With the advent and boom of the internet, social media is rapidly becoming one of the most powerful marketing tools companies can utilize to reach current and potential customers.
How to Harness the Power of Social Media to Succeed in Business
Most companies opt for a supplemental online presence or entirely scrap brick-and-mortar stores instead of e-stores; no business can afford to stay off the Internet regardless of size or novelty. Almost every business will find its audience, so that is where every business needs to be! Social media is taking charge to make things easier. It essentially involves advertising and publicizing the company’s product or service offerings through the various social media platforms in everyday use today, like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, and other social media networks. This is one of the power of social media to succeed in business.
How social media can make your business successful?
Social media has made it easier to hyper-focus marketing efforts than ever before. Effective social media marketing requires companies to routinely update social media pages using text and image updates, videos, and other forms of content. This means the content created and uploaded to social media pages is explicitly targeted toward social media users who make up a business’s prime audience. Content is the main factor that is instrumental in driving audience engagement.
So what do businesses stand to gain from investing time, efforts, and costs into establishing a social media presence for their brands?
Social Media Boosts Traffic to Company’s Website
Eye-catching content that gets the targeted user hooked is an excellent way of directing users to the company’s website. They are more likely to peruse product catalogues and reach a purchase decision, thereby boosting conversion rates.
Social Media Helps with Lead Generation
Lead generation is arguably one of the most important uses of social media platforms for companies. Because of how well this feature works in assisting companies in analyzing their target audience’s journey from being acquired to being converted and retained, many social networks have begun offering advertising formats specifically designed to collect leads. The purpose is to generate traffic and compel potential customers to become actual customers. An example of such a tool offered by social media platforms is Facebook lead ads.
Social Media Helps with Influencer Marketing
Many companies partner with social media influencers with large followings and marketing efforts. This allows them to reach their target audience through the company’s social media pages and attract new demographics that may become potential and then actual customers of the company.
Social Media Increases Brand Visibility
Visibility is crucial if a business wishes to ensure that it will always be at the forefront of the consumer’s mind regarding recognition and recall situations. Social media platforms have made this feat increasingly cost-effective and straightforward. Businesses can become all the more visible by using hashtags, user-generated or interactive content. For instance, the more a company’s audience interacts with its posts by liking, commenting, sharing, and even saving posts, the more likely the Instagram algorithms will publish the company onto users’ explore pages and feeds.
Social Media Increases Responsiveness
In modern times, one of the strengths that set businesses apart from their competitors is their ability to respond to and adapt to changes in the market quickly. Social media allows companies to have their ears to the ground and stay on top of rapidly changing trends. By being present in online spaces where consumers discuss their perceptions of products and brands, companies can change their offerings as old trends give way to new ones.
Challenges Posed by Social Media Marketing
However, with all its tremendous benefits, social media can pose specific challenges to companies. Firstly, businesses can sometimes post content that is unsuitable and poorly received by their audience. This can result in the company facing severe backlash, ultimately harming the brand’s reputation. Secondly, word of mouth travels faster online than in real life. With millions of messages exchanged over social media each second, news about a company’s poor performance spreads like wildfire.
People want to connect with people, but customers face automated chatbots and standardized FAQ replies. Additionally, long wait times in hearing a response from a company against a customer query often results in customers taking their business to competitors. Finally, many customers may feel that social media is somewhat impersonal. They may interpret this as the company not caring about their concerns.
How Can Companies Keep Up?
The benefits of social media outweigh its costs, so the potential challenges posed by social media marketing should never deter a company from exploring this revolutionary tool. The most crucial consideration a company must consider is its objectives and hopes to achieve by using social media. This provides a clear direction and paves the way for an effective social media strategy. Planning helps businesses proactively prepare for challenges.
Moreover, knowing the market is essential. By understanding the customer and the market, companies can foresee changes in trends and tastes and gain a first-mover advantage in responding to these changes to stay ahead of the competition.
Finally, companies must also learn to adapt to changes and innovations in technology. Doing so can optimize the use of new and improved tools that best serve their purpose of increased traffic and engagement.
Check the following reference articles to learn more about how to harness the power of social media to succeed in business :
- Hickey, D. (2016, April 13). How your business can engage social media savvy customers. SmartCompany. URL
- Owary, R. (2021, May 17). Why should you take your business online? Netizen Me. URL
- Oyza, I. (2015, December 3). Effectiveness of social media networks as a strategic tool for organizational marketing management. Icommercecentral. URL
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