Did you know that 90% of all marketers say social media marketing has increased their business exposure?
No matter what you sell and who you sell it to, using social media as a marketing tool can help you grow your brand tremendously.
In South Africa alone, 40% of the entire population use social media and on average have at least a minimum of 8 social media accounts.
Below we will discuss only a few of the reasons as to why your business needs to make use of social media marketing.
Social Media Posts Drive Targeted Traffic
Whatever your industry, segment and audience, a substantial portion of your customers and leads are on social media.
A recent study found that out of the total South African population 49% are internet users.
Out of this 49% :
– 25% are on Facebook
– 15.9% are on YouTube
– 10.9% are on LinkedIn
– 6.3% are on Instagram
– 14% are on Twitter
Having access to all these customers can helps you boost traffic, particularly for new site content. When you post a new blog or update your homepage, it can take a while to get traction with Google, meaning that very few customers will know the new content is there until the next time they’re searching for your product or service.
And because those posts will primarily show up in the feeds of followers and people interested in your product, that traffic is typically very targeted. It won’t just boost your traffic numbers — it will bring in the type of visitors you want to attract.
The traffic benefits of social media marketing can be dramatic.
Social media posts provide an opportunity for the public to find your new web content and click through to your site.
And because those posts will primarily show up in the feeds of followers and people interested in your product, that traffic is typically very targeted. It won’t just boost your traffic numbers — it will bring in the type of visitors you want to attract.
Using Social Media for Business Boosts Your Site’s SEO
As you know, SEO is a marketing discipline focused on growing visibility in organic (non paid) search engine results. SEO encompasses both the technical and creative elements required to improve rankings, drive traffic, and increase awareness in search engines.
In a nutshell, SEO is a matter of making sure your site is structured in a way that search engines understand. Search engine crawlers know which pages are consistently earning traffic and which are just floating out there, forgotten and ignored. Although your killer content strategy is the most important factor in your search rankings, driving traffic to your optimized pages will cause them to climb much faster.
A lot of times, this can be as simple as re-sharing evergreen content (of course, in addition to sharing your new content when it goes live). We recommend each post be re-shared once a month — a task that doesn’t have to be as time-intensive as you might think. With Facebook’s scheduling tool or Hootsuite (for Twitter), you can set the entire month all at once and you’re done.
Social Media Marketing Helps you Understand Your Audience
Part of what makes social channels like Twitter and Instagram effective marketing tools is the interaction you have with your customer base. By reading their tweets and status updates, you’ll gain insights into their daily lives and consumer behaviors, and answer questions such as:
· What products are they buying and why?
· What hobbies do they have?
· What kinds of posts do they love to share?
· What websites do they visit?
These insights have obvious marketing benefits. When you understand your customers, you can write better content and more compelling posts, which leads to more traffic. But the benefits can sometimes go far beyond marketing, helping you identify customer pain points, improve sales conversions and even refine your product strategy.
· What products are they buying and why?
· What hobbies do they have?
· What kinds of posts do they love to share?
· What websites do they visit?
These insights have obvious marketing benefits. When you understand your customers, you can write better content and more compelling posts, which leads to more traffic. But the benefits can sometimes go far beyond marketing, helping you identify customer pain points, improve sales conversions and even refine your product strategy.
An Active Social Media Presence Builds Relationships with Your Audience
Consumers see Twitter, Facebook and Instagram as social networks, not marketing machines.
That can be a challenge when you’re first developing your social media marketing strategy. A lot of companies instinctively take a hard sell approach, inundating their followers with discount offer codes, new product announcements and customer reviews. Then, when the account only brings in modest traffic gains, they assume social just isn’t a good fit for their brand.
But customers don’t want to be pitched to — they want authentic engagement.
When you stop seeing social as a way to pitch your customers and start seeing it as a way to connect with them, it can transform your brand. You help customers by answering their questions, entertaining and informing them with relevant content and even forming bonds over shared interests.
You’ll build connections with industry leaders and influencers, providing great stories for reporters, top notch products for promoters and interesting topics for experts to share with their followers. Over time, you’ll become more than a brand — you’ll become a part of a community.
And that comes with serious ROI. If you’re following social media marketing best practices, you’ll get a ton of exposure. That exposure brings in new leads. Over time, those leads become followers, followers become customers and customers become dedicated brand promoters, continuing the cycle.
