When you mention social media, the first thing that pops into people’s heads is Facebook, and yes, it is one of the biggest social media portals out there. There are however other social media outlets that people gravitate towards, like Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. They use these for interactions and information about their favorite celebrities, their family, and their friends.
Aside from being a portal for connecting with and keeping track of people you know (and people you don’t know but admire from afar), social media is used for another thing. It is used for marketing. Social media marketing is indeed a thing and is in fact one of the many tools companies use to reel in revenues. Some people however don’t believe in the power of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter when it comes to marketing their business. These individuals still rely on old fashioned ways of marketing their company, even when they have already taken that step into the virtual world with a company website.
Why is social media marketing important to websites and why should this medium be used by everyone who has an online presence? Here are 7 reasons why:
Increased traffic to your site – people nowadays use Facebook and even Twitter and Instagram, to look for companies that may have what they need. This is because they know that almost every business has taken to social media to easily get in touch with their clientele (not to mention easily advertise their company). With a presence on the top 5 social media outlets around, you are sure to get a lot more traffic to your site than if you simply relied on organic search results on Google or Bing.
Increased brand recognition – one of the big reasons why some companies choose to have a Facebook presence first before they actually put together a site is to have people become familiar with their brand beforehand. Advertising on these social media portals allows you to reach millions of users, particularly those who have searched for what you have to offer on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
If they find your brand popping up every time they search for what you are offering, they will easily associate your brand with these products or services. This will help you in two ways. It can cause these individuals to buy from you when they need what you have and it can also cause them to mention you to others when people ask about companies that carry what you sell.
Interaction with your target market – having a social media presence will also put you within reach of your clientele. This will allow you to do more than just advertise to them. This will allow you to answer queries, promote new items, talk about events your company will be holding, and even offer discounts to customers who interact with you. This also allows you to find out more about what your customers want and what they don’t like about your company. This will help you improve your site as well as your business since you will be getting insight from the people that matter, which are your customers.
You don’t get left behind by the competition – whether you like to admit it or not, most if not all of your competition is likely to have a social media presence by now. Being the only one not having a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest account for your business will not only make you look like you come from the Middle Ages, but it will also make your competition earn more and get more attention. You do not want that to happen.
You should ensure that when people mention a specific product or service, you are what they think about, or at the very least, you are in the top five companies that they think about. Social media marketing can do that. If you get left behind by your competitors in terms of recognition and revenues, the lack of a social media presence can be blamed.
You build relationships with your customers – proper handling of a social media presence will result not only in people knowing that you exist but will also result in loyal customers. If you take good care of the people who visit your social media pages, answer their queries in a timely manner, and handle any gripes or issues they may have in a professional and satisfactory way, you will earn their respect and loyalty.
Customer loyalty is hard to come by these days due to the huge number of companies offering similar products and services. When you go the extra mile and give your clients the right answers that they need as well as the attention that is due them, they won’t go elsewhere for what you have to offer.
These are just five of the reasons why you should not neglect to have social media as a tool for your marketing needs. People who have successfully used this marketing avenue can mention a few more, such as lower marketing costs, new ideas for products and services from customers, invitations to promote your brand on other mediums, and even collaborations with other companies that have products or services that complement yours.
