It’s time to take another look at social media. Once we better understand its strengths, we can better put it to work for our businesses.
A Fatal Misunderstanding
Social media is often misunderstood by business leaders looking to minimize costs and maximize exposure. Due to a misunderstanding of just what the true role of social media is in their day-to-day marketing activities and needs, decision makers sometimes discount social media as “hype” or a “fad” that they can’t afford to mess around with. On the other hand, others see social media as a cute-but-non-vital frill that their nephew or perhaps an administrative assistant can manage just to maintain a “presence.”
This is a problem.
Social media presents possibly the largest return on investment ratio of any marketing effort on the market.
I’m going to restate that, because it needs to sink in. Social media typically gives more bang for your buck than anything else you could possibly be spending marketing dollars on. But it will NOT benefit your business much if any if you don’t know what it’s supposed to do. If you’re looking to get oranges from an apple tree, you will be sorely disappointed. But the moment you start looking for apples on that tree, the return will look a whole lot better.
So let’s take a look at what social media truly does best and how it can benefit your business while saving you a TON of money.
Where Social Media Shines
Generating Leads
Social media should not be viewed solely as an advertising platform, yet lead generation is a valid role of social media if done within the framework of a healthy relationship-oriented strategy. Social media gives businesses a place to build relationships, discuss real-world problems, and connect potential leads with the solutions offered by that business. But beware of direct promotion; keep it authentic and organic. As your tribe grows and you open up new conversations, the lead generation will start to accelerate.
Branding
Your business presumably has a narrative or story to tell. Your brand or unique selling points should be communicated in a non-promotional way, so as to not turn off today’s marketing-savvy consumers. Social media is the perfect place to share relevant content and stories that endear your target audience to your business and help them understand just what you have to offer in the marketplace of ideas and solutions. There are numerous PR applications for social media! On social media, you can monitor your brand health and reputation, provide helpful responses to negative feedback, spotlight positive feedback, and differentiate your business from the competition.
Growing a Fan Base
Spending thousands of dollars on billboards or print ads may bring in some leads, but it will not build a lasting network of fans like a vibrant social media strategy. Hanging out with your leads and target audience on a regular basis, listening to them and responding to them, is the surest way to create a tribe or repeat customers loyal to your brand and solutions.
Advertising
Let’s be clear on this one. When it comes to social media, put the social before the media. Do NOT view social media as a broadcast platform for advertising campaigns. If you do not have an inviting and helpful atmosphere on your pages, it doesn’t matter how much money you spend on social media ads – you will not get what you’re looking for. But if you have invested a little time and money into creating this atmosphere, you will find social media advertising is by far the least expensive and most productive. Targeted social media ads can pinpoint the specific people who need your product or service and engage them in extremely powerful ways.
Customer Service
People don’t do business with companies. They do business with people. And the best way to show them the human element of your business is by interacting with them quickly and in a personalized way on social media. JD Power and Associates found that over two-thirds of customers have used social media for customer service. Investing in real-time responses on social media will guarantee brand loyalty and positive sentiment.
Driving Traffic
Need more website traffic? Start giving people a reason to come to your website by investing in content creation. Content marketing is the name of the game these days, and a regular blog, podcast, etc. will go a long way. But how better to help others find this useful content than to go find conversations related to this content and insert your information where it’s most needed? Social media allows you to create and nurture an audience hungry for the content you create and eager to follow your links back to your website where they will subscribe to your email list and even do business with you. Why? Because they know and trust you.
Now that you better understand what social media can do to impact your bottom line, it’s time to stop just “having a presence” on social media, and instead, start building actual business! Stop thinking of social media as free but useless, and start thinking of it as inexpensive and powerful. Develop a vibrant social media strategy that incorporates all these strengths to maximize the value of social media for your business.
Let us know in the comments below which of these social media strengths you’re most interested in!
