Have you ever checked to see how many “likes” your latest Facebook or Instagram post received? Or how about checking the number of favorites or retweets on your last tweet?
Come on, be honest! If you do, you’re not alone. Most people do check, and some even have “friendly competitions” with friends and colleagues to who can receive the highest numbers.
And the same is true for many businesses! As social media only continues to grow in popularity it has become an integral part of their marketing strategy, and companies that use it successfully are able to increase web traffic, boost brand awareness and loyalty and drive sales.
According to Statistica, 95 percent of younger buyers follow brands on social media. This means you could have an enormous audience at your fingertips if you're dedicating time to these networks. Whether you have a limited social media presence or you have a well-established one, here are 10 reasons why you should still be investing more time and effort into well-orchestrated social media program.
1. Social Media Can Increase Targeted Traffic
Well-timed and well-paced social media posts can work wonders with targeted traffic. Remember the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey? In Houston, J.J. Watt, a defensive star for the Houston Texans, started his own flood relief program on his personal website for Houston residents, hoping to raise $200,000. Thanks to social media posts by celebs like Jimmy Fallon, Drake and Ellen DeGeneres, the campaign raised over $27 million in just three weeks!
It shows that informative and timely posts can bring in new visitors, and ultimately drive targeted traffic to your website, along with any call-to-action you want. In fact, social media now drives over 31% of all traffic to websites.
2. Social Media Can Help You Reach New Audiences
The beauty of social media is that it connects people all over the world, and it doesn’t take much (just a few shares and a couple of seconds) for one of your posts to reach somebody on the other side of the planet.
That level of global reach is a huge advantage to businesses that want to reach new audiences, because social media allows you to reach people you previously wouldn’t have had access to. It’s an untapped market, and the more engaging your posts are, the more they’ll be liked, shared and commented on, increasing your exposure exponentially.
3. A Strong Social Media Presence Builds Brand Loyalty and Increases Brand Awareness
Today’s consumers want to see the human side of the brands they interact with, and social media is the ideal platform for providing this.
Along with helping you reach out to new audiences, social media can also provide you with an opportunity to engage with followers and prospects on a human level through comments, conversations, and posts that reinforce your brand and your image. This more personalized approach helps build brand loyalty and increase brand awareness.
4. Social Media is an Effective Way to Engage and Communicate with Customers
Just as you’re reaching out to prospects and customers, they’re now reaching out to the brands they support via social media for customer service. By being responsive, you have an exceptional opportunity to use social media to provide an excellent customer experience.
You’ll need to respond promptly to any questions, concerns and criticisms that are posted on social media. By doing that you’ll be providing consumers and prospects with a personalized and friendly option for connecting with your brand.
5. You Can Leverage Social Engagement to Create New Customers
Remember when word of mouth and product recommendations were limited to a consumer’s close and personal sphere of friends and family? In case you hadn’t noticed, the world has changed. Today, most consumers check online reviews and testimonials before making any type of purchasing decisions.
The important takeaway is that over 70 percent of people are more likely to make a brand recommendation after a positive social experience, and the weight of that endorsement could win you new prospects and customers.
6. Social Media Advertising Is Affordable and Effective
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media advertising platforms offer you a goldmine of prospects, and they can help you reach new audiences and new prospects with a minimal investment using limited resources.
The greatest things about social media ads is that they're highly targeted, provide real-time data and can cost as little as $0.12 per click.
7. Social Media Will Increase Your Visibility
Social media provides a powerful way for organizations to disseminate content. There’s a saying that, “content is king, distribution is queen,” and social media is the fastest way to provide relevant information while increasing visibility and improving rankings. Here are a few of the ways that social media can improve your online visibility:
- More inbound links
- Greater authority
- Branded searches
- Creating engagement
8. Content Is the Common Currency of Social Media and Inbound Marketing
When it comes to search engine optimization, improved rankings and driving traffic, content is the main tool marketers use for both inbound and social media marketing strategies. And the great thing about good content is that it can easily be repurposed for other platforms to better resonate with a particular audience. You’ll find that social networks provide you with a huge array of channels that enable you to reach out to different audiences.
9. Social Media Leads to Increased Conversion Rates and Higher Sales
While social media may not have a direct impact on rankings, it’s still an essential SEO and marketing tool. It has the power to increase conversions through higher traffic volumes, build better brand loyalty and higher engagement, while delivering a larger audience and an improved customer experience. It all adds up to higher sales and more growth for your business.
It’s no secret that social media marketing is a key SEO tool, but many organizations may not realize just how important it is to have a solid social presence. Although using social media requires time, money and human resources, making it an integral part of your overall marketing strategy is a smart choice.
10. You Can Gain Better Insights About Your Audience
Just as you can use Google Analytics to better understand your web traffic, you can also use social media analytics to better understand your social audiences. These tools provide insights about preferred content, what gets shared the most, what products and promotions are the most successful, and what drives the most engagement with customers and prospects.
Ready to learn more about social media? Download our free eBook on The 28 Steps to Master Social Media to learn everything you need to know to become a social media marketing master.
