What can social media marketing do for me?
Short answer— a lot. Long answer— let’s look at some social media numbers.
Businesses will budget more than $35 billion for social media marketing in 2017. Traditional advertising channels like newspapers, radio stations and television networks jumped on board long ago. Once thought to be a crazy fad, social media marketing is now considered the fastest growing trend in the history of the world!
That sounds interesting, but I want more proof.
Consider a few numbers from one of the leading statistics companies on the internet, Statista.
- Social users grew from 0.95 billion in 2010 to more than 2.3 billion in 2016.
- By 2020, more than 2.9 billion people are expected to regularly use social networks.
- As of May 2016, 55% of social users in the US used Pinterest to shop for products.
- As of January 2017, 58% of North American residents viewed social media on mobile devices.
What about my brand awareness? When your business is present on social media, it is easier for prospects and customers alike to find you. And it’s an easy way for you to educate your followers about your business, what you brand stands for and what makes you unique from your competitors.
Isn’t too much social networking bad for relationships? With a well-developed social media plan, readers will notice your posts. They’ll become familiar with you and your business. And as your prospect to business relationship grows, their interest in your products and services will grow as well.
You’ll find that social media is a great place to get to know your customers. Do you have a question about a new product or service you’re considering? Asking your social network followers lets them know you’re interested in what they want and need. While the end goal may be increasing sales, social media is a two-way street where you have the opportunity to build real relationships with your customers. And solid relationships lead to brand loyalty.
How do my ‘fans’ get to my website? Increasing website traffic is one of the biggest benefits of any social networking strategy. Not only does social media marketing allow you to direct people to your business website, followers will also click on links to your blog posts – the food you bring to the social media picnic – that they find relevant and interesting.
When readers connect with your website and blog content, they often share it their friends and followers. As links to your website and blog posts are shared, Google takes notice, your search ranking goes up, resulting in an increase in organic website traffic.
How does that generate more high-quality leads? Another key benefit of using social media is finding more and better-qualified leads. If you’ve chosen the best social media platforms to reach your target clients, they help you by sorting themselves. Studies have shown that social network users scroll past posts and ads that don’t interest or apply to them. A leads generated when a stellar headline motivates someone to read, click, and share is likely to be better qualified and lead to more sales.
Social Media Marketing company, Sales for Life, reports that social media “is more effective for identifying new decision makers and business opportunities,” according to research done by MHI Global in 2015. In addition, the study on Sales Best Practices indicated that nearly 75% of the world-class companies surveyed reported an increase in sales due to active social media marketing.
It’s important to remember that social media marketing doesn’t always involve advertising. Simply posting a well-written and persuasive blog can be like word–of–mouth on steroids.
Not sure where to start? Let Valorous Circle’s internet marketing specialists design a plan just for you. Give us a call today.
