Living in the internet era, you cannot be oblivious to social media. It has become an important part of the modern lifestyle. Research shows that every 2 of 3 adults regularly browse on social media. Thus, we can say that most of the businesses will find their customers online on social media which is gradually emerging as a new marketplace.
With changing times, your business marketing tactics need to change as well. Smart businesses have identified the need for digital marketing in this internet era and are working out on strategies that can help increase their online presence and increase sales.
So why should you keep behind? Social Media Marketing or SMM ensures a good amount of attention from online customers as well as search engine crawlers. Besides, driving traffic to your website, SMM can benefit your business in numerous ways. But before we learn about the benefits of SMM for businesses let’s see what social media marketing is.
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?
Social Media Marketing, as the name suggests is marketing your products or services on various social media platforms. Social Media handles like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc., are the new virtual worlds that connect people across the globe. These serve as a wide marketplace for companies who can tap into their world and get profitable business.
Investing a few hours on social media marketing can lead to a good amount of traffic to your website. It is an easy way to advertise your business and make people aware of your brand while spending little, compared to traditional marketing.
WHY DO BUSINESSES NEED TO UNDERTAKE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?
If you are online and want to make your business viable, then just building a website will not help. You should create brand awareness among the users which becomes easy with social media marketing. SMM combined with SEO helps in increasing your online visibility and bringing in traffic to your website. Hence, if you seek improved sales, then you should engage in some good social media marketing tactics.
Businesses need social media marketing owing to the benefits mentioned below:
IT HELPS YOU TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE
Internet serves as a vast marketplace for businesses which means you have a large audience to cater to. However, it is not necessary that everyone out there requires your product or service. It is no use pitching out to everyone. Social Media lets you identify your target audience and manage your ad campaigns accordingly. You can target your audience based on factors like age, demographic location, behavioral tendencies, etc. Social media management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, etc., can help you manage your advertisement campaigns. Further, you can connect your advertisements to CRM to get an insight into their output.
SMM INCREASES BRAND AWARENESS
Social Media is one of the quickest and easiest ways to reach your potential customers, and it is inexpensive as well. It not only helps you in propagating your brand to the customers but also lets you engage with them and let them have an insight into your business idea. Through social media, you can easily interact with your customers and know their requirements. Building great SEO optimized content on social media platforms will get you the attention of the readers and you can direct the traffic to the website to get more conversions which is your ultimate goal. However, you need to think cleverly before choosing the social media channels on which you wish to advertise. While LinkedIn is good for business to business campaigns, Twitter and Facebook are the ones that you should seek for marketing apps and products directly to customers.
SMM HELPS STRENGTHEN THE BOND WITH CUSTOMERS
As told previously, social media lets you connect with your customers at the root level. You not only get the opportunity to advertise your products or services but you can also strike the conversation with your customers to get a better insight into their buying tendencies. Social media serves as a great platform to communicate with your customers. You can check their status updates and posts to understand their requirements and design your campaigns accordingly. Further, social media marketing benefits businesses in forming connections with other businesses, suppliers, leaders, and visionaries as well. It increases your market reach and enhances your credibility.
IT BUILDS BRAND LOYALTY
With new businesses emerging every day, competition is increasing gradually and it is becoming tough for companies whether big or small to retain their customers. If you seek long term success, then only selling products should not be your goal. Sales are important, but retaining your customers is critical for the success of your business. The major revenue of businesses comes from resales, i.e., selling products or services to your existing customers. Hence, besides selling quality products or services, ensuring good user experience is also necessary. Communicating with your customers, keeping a check on their feedback and inquiries, and responding quickly makes your customers feel important and encourages loyalty. When customers feel valued they will not leave your brand for the competitor. Thus, Social Media Marketing helps in building brand loyalty.
Besides loyalty, SMM encourages indirect promotion as well. Today, consumers are highly aware of their buying power and do not hesitate in sharing their experience whether good or bad. Thus, their reference can help you get or lose business. The better experience you provide the more are the chances that your customers will stay and get you more business.
SMM INCREASES THE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE AND IMPROVES ITS RANKING
Social media marketing, needless to say, gets you the attention of your potential customers. A great content put up at social media channels can generate sales by directing traffic to your website. Search Engines identify the websites with more traffic and will prioritize them to those websites that do not get much traffic. Thus, improving your website’s ranking. Further, continually upgrading your website’s content and optimizing it according to Search Engines ensures that you consistently high traffic.
Social media presence is critical for businesses today. Social media marketing helps businesses in not only connecting with the customers but also know about their competitors’ marketing strategies. It strengthens your online presence, promotes your business and brings-in traffic to your website, encouraging sales. Still thinking about social media marketing? Start now to stay ahead.
