Successful marketing can increase brand awareness, generating more leads and boosting conversions, yet many businesses find it difficult to build an effective marketing strategy. Social media marketing is one of the most significant forms of marketing in the current marketplace – on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – allowing businesses to promote themselves and their products. No matter the size of the company – from start-ups and local businesses to multinational enterprises – the statistics show that all types of customer are online.
The number of people that use social media platforms is enormous. Facebook has over 2 billion users, while Twitter has over 330 million and Instagram has 1 billion. Each platform has a slightly different audience, as well as different advantages and benefits for businesses that use the platform and/or advertise with them. For further information about the attributes of each social media platform, please refer to the embedded PDF.
Social media marketing is so popular amongst marketing professionals such as Ajab Samrai and business owners because it allows them to speak directly to their target audience – giving them the opportunity to interact socially with individual customers.
The huge numbers of people who interact on social media platforms – 3.2 billion people globally in 2018 – should signal to businesses that they should also be involved, sharing content that relates to the business and its products. Being on social media platforms will greatly increase brand awareness, first by including a direct link to the business website in the bio, profile and posts, as well as by engaging directly with customers via comments, re-posts, likes and shares.
A strong social media presence is an excellent way for a business to increase their lead generation, conversions and sales, as social content and advertisements are seen by those who have actively opted to ‘follow’ and therefore engage with the brand. Equally, the same logic applies when building long-lasting relationships with customers; social media platforms enable businesses to connect with their customers by commenting on posts, responding to online queries and comments, and asking for feedback.
A more business-related advantage to using social media platforms is the opportunity it presents to observe the competition. Through watching their competitor’s social media activity, it is possible for businesses to understand which social media tactics are most effective, what their advertising campaigns look like, how they interact with their followers – and which products they are promoting. Analysing other social media accounts may also result in more creative campaigns and adverts, which will ultimately make a brand stand out from the crowd.