Why Do Social Media Marketing?

Social media have transformed various facets of life in just a few years. It has been fascinating to see everything unfold at high speed. Now people gather their news from different social networks. They often see the drama unfold before the news networks pick up the stories. Millions of people have their own accounts from high school students to celebrities to politicians. It is not surprising that brands have made their way into this eclectic mix. Marketers need to go where the action is. Social media marketing provides brands with the following advantages compared to other strategies:

Low Cost

Small businesses simply don’t have the means to run ads frequently on newspapers, magazines, radio, or TV. Online marketing is a game-changer for them because it provides a number of options with low rates and significant returns. One of these options is social media marketing which means getting into the thick of things in this brave new world. Brands should create their own pages in the most popular networks, publish engaging content, and communicate effectively with their audience. Making your own page is virtually free although you would have to pay extra for certain tools and for running ads on these spaces. The total is still far less than what you would pay traditional media.

Viral Potential

The beauty of social media is that the posts can be shared to friends and followers in an instant. If the content is interesting, then it can go places and reach a large number of readers. The brand is not confined to posting to its most loyal customers. These same customers can be the perfect brand evangelists who will keep sharing the posts on their timelines and spreading awareness. This can have a domino effect that turns obscure brands into household names.

Better Conversion

Which would you trust more: a stranger’s recommendation or your friend’s advice? Most would probably go for the latter since they know the person behind the advice. This has more weight given their knowledge of this friend’s standards and preferences. Thus, those who see shared posts that feature certain products are more likely to get curious and click on these. They are also more likely to make a purchase since their friend has already tried it. They’ll have faith that the products are good and worth their money.

Higher Satisfaction

Social media is a two-way street. Although it can be overwhelming if you have a lot of followers, you can talk to each of them and answer their queries. Companies dedicate teams for this. Small businesses can designate a person depending on the volume of queries. If the page owner manages to handle communications well, then customers are going to have a higher satisfaction with their purchases.

Customer Insights

Social media data tools are built into these platforms to let businesses get a better grasp of their audiences. The analytics can show which posts are popular and what times have the most engagement. These can help improve the focus of the social media manager. They can check where the viewers are coming from and how these interact with the content.

Infographic created by Clover Network, a credit card processing company.