monitor user comments, gainvaluable insights into your customers’ behavior, measure conversions based on your promoted posts, see what content attracts your audience, which content generates the most interests, and more.
Every business wants to know how their customers behave and what they are interested in.
The power of social media lies in communication.
Every blog post, image, video, and comment can lead to a site visit and eventually a conversion.
Building your followers on social media improves conversion rates, and the more followers and fans a business has, the higher the trust and credibility of the brand.
Several studies have shown that social media has a 100 percent higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing.
Furthermore, promoting your business on social media is not a significant investment. As little as 6 hours per week invested in social media marketing increased traffic for more than 84% of participants (Social Media Examiner sixth annual report).
People are always searching for content that interest them, and such content they are willing to share.
Promoting quality content on social media is another path leading users back to your site and creating an opportunity for a new visitor.
The more quality content you share, the more inbound traffic you will generate – more traffic means more leads and conversions.
If you want to improve your business through content marketing, you should start with use social media.
Social media marketing is already “the big thing” for many small and mid-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, large corporations, advertisers and marketers who keep up with trends in social media marketing.
No doubt, in the future, social media marketing will be a game changer for businesses that want to introduce new products and services to the world.
The longer you wait, the more opportunities for your competitors. It’s your call.