Social Media Ads Allow Targeting and Retargeting
Why advertise on social media?Because social media platforms offer highly targeted ads, which can be customized around your customers’ needs. Facebook ads, for example, can target customers by factors like age, location, education level, industry and even user behavior — e.g. the pages a user has liked. Using an ads management tool like HubSpot will give you even more insights into your ad campaigns. Connecting your ads to a CRM will allow you to see exactly which ads are turning prospects into customers.
Social Media is Key to Customer Service
Quick customer response time isn’t optional anymore. If there’s a problem with your product or service, your customers expect you to solve it right away.
Few companies are meeting those expectations.
A Sprout Social study found that customers want responses to social media companies within four hours, yet the average response time is 10 hours
This isn’t just a minor irritation for your customers — it directly affects your profits. A Twitter study showed that customers are willing to pay almost $20 more for future tickets when airlines respond to their tweets within 6 minutes.
And that isn’t just an isolated data point, either. Study after study has shown that consumers reward companies that respond to customer requests and complaints. A strong and engaged social media marketing presence will help you keep customers happy, and keep your public image positive.
Your Competition is Already Social
The crowded world of social media branding can feel very intimidating. Most brands have at least a token social media presence, and in some industries, multiple channels is the norm. For example, 91% of retail brands are using at least two social media platforms. So, what hope do you have of getting your brand noticed on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram?
It’s a lot easier than you think, because most brands aren’t doing it right.
Bigger brands may have sophisticated social media presences, but SMEs rarely do.
They start a few social media channels because it’s cheap, and it’s what everyone else does. Without investing in social media strategy, however, they rarely make a big impact. They post irregularly, rarely engage with followers and don’t develop a sophisticated voice. Social media remains essentially just a way for them to throw ads at customers now and then. And when that strategy doesn’t yield results, they put even less effort into it.
The truth is, posting to social media because you think you’re supposed to post will get you nowhere.
You’re better off with one really good social media channel than your competitor is with four semi-abandoned ones. If you take the time to develop your voice and strategy, post regularly and respond to messages and comments promptly, you can build a following your lazy competitors can’t possibly match — even if they’ve been on social for years longer than you have.
You Can Find Potential Customers who Don’t Already Know Your Brand
Social media marketing enables you to search out customers looking for information related to your product — even if they aren’t familiar with your company.
For example, on Twitter, you can use Hootsuite to set up streams, following specific keywords related to your industry or products. When you spot people tweeting about those products, you can direct them to your site, or explain how your product can address their needs.
This strategy can also be valuable for customers who tweet about your brand, but may not be familiar with a new product or use case. By reaching out to them with new information, you can not only influence a sales decision, but also show customers how your brand is growing to better meet their needs.
Therefore it can be clearly seen that no marketing tool or technique plays a bigger role in influencing your brand perception than social media. Regularly interacting with followers, journalists, thought leaders and taste-makers can increase your profile, improve your public image and give your brand the sales it deserves.
Are you ready to rocket ahead of your competitors and take the social media world by storm?
Want to see your search engine rankings climb? To find out how we can help you across your digital needs visit our homepage click , https://hashtagsa.com/
You can also feel free to contact Cirstyn for an immediate response
Cirstyn Lipschitz
Administration and Research – Hashtag South Africa Pty Ltd
Email : cirstyn@hashtagsa.com Office : +27 10 035 2737 Website : www.hashtagsa.com
Address: 195 Jan Smuts Avenue, Grosvenor Corner, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa 2193
References:
Social Media Today. 2019. Why is Digital Marketing so Important for Business in 2019? [Infographic] | Social Media Today. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/why-is-digital-marketing-so-important-for-business-in-2019-infographic/552160/.
Arthur Goldstuck. 2019. SA has taken to social media like never before – The Citizen. [ONLINE] Available at: https://citizen.co.za/lifestyle/science/2030220/sa-has-taken-to-social-media-like-never-before/. [Accessed 18 September 2019].
Media Update. 2019. Infographic: 2019 South African social media stats . [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.mediaupdate.co.za/social/146925/infographic-2019-south-african-social-media-stats. [Accessed 18 September 2019].
The Content Factory. 2019. 18 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing Is Important For Any Business. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.contentfac.com/9-reasons-social-media-marketing-should-top-your-to-do-list/. [Accessed 18 September 2019].
