Why Businesses Need to Use Social Media Marketing
Why Businesses Need to Use Social Media Marketing
Social media – it’s what we eat, drink, and breathe. From individuals to groups and companies, it seems everyone is on at least one social platform. But, believe it or not, businesses are still not completely convinced about what social media can do to help marketing. According to the Harvard Business Review, 79% of companies surveyed are using or plan to use social media. Of those companies, only 58% use and 21% are planning to launch their accounts. Social media is an effective and powerful way for companies to reach new and potential customers. Everybody is on the web connecting through conversation and sharing information. It is essential that any business invest part of their marketing into this online opportunity.
So what exactly makes up social media marketing? Typically, a social media marketing campaign focuses on three different social platforms. Within these platforms, companies can create conversation by sharing content, pictures and videos. Depending on the branding goals of the company, social media marketing can help with:
– Interaction with potential customers
– Increases in website traffic
– Leads/sales
– Identity
Social Media Platforms
Although many companies use multiple forms of social media simultaneously, there is nothing wrong with beginning with just one. The goal of making an effective and successful social media marketing plan is to find the right platforms that fit each companys’ needs. Here are the five most popular social media platforms for businesses use and why they are effective:
One of, if not the most professional setting platform. LinkedIn is used to converse with other businesses in similar industries, as well as finding possible leads looking for specific services. Previous and current customers of businesses can go to LinkedIn business pages and write reviews and recommendations, which gives those companies more credibility and trust.
Companies can create business pages that users can become “fans” of. As Facebook is a very casual, relaxed platform, business tones should reflect that. Use Facebook to post content, articles, images and videos that are relevant to the business industry. Posts should start and continue conversations going between users. Also, companies should always answer back to posts left by fans. Good listening and feedback is key to great conversation.
This platform plays off of posts that are short, sweet and to the point. Companies can choose to follow other businesses in their industry, and get followed in return. Tweets (posts) can be similar in tone to Facebook, but have to be short. Businesses should consider tweeting about promotions/discount, news announcements or links to interesting articles. Twitter is 100% conversation; companies should respectively answer back to any questions and comments users post.
Blogs are usually found right on business websites. Blogging is a great way to for companies to write specifically about their industry and and office life. The tone can be fun and creative or professional and serious depending on the topic. If a company uses for example, Facebook, a post can be made about the article with a direct link to the blog. The blog is then getting higher visibility compared to a viewer finding it through a search engine result.
We could go on forever listing all the social media platforms out there (Pinterest, YouTube, Blogging, etc.), but the five we mentioned are the building blocks of creating a social media marketing campaign. Every platform is unique, and businesses should only pursue the platforms that will work best for their brand.
If you are a business owner that is ready to buckle down on social media marketing, we want to help you make that step. As social media managers/consultants, we can discover together what social media platforms your company would best advance on and create an outline on how to manage each platform daily/weekly. Give us a call at 910-452-6345 or you can find out more about our services here.
Updated: 10/27/2023
Categorised in: Online Conversation
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