You have an awesome blog for your company, you work tirelessly to dream up new products and services, and you do your best to offer competitive prices. But you're just not seeing the level of growth you need to stay afloat.
So, what's the problem?
For many, it's a gross underestimation of the importance of social media marketing.
But why is social media marketing something you can't afford to ignore? And what steps should you take now to strengthen your social media presence and content?
Keep on reading this post to find out.
Especially in today's market, consumers of all kinds are much more interested in a brand's transparency.
In fact, 73% of people say that having a sense of trust in a brand is more important to them than the price of the products or services they sell. This is a huge part of why social media marketing is absolutely essential: because today's marketing starts with trust, and you can offer your market an insider's look at your company on social media.
For example, you could do a live tour of your office or factory. You could host a Q&A session where you speak off the cuff. You can upload pictures of your products, your employees, and even your customers.
You can also feature and respond to online reviews your clients leave on social media pages. It's all about interacting with your customer base directly as much as possible.
Over 70% of shoppers say that they're much more likely to recommend a brand to friends and family members if they have a positive experience with that brand on social media.
Additionally, remember that today's consumers also see social media as an extension of your customer service. Over 60% of consumers say that they've used a brand's social media accounts to get questions answered or to resolve an issue with an order.
So, the importance of social media isn't just about marketing alone. It's also about being there for your customers and establishing a sense of transparency and trust.
One of the most convincing reasons for why you should start using social media as a marketing tool? Because it offers an incredibly competitive ROI.
First of all, it costs you nothing to upload a picture of a new product or a video tutorial showing how to use it on your social media accounts. But you'll get tons of likes, comments, and even in-app purchases from that free effort.
Even if you do use paid advertising on social media, you'll still see a staggering return on that investment. Perhaps that's because about 74% of shoppers say that social media has a direct impact on what they decide to purchase.
The most lucrative aspect of social media marketing when it comes to your profits, however, happens when customers share your posts to their own accounts.
This is an amazing way to expand to new markets, increase your website ranking in search engine results, and to stretch the ROI of a single post even further.
Finally, check out this post for tips on how to measure the exact ROI of your social media marketing efforts.
We think the numbers will show you exactly why social media is important for business success.
Another reason why you shouldn't underestimate the importance of social media marketing?
Because it's an incredible way to generate buzz about not just your brand as a whole, but also about new products and services you're planning to launch.
You can use Instagram to drop 5-second long videos that hint at a new release. You can work with influencers -- people with huge followings on social media in your industry -- to promote your brand.
You can hire freelancers to create social media content that commands attention.
You can use Facebook Livestream to invite all of your followers to tune into a live product launch at a convention thousands of miles away.
People won't just get excited about your products and feel that they're a part of something exclusive.
They'll also learn to recognize your branding when they see it elsewhere online and in the "real world."
Perhaps the most valuable aspect of social media marketing is that it teaches you invaluable lessons -- both in data trends and in individual, personal interactions -- about the way your market behaves online.
You'll learn more about their demographics, the kinds of ads they're the most likely to respond to, and even when they're most likely to interact with your website or social media accounts.
This way, you can tailor all of your future marketing campaigns accordingly.
Finally, using social media as a marketing tool allows you to reconnect with customers that visited your website or social media page, put something in their carts, and then never actually completed the purchase.
Even if they just clicked on a particular product or service page, you can ensure that those links show up in their social media feeds again, urging them to give your brand a second look.
This is known as remarketing, and it's an ideal way to capture leads that, in the past, would have been lost forever.
We hope this post has helped you to better understand the importance of social media marketing.
It's not just about increasing your conversions and building your brand recognition -- though that's a key benefit, too. It's also about instilling a sense of trust in your market and forming a loyal client base.
Of course, we know that you don't always have the time or the skillset to handle social media marketing on your own.
That's where we can help.
Check out our marketplace to connect with some of the top social media marketing and SEO experts, and start creating an even bigger presence online.
