What are the benefits of social media marketing for my company?
In today’s world, social media marketing is not just important, it is crucial! Whether you are a start-up, SME or larger company we get asked all the time ‘what are the benefits of social media marketing for my company?’. Our latest feature sets out to discuss the benefits of the social media marketing that every business needs to know.
Understanding the benefits of social media will allow your business to optimise its online presence, raise brand awareness and increase sales. Identifying and applying appropriate social media strategies can have a huge impact on your company’s success with social media.
9 benefits every business should know
1. It Increases visibility and Brand Awareness
Increasing brand awareness and brand recognition is a top business objective. as consumers generally buy from brands that they know and trust. Using social media marketing puts your brand in front of your target audience and over time generates brand recognition. The benefits of this can be huge for your business in terms of getting your business recognised. It also increases the visibility of your products or services.
Top Tips
- Within social media profiles, it is important to have branded imagery on all cover profiles and on imagery posted on social posts. This aids with brand visibility and builds brand recognition.
- Get employees to like and share your posts. It will only enhance the reach of your brand, therefore getting them to engage is crucial.
2. It Increases inbound traffic to your website
If you do not currently promote your business through social media, then you are limiting your inbound traffic. Only your usual clients who are already familiar with your brand will be going on your website. As a result, you will have much more difficulty reaching new customers or driving new traffic to your website. Each social media platform you create is an opportunity to get your brand in front of new prospects. In this way, it offers opportunities to acquire new customers. By using social media marketing within your marketing strategy, you can reach more and more potential customers. These prospects visit your website, see what you have to offer, and this creates opportunities to cross-sell products or services. Social media helps you to put content in front of your target audience and directs them to your website.
Top Tips
- You should consider where your ideal target audience is likely to be found. Is it Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or a combination of platforms? It’s important to understand this so you can focus your attention within the appropriate channels.
- You should also consider the design, layout, and user-friendliness of your website. If it’s badly set out and prospects cannot find the information they are searching for, then they will quickly leave the website and will not return in a hurry.
3. It Improves search engine rankings
Social media does not directly increase search engine rankings but if your website is getting lots of traffic because it is relevant, content is of high quality and the site is deemed to be popular then Google will rank you higher than other websites with less credentials. The link to social media is that it is the facilitator that drives your target audience to your website. This increased traffic along with quality content is what google uses to calculate your websites position within search results.
By ranking in top positions for keywords it will only further enhance the amount of traffic visiting your site and further enhance the results for your business. If you are not ranked towards the top of search engine results, it would be wise to look at your search engine optimisation strategy. To rank higher through social media it is important to create quality content that combines your target keywords. Quality content to share on social media could include blogs, case studies, infographics, video and company updates.
Top Tips
- By posting regular quality content on social media, it will allow you to build a social media community who will ‘like’ and ‘share’ your content.
- Posting content on social media also gives you the opportunity to be seen by industry influencers, who can the write about your company. This will then directly boost SEO and search engine rankings by building backlinks and increasing your website authority.
4. It increases conversion rates
By increasing your online visibility by posting blog posts, branded images, video, infographics, case studies and other quality content on social media your business will gain more opportunities to convert customers. The content that you are posting on social channels will lead prospects to your businesses website and increase website traffic. Social media marketing can personify your business through the sharing of content, commenting and posting statuses on social channels. As people like doing business with other people the better the impression you give to prospect clients the more likely they are to do business with you when they need your products or services.
By having increased users on your website and a following on social media channels it allows you to be able to research prospective clients. This then means you can understand their requirements and create a social media strategy that targets them with a tailored message. By marketing your brand through social media, where sharing, liking, commenting is all taking place will inevitably increase your conversion rates.
Top Tip
- Including client testimonials on landing pages that prospects are directed too from social media can improve your conversion chances.
5. It improves customer service and the customer experience
Social media channels are essentially a communication platform and having an active voice for your business through these channels is important. Clients and prospects want to know that they are monitored and when they post comments that your business is actively engaging with and responding to their enquires and queries. By acknowledging each comment, it is demonstrating that your business is aiming to provide the best possible customer experience.
All your interactions with clients and prospects on social media platforms are an opportunity to publicly demonstrate the highest standards of customer service. Social media allows you to converse in conversation to answer any questions or complaints in a direct humanised way. Businesses that take the time and are motivated by customer satisfaction are generally regarded positively.
Top Tip
- When it comes to customer service; on social media it’s important to compose personal messages in response to comments instead of replying with an automated response. A personalised, humanised approach is very important.
6. It Increases brand loyalty
Customer satisfaction and brand loyalty generally go hand in hand. Therefore, one of the main objectives of any business should be to develop a loyal customer base. To do so it is extremely important to consistently engage with clients and prospects, and that’s where social media marketing fits in. Social media isn’t just about showing off your products/services and promotional campaigns. It’s a platform that customers see as a service channel that facilitates direct communication with your business. If done well businesses will want to buy into your products or services.
Top Tip
- Build up your social media followers and regularly post quality content. Why? It will enhance your trustworthiness and provides reassurances that you’re a reputable company to do business with.
7. It helps you obtain marketplace insights
By being on social media it puts you in a great position to be able to gain insight on customers, prospects, and competitors. Social media allows you to speak directly with prospects and customers and it allows you to monitor activity and profiles so your can see what clients are interested in. It also allows you to pick up on opinions that you would not be able to find out if you were not on social media.
Social media facilitates research as it allows your business to look at competitor profiles to determine what they are doing. It also gives you a viewpoint of what is going on within your industry and allows you to comment or interact with relevant topics. As you gain a larger following on social media platforms, you are able to analyse the demographics of consumers. This information can help understand your target audience and effectively targeting them with your products or services.
Top Tip
- Using social media to understand what is going on within your industry is a great way of determining the types or content that your target audience or industry are more likely to find appealing and will want to regularly engage with. This is helpful when constructing your content strategy.
8. It creates thought leadership opportunities
By posting quality content with your own expert insight on to social media it allows you to demonstrate your expertise within your industry. To build your expertise on social media platforms it is important to like, share, comment and generally establish your presence. This will promote your authority online.
Top Tip
- It is important to follow key influencers within your industry, so you can see their content. You can then comment on their thought leadership pieces with your own expert insights and experiences.
9. It is Cost-Efficient
Social media marketing is one of the most cost-efficient if not the most cost-efficient marketing strategy. Social media accounts are free to set up and use. It’s also free to like, comment, share and post on social media. Even paid promotions can be low in cost and increase your exposure quickly through consumer profiling and tailored campaigns aimed at your target audience. As a result, you can see a bigger return on investment (ROI) without heavily denting your marketing budget. This means you can use more of your budget on other business priorities.
Top Tip
- It is important to invest time and energy in social media management to see the true benefits. This means posting regularly and sharing quality content.
Final Thoughts…
By now you should be fully versed in how social media is so important for your business. And should be able to answer the question ‘What are the benefits of social media marketing for my company?’.
The key take away is that the more time and effort you put into social media marketing the greater the benefits for your business. And the greater the quality of your content the more effective your social media campaigns are likely to be.
Social media users want to like, comment and share quality content that is relevant to them. The better your business is at putting quality content in front of the right audience the greater your exposure.
There will always be a conflict between focusing your time on core business activities and finding enough time to manage your social media. Here at Capella Synergy, we are experts at content marketing, social media marketing, SEO and more.
Contact us today and see how we can drive your social media presence forward.