Upon the emergence of social media, many small businesses were hoping it would be a passing fancy. But that hasn’t turned out to be true. In fact, according to Buffer’s State of Social 2019 report, 58.8% of marketers felt that social media was very important to their overall strategy, and 73.0% found it to be very or somewhat effective. Even more telling, 65.6% admitted they would be increasing their social media advertising budget. Clearly, marketers continue to see the value of social marketing and want to find more ways to tap into its potential.
If you’ve been adamant that you don’t have time to engage in social media, there are far more benefits to regular social media posts then you might think.
Create Happier Customers
With 71% of consumers willing to refer friends and family to a brand that has provided a positive customer experience on social media, you need to be there for your customers. As well, 21% of consumers say it’s more likely they’ll purchase from companies they can reach on social. The same number say they prefer social as the best way to talk to customer service.
Enhance Brand Loyalty
Social media allows you to engage followers and attract attention to your products. Once you grow your following, you will find that customers become very loyal to your brand. Forty-nine percent of consumers surveyed said social media posts made by friends influence their decisions to purchase. Further, the survey found that 30% of consumer purchases are influenced by the brands they follow.
Crank the Volume on Brand Voice
If your efforts are focused on blog content, you can actually hook your little red social wagon to that content for more exposure. You don’t have to be consumed by trying to recreate the wheel for every post. Instead, you can save time and still increase visibility by leveraging content that’s already working for you.
You can simply post creative one-liners about recent posts or relevant news items that will resonate with your customers. You increase your voice across multiple channels with minimum effort.
If you still aren’t convinced that news about your brand and products is enough, consider that 60% of the top global brands found the most engagement on product-based posts on Instagram, compared to just 20% for lifestyle-based posts.
Increase Conversions
Regardless of your online marketing strategy, your ultimate goal is to convert customers. Yes, you might have other underlying goals like raising awareness, but in the end, it really is all about new, lifelong customers. 59% percent of consumers have considered making a purchase thanks to a post by a social media influencer.
Further, Sprout Social research found that while 53% of consumers would be more likely to make their next purchase from a brand that is transparent on social media, 86% would purchase from a competitor of a brand that lacks transparency online. If you’re thinking, “Hmm, that means I could be in trouble if my social media pages aren’t transparent,” then yes, this could be true if you plan to mislead and overstate on your posts. However, part of transparency is being found on social media in the first place.
Interact With Influencers
Close to 90% of all marketers have experienced improved or at least equal ROI on influencer marketing compared to other marketing efforts.
When you have a social media presence, it makes it easier for you to interact with influencers. Start sharing and commenting on their posts, and they might just decide to reciprocate in kind. That could expose you to thousands or hundreds of thousands more followers.
Improve Organic Content for Rankings
Social media can assist in your SEO efforts as Google includes social media presence as a factor in their rankings. It does so because trusted brands tend to have strong social engagement and presence. That can provide an additional breadcrumb to help search engines find you, especially when you include keywords in your posts.
As you build your social media presence, you can add the following SEO benefits:
- You can generate more much-needed links to your brand, website, and social media pages.
- You’ll see improved click-through rates on social media to improve SEO.
- You’ll notice an increased association of your brand to important keywords.
- Your social pages will provide additional content, which is the basis of SEO.
Whether it’s Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, you can’t stop avoiding the call of your customers and the need for a social presence. It’s never too late to come out of the shadows and start reaping the benefits social offers.
To get started on your social media plan, schedule your free consultation with Outreach Digital Marketing today.