As is the case with technology, social media too has undergone several rounds of innovation. From text-based interactions on Myspace to the kitted-out capabilities of Instagram, social media shows no signs of stopping and is becoming intrinsic to every consumer’s day.
Whether you’re a small business owner or helm a large-scale enterprise, devoting a significant amount of time and resources towards social media marketing will cement your foothold in the industry. To put things into perspective, here are a few ways in which social media serves your business.
Dabble with various content formats
As a brand, having something to say is imperative, but knowing how to say it matters just as much. Social media doesn’t have limitations that print media or television do when it comes to the medium of communication. Therefore depending on the nature of the message and your goal you can choose between audio, video and graphics, or use a combination of all 3.
An added bonus is that social media marketing allows for two-way communication with your audience. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook let you post content in the form of apps and quizzes, making you more approachable and real to your target market.
Think of it as an interactive billboard
The fact that social media has over 3 billion users means that by default you can use it as an advertising medium. Your profile is your mouthpiece, giving you a chance to disseminate information, promote products and services or list testimonials from happy clients. You can do all this and more without spending a single penny. Better yet, you can use social media to troubleshoot and answer queries in real-time.
Stay connected to your customer base
By far the largest benefit of having a social media strategy is the ability to converse with your customer base. You don’t always have to create the perfect social media post and sometimes, simply inviting feedback or asking for opinions through polls, posts and forums is just as effective. Staying connected with your audience proves that you’re invested in their interests and builds trust between you and your customers.
One clever way of executing this is through User-Generated Content (UGC). Inviting UGC shows that you’re eager to listen to your customers, that your primary goal is to serve them and it even communicates that you’re grateful for their support. Indirectly, it helps generate buzz through word of mouth and is just one of many reasons why you should use social media to boost growth.
Gain insights about your audience
A strictly technical benefit of investing in social media is that it gives you data about your audience. These insights segment your audience on the basis of demographics and psychographics and reveal key information such as age, gender, country, interests, hobbies and more.
Using this information you can design your social media content in a targeted, focused manner so that there is no gap between you and your audience, and ensure that your efforts offer measurable results.
For the benefits it offers, social media is extremely cost-efficient. However, simply having a presence online is not going to offer you the desired results. Based on your core operations and goals, you must have a detailed social media strategy to enjoy the aforementioned benefits. If you’re looking for a strategy that’ll put you on the map, get in touch with Edisol.
