We are living in a digital era where it becomes harder and harder to find someone who has no online presence.
Be it Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Reddit, X (Twitter), or LinkedIn, most people, and brands, you come across in your day-to-day life will have a space in the digital sphere.
If you’re not building your brand and marketing on social media, you are going to get left behind.
Here are some of the main reasons why your business needs to be taking advantage of social media:
1.Your Customers Are There
Your customers are likely already in the online sphere and using social media to make decisions about the products they buy. In fact, 68% of consumers follow brands on social to stay informed about products and services and according to data from Meta, 83% of Instagram users say they discover new brands whilst using the platform.
Going for a hard sell on social media used to be something to avoid but attitudes have changed. Social media is now more like a shopping catalogue for the constantly online customers with certain platforms embracing it and building shopping in such as TikTok and Pinterest.
Using social media also helps to retain your ‘warm’ market, not just new customers. These are the customers that already know your brand and have shopped with you in the past.
2.Your Competition is also there, probably.
If you’re not on social media and your competitors are, you’re only giving them a greater market share.
These might be local or international competitors but regardless it is still better to get your foot in the door. The real-time nature of social media offers an opportunity to observe competitor strategies. Keeping an eye on your competitor can allow you to gather data on customer care interactions revealing strengths and weaknesses of competitor products or services. In addition to this, content themes provide insights on the unique value props that competitors are highlighting and give you opportunities to differentiate your brand.
In the scenario that your competitors aren’t on social media, getting online will put you ahead in the game.
3.Social Media Marketing Builds Brand Awareness, Image, Reputation, and Loyalty
Social media allows brands to connect with their audience on a more personal level, creating authentic and lasting connections. With consumer-brand interactions going digital, businesses can make positive impressions with their target audience. Ensure you have social media customer care strategies that support proactive and reactive community engagement to help add the “human element” to your brand.
Here are some ideas for boosting your brand awareness and online image:
- Make influencer connections
- Leverage social media trends
- Encourage user-generated content
- Host competitions
4.Social Media Can Drive Traffic To Your Website
On platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn you can include the link to your website in your posts, whilst on Instagram you can guide viewers to links posted in your account’s bio to drive traffic to your website. Intrigued potential customers can be directed straight to your own source to learn more about your brand.
5.It’s Cost Effective
Social media has the potential for great returns on low investment. It’s free to make an account on almost all social media platforms. You could spend your budget on paid social media ads but it’s not a necessity, organic social media can be just as effective when doing you’re doing it right and consistently.
So, What Social Media Should You Use?
Facebook:
+ Advertising: Advertisers can target users based on age, interests, behaviour, location, and more. This granular targeting makes advertising on Facebook highly effective and can drive significant revenue.
+ Analytics: Facebook provides detailed analytics through insights, giving page owners comprehensive data on their audience’s behaviour, post engagement, reach, and the performance of paid ad campaigns.
+ Community Engagement: With features like Groups, Events, and Pages, Facebook excels at community building. Users can join groups or follow pages that align with their interests, whilst businesses and organisations can create communities around their brand.
+ Content Sharing: Facebook supports a wide variety of content formats, text posts, photos, videos, live videos, and stories. This allows users and brands to tailor their content to their audience’s preferences.
+ Extensive Reach: Facebook has a massive global user base connecting billions of people worldwide. Facebook has the widest reach across many age groups, making it perfect for targeting as many people as possible.
+ Marketplace Facebook Marketplace allow individuals and businesses to sell products directly through the platform.
-Manging a Facebook page requires time; you may need an extra member of staff who is dedicated to managing the page and creating engaging content.
-To get the most out of Facebook you might want to look into paid advertising which requires its own budget.
-The two-way communication nature of Facebook means that unhappy customers can voice their complaints publicly.
Instagram:
+ Instagram Insights: A data analytic tool that provides details of the following: audience information, post performance, story performance, hashtag analytics, reach, follower count, paid ad performance, best time of day to post, click-through rate, and visitor information.
+ Contact Button: A business account provides a contact button in your account bio to add an email address, phone number, or physical address.
+ Links in Stories: If your business account has at least 10,000 followers, you can add swipe-up links in your stories. Story links make it easier for you to direct followers to other sites instead of instructing them to click a link in your bio.
+ Instagram Ads: A business account lets you create paid ads that you can track.
+ Boosted Posts: Boosting or promoting posts, allows you to amplify a successful post, sending it to all your followers, a recommended audience or a targeted group you choose.
+ Scheduled Posts: A business Instagram account lets you schedule posts in advance saving time and effort.
-Less-Personal Feel: Followers may feel less inclined to engage with an Instagram business profile than a personal account, they may see your business account as promotional.
-Potential for Decreased Visibility: Some followers’ feeds may be filled with businesses and Instagram influencers trying to sell their products or services. They may become overwhelmed and frustrated with the lack of organic content and unfollow business accounts.
-More Work: Business account require oversight and consistency. If you hire a social media manager, managing a business Instagram account can also get expensive.
X (Twitter)
+ Increased Visibility: With millions of active users, X expands your brand’s reach.
+ Customer Engagement: Real-time interactions foster a strong connection with your audience.
+ Networking Opportunities: Connect with industry leaders, peers, and potential partners.
+ Targeted Advertising: Ads can be customised to reach a specific audience based on interests and behaviours.
+ Thought Leadership: You can share insights and news to position your business as an expert in the field.
-Significant Time Investment: Writing tweets, responding to followers, and staying on top of trends can be time consuming, especially for small businesses with limited resources.
-Risk of Negative Feedback: Any customer dissatisfaction can quickly become visible to a wide audience.
-Time Sensitive: Unless you post at the right time when your followers are online, your posts could easily be missed.
LinkedIn
+Great for Networking: LinkedIn is designed to help you find professional connections and marketing opportunities within your industry, sector, or geographic region.
+Free: Basic membership costs nothing and still offers a lot.
+B2B Marketing: You can leverage LinkedIn to connect with other businesses, build strategic partnerships, and generate leads.
+Access to Decision Makers: Using LinkedIn makes it easier to reach key stakeholders and decision makers within your target audience.
-Time Consuming: LinkedIn has a high learning curve compared to other social media platforms, you need to invest time into learning it to reap the rewards.
-Spam Accounts: Spam accounts lure you in with false incentives while clogging your inbox and news feed.
-Limited Reach: LinkedIn is not as commonly used as other popular social media platforms.
-Cost: LinkedIn Premium can be an expensive investment.
Our Social Media Best Practices
- Practice social listening
- Collaborate with influencers
- Repost user-generated content
- Learn from your analytics
- Be authentic
- Watch trends and stay in the know
- Engage with your followers
- Be consistent
- Run contests and giveaways
Are you looking for help with your social media management?
At Dash we can help with both Paid Social and Organic Social, let us create your monthly content to keep your brand growing and your posting consistent.
Get in touch today to find out what else Dash Agency can do for your business.
Whether you’re looking for marketing expertise or have a specific project in mind, we’re here to assist.