Whether you’re new to the marketing world or you’ve been at it for a while, you are probably wondering if social media marketing is worth the effort. After all, it started out as quite niche. With the rise and fall of plenty of social media platforms (anyone remember MySpace and Bebo?), you would be forgiven for thinking social media marketing isn’t worth your time. That’s why we’ve cracked down on the 3 most effective ways to utilise social media.
Use social media to boost your brand online
Social media can do a hell of a lot to boost brand awareness. It gets your name out there. When people start acknowledging your online posts, that’s when your social media starts turning into an inbound marketing tool.
In fact, the more creative you are with your online presence, the more your audience starts to engage with your company as its own entity with its own personality. The way you react to negative online responses can turn a customer from disgruntled to loyal in a matter of minutes. The businesses that use this method successfully attract attention, which, in turn, boosts their prospect opportunities. After that, you start to develop trust – the key to good-quality leads and sales.
Promote without promoting
Sure, free online promotions might work for B2C businesses, but they don’t work for B2B. It screams desperation. However, a post here and there that doesn’t directly promote your product, and instead provides useful content, can promote your business just by getting your name heard. With most businesses and consumers online 24/7, being active in front of millions of eyes makes all the difference. Just look at all the social media going ‘live’ – from SnapChat to Facebook’s Live feature. The more up to date you are about your activities as a business, the more you improve customer interaction.
Keep your marketing cost effective.
Social media is free for the most part and it gets your content seen by millions of people every day, all over the world. Whilst it might be difficult at first to get your social media accounts pulling in vast quantities of followers, they can be truly valuable if you put the effort in. Just start with a simple social media calendar and watch which posts your followers interact with most. Putting even a little bit of planned time and effort will mean you’ll be able to capitalise on the platforms and track any potential ROI from them too.
If you start with a focus on these three key points, you’ll soon start to see the benefits. You must remember the more you can connect with Generation Y & Z now on social media, the more likely your business is to stand the test of time in the coming age of new graduates.
Take the test. Find out which social media marketing methods are best for your business.