90% of marketers agree that their social media marketing (SMM) efforts have boosted their business presence, and 75% report an increase in traffic.
Social media sites offer a variety of ways to interact with your target customers in order to build trust and engage with them.
Social media apps reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide. That means even if you have a niche business, social media is still a valuable tool that will help you reach your customers from across the globe.
But there's no one-size-fits-all approach to social media marketing. It can benefit different businesses in different ways. Let's explore the many benefits of SMM to businesses in this article.
54% of people browse social media to find new products
76% of people have bought a product they saw on social media.
Social media marketing helps you increase brand awareness. Since many people are using social media to find products and services, having a presence on social media will help you reach your target audience and build brand awareness.
Most social media accounts are free to sign up for, and all you really need to invest is your time. But to get the most out of social media, you need to use your account regularly and actively build connections.
Social media helps you reach new customers without breaking the bank. Because it has so many users, it's an excellent way to make people familiar with your brand and leave a lasting impression on them.
Brand awareness not only changes how customers buy from you but also makes them more loyal to your brand.
58% of marketers agree that social media use boosts search engine ranking
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) affects how many potential customers will see your website if they search for a keyword related to your business or offering.
Search engines know which websites are popular and which are not. Having great content is the most important factor in your search rankings, but driving traffic to your optimized pages through social media will help them rank higher much faster.
If you love SEO, you can use social media to get more visitors to your website and find new customers. You can create a special page on your website that people will land on, or you can put your website link in your social posts. This will help you build your brand on social media before sending your followers to your website.
When you post content on social media that's good for SEO, be careful not to annoy anyone. You don't want to lose customers by posting clickbait.
76% of people have bought something after seeing it on social media
One of the best things about social media marketing is that it can help you sell more.
The more people interact with your brand on social media, the more likely you are to make sales. This is because your social media posts reach a wide audience and encourage people to learn more about your products or services. Often, your social media posts will include sales pitches or links to your website, making it easy for people to buy from you.
It's no surprise that when you stay in front of your customers, they are more likely to buy from you when they need what you sell. But social media marketing does more than just make your brand more visible.
You can use social media to influence customer buying decisions at every stage of the sales funnel, from getting people to read your white papers and blogs to answering customer questions and addressing their pain points to offering them coupon codes to encourage them to buy.
Here's a tip: Try sharing coupon codes with a unique code for each social media platform. You will be surprised which platform drives the most sales.
In fact, social media is a much more pocket-friendly way to generate leads than traditional methods like newspapers, radio, or commercials. It can save you up to 80% on lead generation costs, which will boost your profits and return on investment (ROI).
Social media platforms also offer affordable paid advertising options, like Facebook Ads and Twitter Ads, which help businesses generate more leads. Since lead generation is essential for any business, it makes sense to use a cost-effective method like social media.
Source: Technopedia
63% of customers demand social media customer service
Source: Technopedia
Social media marketing helps businesses not just to connect with customers but also resolve issues faster. It allows for immediate interaction and feedback, with nearly half of US customers using social media to ask questions about your products or services.
Customers are more likely to trust brands that are responsive and easy to reach, which is why social media marketing is so important.
Source: Khoros
Texas Tech study finds businesses active on social media have more loyal customers
Having a strong presence on social media helps build brand loyalty. It's easy to see why: when you interact with your customers on social media, you are building a relationship with them. You are taking the time to give them helpful information and support them without asking for anything in return.
This shows customers that you value them as people, not just as a source of money. They will start to see you as a brand that cares about its customers, has values, and has a vision. And that will make a huge difference in a market with a lot of competition.
77% of retargeting ads appear on social platforms
Social media isn't just good for making new sales. It also helps you convert people who have already been to your website or interacted with your brand in some way.
About 92% of people visit a website for the first time to learn more about a company.
With retargeting ads, you can show ads to these people again after they have left your website without making a purchase. This will remind them of your offering and encourage them to come back.
Meta's advertising platform makes it easy to create retargeting campaigns that focus on people who are already familiar with your products.
There are even tools that will allow you to create dynamic ads, which automatically show the last product a customer looked at when they were on your website.
Retargeting really boosts your chances of converting people into customers and reduces the number of people who abandon their shopping carts.
Retargeting increases your conversion rates by up to 150%, and they are more useful than regular banner ads.
Social media platforms offer highly targeted ads, so you can customize your ads to reach the people most likely to be interested in what you offer. Facebook ads, for example, can be targeted based on age, location, education level, industry, and even user behavior.
To get the most out of your social media advertising, use an ads management tool like HubSpot. It will give you insights into your ad campaigns and help you see which ads are turning prospects into customers.
A pro tip for you here will be to install a Facebook pixel on your website in order to track how your ads affect customer behavior. This will help you retarget your ads to the people who are most likely to convert into sales.
71% of consumers recommend brands after a positive experience
Social media marketing enhances brand loyalty and customer engagement through different strategic approaches. Firstly, social media allows brands to establish direct communication with their audience and engage in real time. By regularly engaging with your customers through consistently posting updates and behind-the-scenes content, you ensure that your brand remains top-of-mind for followers.
Share exclusive content and offers on social media to make your followers feel valued. Build a community around the brand by creating groups or forums for people to connect with each other and share experiences. Seeking customer feedback and involvement in decision-making processes not only shows that their opinions matter but also builds trust.
When you personalize your interactions, such as by tailoring responses and content based on individual preferences, you contribute to a more engaging audience experience, which strengthens brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is further strengthened through storytelling and sharing your brand's narrative to create an emotional connection.
Source: Salesforce
Businesses see $2.80 of average return for every dollar spent
Social media marketing provides a cost-effective avenue for brand promotion, especially compared to traditional advertising channels.
Analytics tools on social platforms allow brands to track the performance of their campaigns. This data-driven approach helps you to refine your strategies, optimize content, and allocate resources to maximize the ROI.
The viral nature of social media amplifies the reach of brand messages to increase visibility and engagement beyond the brand's immediate audience. Using user-generated content further extends the brand's reach and credibility to impact ROI positively.
On social media, you can even A/B test different content and ad formats to identify the best ones. This iterative process contributes to the continuous improvement of your ROI.
Takeaways
All businesses should have a strong social media presence, especially if they want to grow their online business.
Social media marketing is also a good option for small businesses that don't have a lot of money to spend on marketing.
But social media marketing is more than just having accounts on different platforms. You need to create content that will make people want to follow your business, trust you, and engage with your customers. Most importantly, you should be consistent with all your social media efforts to see a significant ROI.
We understand it can be difficult to manage social media while also growing your business. That's why we have created a user-friendly social media management tool to help you ease your social efforts.
We help you in almost every aspect of your social media management and reputation building. Book a FREE demo today to understand how exactly we can help you in your social journey!
Statusbrew is an all-in-one social media management tool that supports Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and even Google My Business.
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