Why Use Social Media for Business Marketing?

With online presence becoming more important than ever, we’ve reached a point where businesses NEED to be using social media.

No matter how big or small you are, social media has become an essential part of online marketing and something that every business should consider in their overall marketing strategy.

As it stands, more than half of the world uses social media (58.4%), with approximately 424 million new users signing up to social media in the last 12 months. In addition to this, the average daily time spent on social media is around 2hrs and 27 minutes, offering businesses a real opportunity to boost brand awareness, traffic, as well as conversions.

Clients sometimes ask “Why use social media for business marketing?”. So to help answer this question we’ve pulled together an insight into the impact of social media, and why it should be integrated into your online marketing efforts.

A Customer’s Journey

A customer journey may seem relatively simple – you offer a product or service, and then they buy it. However, only when you start to look more closely do you begin to understand the complexity.

In a nutshell, the customer journey is the experience a customer has with your business across different touchpoints. All of which play a vital role in influencing a positive customer experience.

Below are some examples of customer touchpoints: 

• Google Ads
• Social Media
• Email
• Website
• Live chats 

To help you understand how touchpoints work, we’ve pulled together an example customer journey below. In this scenario, Carol is looking for a physio in her local area.

Organic Search > Organic Social > Paid Social > Email

1. Carol types into Google ‘Physios near me’, she scrolls down, clicks on your website and takes the time to look at the services you provide, prices etc. 
2. Whilst on your website, she clicks on your Instagram link. After spending 5 minutes looking through your feed, she decides to give you a follow.
3. A week later, she’s on her way home from work and sees your company’s social ad promoting 20% off for new patients. She clicks the ad and then gets in touch to book an appointment.
4. An email is sent after her appointment asking her to leave a review.

Carol passed through 4 touch points during her conversion journey (Your website, organic social, paid social and email). Nevertheless, these will vary from person to person, the type of business you have, along with the touchpoints you have set up.

Benefits of Social Media for Business Marketing:

1. Boost brand awareness

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the amount of people using social media is increasing every day. This means the pool of people to target is constantly growing!

Social media isn’t just used as a way for people to connect with brands they are already familiar with. It’s also used as a tool to discover new businesses, with 83 percent of people saying that they discover new products and services on Instagram regularly. 

2. Humanise your brand

Social media is a fantastic way to show a different side of your business, one that’s more transparent and personalised. Furthermore, it’s a place to build connections with new potential customers and continue building relationships with people who have already used your service or bought one of your products. 

In an age of scepticism, more people are looking for brands that show authenticity and purpose. They want to see your brand values, watch what’s going on behind the scenes, and how your product or service works in real life.

Brand authenticity has never been more important!

3. Stay at the forefront of your customers minds

70% of users log into their social media accounts at least once a day. So, if you’re posting consistently, this allows you to connect with your followers every time they log in to check their accounts. 

Being consistent is key, however, on the other hand, it’s just as important to produce engaging content! Does it offer value? Am I able to educate? Is it entertaining? Keeping your content fresh will keep followers interested. So, when the time comes, you’ll be one of the first people they think of.

Retargeting ads is also another great way to stay at the forefront of your customer’s minds. With social ads, you can retarget people who have shown an interest in your business and encourage them to take that final step!

4. Attract traffic to your website

Alternatively, another effective way to drive traffic to your website is through your social channels. This can be done both organically and through the addition of paid ads. 

If your goal is to bring more people to your site, it’s crucial that your website promotes your business in a positive light. Is it well designed? User friendly? Does it build trust? These are all things to think about, as once you get someone onto your website. After that your site is left to do the selling and influence people to take action! 

5. Increase conversions 

Social media allows businesses to collect leads easily through lead generation focused ads. With platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you can set up campaigns where people can get in touch without leaving the platform.

If you’re running a lead focused ad and have chosen to direct people to your website, you may risk losing potential customers due to impatience. Whereas, if you run a lead form ad, customers will be able to add their info there and then, making their journey quicker and more convenient.

6. Increase sales

Social shopping is on the rise, with Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok now allowing businesses to sell products directly on social media. 

With people now spending more time online, this gives customers the option to purchase products on the platforms they spend most time on.

7. Collaborate with influencers 

Influencers have become an extremely powerful way to increase brand awareness and conversions, and most importantly build trust and credibility. Influencers work hard to build connections with their followers and to keep them consistently engaged with inspiring, entertaining content. 

Through promoting your business on their social channels, influencers are able to build that trust in your brand. If they’re using your products or services, then their followers will be thinking “This must be good”.

Need Help With Your Social Media?

If you’re thinking about taking the first steps to creating a social media strategy or need help growing your existing channels, please feel free to call or email, and we’ll be happy to chat through our Social Media services.