Marketers and clients often make the mistake of locking social media results into a metrics-focused box and expecting ROI to translate directly into sales or conversions. More often than not, social media plays a larger, more strategic role in the early and mid-stage portion of the buyer’s journey, rather than as tactically at the end or directly in a transaction.
The term “social media” refers to a powerful collection of platforms, media and content. From ubiquitous sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to niche platforms like Pinterest, Tumblr and Reddit, social media sits at the heart of marketing, advertising and PR. And brands can harness it to optimize their own marketing agenda.
The Benefits of Social Media for Businesses
Social media is about relationships – creating conversations and interactions that would be impossible in any other setting. It’s also fundamentally qualitative, bringing together a combination of building your brand’s aesthetic, community management and customer service, PR and exposure, and storytelling and marketing. The SEO benefits of social media include all those backlinks to your website and blog to help Google rank you higher in search results.
Social Media and Digital Marketing
Whether a business is just getting started on architects mailing list social media or one that is already established across all platforms, it is essential to put social media to work as part of an integrated strategic marketing plan to reap the full benefits. Engaging consistently on your chosen platforms and creating authentic experiences will help build a more robust social media portfolio and in turn drive growth and success in other ways.
Social Media Business Marketing
Businesses are scrambling to successfully implement and maintain their social media footprint. And this makes particular sense with these statistics:
Over 70% of consumers have visited social media sites for information
49% of these consumers made a purchasing decision based on information found through social media sites
60% of people in the study said they are likely to use social media sites to pass on information to other online users.
How to Boost Sales on Social Media
It’s important to understand that social media is part of the buyer’s journey, but it’s rarely at the bottom of the funnel. In fact, many followers report that they’ll unfollow a brand that posts too many sales-oriented posts. So how do you reach your customers? First, make sure you’re on the platforms your customers are on. Signing up for Instagram as a B2B-focused company may not make sense. Research your target demographics and audiences to find out where they’re most active. Second, remember that you don’t have to be on every platform. It’s time-consuming and frustrating to try to be everything to everyone.
If you want to promote your products through partnerships, think beyond working exclusively with influencers. Your existing customers can be enticed with freebies, discounts, and exclusive access. Look for followers who are posting about your brand on their own feed and offer them a special offer to create a few posts about your product. And share user-generated content (with permission). This adds texture to your presence and gives your social media manager even more content to work with!
Most importantly, create content that informs, educates, and engages your audience. Social media platforms are a great place for how-to guides or information to help them better use your products. If you sell services, consider before-and-after posts, process videos, or other ways to visually showcase your impact. But remember, your social media relationship with your customers is about building trust, so this isn’t the place to be a hard sell. You can consider simplifying the buying process that can be a barrier to purchase.
Measuring Social Media Success
Success on social media starts with first determining how to measure it. Whether it’s brand awareness, growth, engagement, click-through rate, etc., a brand needs to first decide what target to focus on (awareness, engagement, traffic, fans, reputation, share of voice) and build a strategic plan on how to achieve that goal.
With clear goals, your business can align its overall marketing strategy with a variety of digital elements—including social media—to clarify its goals. Once your goals are determined, take the time to bridge the gap between your social media and your web presence by setting up Google Analytics to track referrals and conversions to better tie your successes to your platforms. Over time, data analysis will show you the relationship between social media, traffic, and web behavior.
Social Media ROI
Beyond traffic, lead generation, and conversion, how can social media prove its value to a company that has a longer, more complex buyer journey than most? Resonance and visibility play a critical role in a consumer’s decision to buy. It’s hard to tie it to a direct sale, but the sentiment around posts, the sheer volume of users talking about a brand, and the environment your brand is in on digital platforms are all crucial as part of a digital strategy.
Businesses can gain incredible traction with current and potential customers through a strong social media presence. By making customers feel like they are more than just sales and numbers but part of a larger process, companies can create a strong sense of loyalty and create advocates, as seen by Apple, BMW, Starbucks, and more.
Social media is a powerful tool when done right. When it’s not, it can end up having a negative impact on your business. Not sure where to start, how to tell your brand’s story on social media, and all the elements that go along with it? Contact us today to see how we can help.