Social media is internet communication that enables real-time interaction with customers and information sharing. Social media can be used for:
better connect with your consumers by building online networks
sell and publicise the goods and services you offer.
Utilising social media for business, nevertheless, carries some risk. Before you begin, go with caution and educate yourself about the advantages and disadvantages.
Increase Leads
More than 65% of small businesses use social media to generate leads, according to Social Media Examiner’s 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.
However, leveraging social media offers much more than just leads. Through sophisticated targeting, it is possible to produce high quality leads.
However, Ascend2 found that enhancing lead quality was a significant obstacle to success.
How can you then use social media to get past that obstacle and raise the calibre of leads coming into your small business?
Promoting gated content on social media is an excellent place to begin. You need content for this that is appropriate for your followers’ interests.
Let’s look at an example from MarketingProfs to further grasp this. Followers can access their virtual conference by visiting one of their most recent posts.
The graphic sets the expectation for their Twitter followers because it is pertinent to the content (and their audience) and is straightforward and simple to grasp.
Increase brand awareness
How can you then use social media to get past that obstacle and raise the calibre of leads coming into your small business?
Promoting gated content on social media is an excellent place to begin. You need content for this that is appropriate for your followers’ interests.
Let’s look at an example from Marketing Profs to further grasp this. Followers can access their virtual conference by visiting one of their most recent posts.
The graphic sets the expectation for their Twitter followers because it is pertinent to the content (and their audience) and is straightforward and simple to grasp.
Improve Search Engine Ranking
The simple conclusion is that social media may (and will) raise your search engine rating, despite the heated debate that surrounds the subject.
How? When the rate of social media shares rises, your website’s domain authority rises as well. As a result, your pages rank higher on search engines.
But it goes beyond that. In order to learn more about your company before making a purchase, many customers first visit your social media profiles before going to your website.
Your social networking page ranking will increase as more people visit it, which will increase the likelihood that it will show up among the top-ranked pages.
Stay top of mind
According to a 2021 survey by the Pew Research Centre, 70% of social media users log into their accounts at least once a day, and many people (49%) admit to monitoring social media numerous times per day.
Every time a user logs into social media, you have the option to interact with their fans and followers. Keep your social media posts interesting and educational, and your fans will be happy to see your new content in their feeds, keeping you top of mind and making you their first destination when they’re ready to make a purchase.
Naturally, this does not imply that you must be constantly glued to your accounts. You may schedule your social media posts well in advance with the use of a scheduling service like Hootsuite.
Drive Traffic
Small businesses typically use social media with the aim of boosting website traffic.
This hypothesis was reinforced by the same Social Media Examiner survey I previously referenced, which found that 78% of small businesses use social media to boost website traffic.
You’re missing out on naturally occurring traffic if you don’t have a strong social media presence. This indicates that a small portion of the people who are now following you are the ones driving all of your traffic.
Poor idea. To increase traffic, you must widen the reach of your brand.
But how do you get started? In particular, considering the 2017 State of Inbound report, which indicated that 63% of businesses struggle to generate visitors and leads.
Boost sales
In order for a new contact to turn into a customer, they must go through your sales funnel, which includes your social media platforms. This is known as social selling (Lingo warning!)
Social networks will be more crucial for product search and e-commerce as the number of users of social media keeps expanding and social sales tools develop. Your social marketing initiatives should now be in line with your sales objectives.
Keep an Eye on Competitors
Even though it may seem unusual, social media is an excellent way to monitor your rivals.
You are able to keep tabs on their performance and get ideas from it. It’s possible to observe the kind of stuff they post and their interactions with followers.
You can gain insight from your competition via social media. Your competitors’ performance must be superior for a valid cause.
Be mindful not to merely replicate and implement their tactics as you learn theirs. It’s not always beneficial for you to follow what works best for them. Instead, develop your own modifications to their ideas.
Partner with influencers
Customers heavily rely on evaluations and recommendations from friends and family when making decisions. You increase brand exposure, credibility, and your chances of making more sales when you persuade people to talk about your service or business on social media.
Partnering with influencers, or those who have a sizable social media following and can direct that following’s attention to your company, is an important strategy for promoting social word of mouth.
Adore Me, a lingerie company, worked with influencers to create a number of unboxing videos on Instagram. The brand witnessed a significant increase in traffic from content that was included directly in the influencers’ accounts. This included a seven percent increase in the sales conversion rate and a twofold increase in click-through rates.
