So what exactly sets social media marketing apart from conventional methods? And how can business leaders properly take advantage of their numerous options?
Why Market with Social Media
High Usage
As previously mentioned, the usage of social media is increasing at a staggering pace. According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of Americans currently use some type of social media. Social media’s exponential growth has emerged as the hallmark of this generation, especially when comparing this usage rate to the 5% reported in 2005. Furthermore, the young adult demographic (18-29) dominates social media usage, with a reported 90% usage rate as recently as February 2019.
Broadcasting brand awareness to such a wide audience presents the most obvious benefit of adding social media to your business’ marketing strategy. Moreover, as older demographics continue to adopt social media, the return on your investment increases. In 2021, Facebook alone boasted an advertising audience of 190,000,000 in the United States and reported an approximate 25% increase in advertising reach within the 65+ demographic. Even as a relatively new social media platform, TikTok reported 56 million app installs worldwide in 2020.
The global scale of social media makes it an invaluable tool in gaining exposure for your business’ brand. Simply put, more eyes on your business’ products and services results in more growth. As the effectiveness of television, radio, and print ads begin to wane, businesses should look to expand their online presence and grow their customer base.
Low Required Budget
In Los Angeles, CA, the average cost of a billboard can range from $1,000-$10,000 per month. To advertise on the radio, companies can expect to spend between $200-$5,000 per week. On the other hand, it costs zero dollars to create accounts on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Money may have to be spent on recording equipment and editing software for video ads, but it is definitely not an absolute requirement. This rings especially true in the case of TikTok, where videos are typically shot and edited all within the app. With all things considered, social media has made it far more financially accessible to market products and services to a wide audience. Consequently, this newly created even playing field increases the number of competitors within any given market. So as we will discuss later, attention to the type of content produced and the cadence of posting creates important distinctions between the marketing efforts of different businesses.
Builds Relationships with Customers
Building connections through social media gives business leaders a major advantage in their marketing efforts through direct interactions with current and prospective customers.
A 2018 case study has suggested that the capability to create direct dialogues and network with customers is a key factor in customer retention. According to the results of this study, media richness and self-presentation influence customer retention more than any other aspect of social media marketing.
The media richness theory provides criteria for the effectiveness of a given form of communication. These criteria include the ability to: personalize messages, respond quickly, convey multiple messages, and incorporate different kinds of data. The ease of meeting these criteria through social media ensures that customers receive clear and relevant information.
Enhancing self-presentation to benefit customer retention involves creating a brand image that customers perceive as compatible with their own. When customers have the ability to see themselves in a brand, emotional connections are created, which improves customer loyalty. To create an effective brand personality, companies must research their target groups, which is easy once connections are formed over social media.
Building connections with customers also presents opportunities to learn more about their preferences and dislikes. Businesses view market research as invaluable, which can be seen by the $76.4 billion revenue figure reported by the market research industry in 2021. Gathering customer information persists as an essential part of maintaining and attaining market share. Business decisions that are tone-deaf to customer concerns invariably end in failure, as can be seen in the case of Blockbuster and Sears.
Adapting products and services to customer feedback definitely ensures a higher rate of customer retention. Furthermore, addressing any complaints or concerns early on will surely avoid future conflict. A responsive social media team can have a significant impact on disgruntled customers and their odds of switching to a competitor. Prospective customers will see a business’ consistent social media presence and sensitivity to their current customers’ concerns as an encouraging sign that may result in a purchase.
Learn About Competitors
Competitive analysis via social media effectively identifies marketing strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth. When properly executed, this analysis determines competitors and the social platforms that they use, as well as helpful benchmarks for marketing goals. Evaluating competitors and their interactions with customers over social media can yield valuable data on your target audience’s preferences and dislikes. Reviewing popular content posted by competitors allows companies to pinpoint strategies and talking points that should be implemented in their own approach.
Conversely, marketing teams should also be seeking out common customer pain points for opportunities to build an advantage over competitors. Pain points are defined as a specific problem that customers are experiencing in the marketplace. In other words, pain points present themselves as common inconveniences and unmet needs waiting to be satisfied. Common examples of customer pain points include unresponsive and unskilled support, prohibitive contract terms, and inconsistent service performance. All of these customer complaints should be noted as opportunities for businesses to improve customer retention and increase the likelihood that prospective customers choose their product or service.
Cultivate Thought Leadership
Thought leadership is defined as the expression of ideas that indicates expertise in a particular field. But establishing thought leadership involves more than just expertise; thought leaders must have a passionate desire to share their knowledge. So how does cultivating thought leadership apply to a business’ marketing strategy?
Recognition as a thought leader in a particular field on the level of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk may not be a pragmatic goal for many small businesses, but marketing teams should always strive to boost industry presence and credibility. Producing high-quality social media content to establish a business as a trusted figure in the industry enhances customer perception of that business. As previously mentioned, the perception of a brand significantly influences customer loyalty.
For businesses to build credibility in their field, they need to clearly define what their area of specialty is. Delivering focused, in-depth content produces better results in establishing expertise than releasing a wide variety of content. Furthermore, businesses must stay up-to-date with events in their industry. This applies especially to fast-moving industries such as telecommunications and information technology. Maintaining connections within the industry ensures that leaders are in a good position to learn from others and contribute to their community.
Proper Social Media Usage
Now that we have established the importance of social media within the framework of a marketing strategy, we need to discuss the most efficient ways to maximize results.
Platform Differences
Just like how different jobs require different tools, different messages require different platforms.
Video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok should be used for creating video tutorials or for simply entertaining and connecting with followers. These platforms also facilitate humanizing the team behind the success of a company. As previously discussed, generating emotional connections with customers significantly affects customer retention. Businesses must also pay attention to the demographics associated with these platforms, specifically TikTok. Around 43% of TikTok users consist of a demographic between the ages of 18 and 24 years old and only 3.4% of users report as older than 55. Obviously, if a business is trying to reach an older demographic, there should definitely be less of a focus marketing through TikTok. Also, business leaders must consider that creating high-quality videos is relatively resource-intensive compared to other forms of content.
Community-based social media platforms such as Facebook provide plenty of opportunities to connect with customers and prospective customers via comments or direct messages. Text and image-based posts comprise the majority of Facebook content, but businesses arguably derive the most value from this platform via directly interacting with customers. Maximize Facebook interactions by being responsive to customer comments and concerns. Additionally, pay attention to customer preferences and dislikes. Engaging in customer interactions to form strong relationships and take advantage of this highly effective way of bolstering brand loyalty. Marketing managers should be conscious of the limited reach of Facebook communities as a downside. Since content will typically only be circulated within a given community, results will be centered around customer retention as opposed to generating new leads.
The 4-1-1 Rule
So now that you have determined the appropriate platforms for your marketing efforts, what kind of content should be delivered?
The “4-1-1 Rule” outlines a general guideline for the type of content that should be posted to maximize audience engagement. Out of every six posts, four should entertain or educate, one should be a “soft sell”, and one should be a “hard sell”. It should be noted that not all four educational/entertainment posts need to be produced by the business. Insightful articles from other industry leaders or relevant YouTube videos can be included within this category. This type of content is meant to engage an audience and maximize the size of this audience in preparation for more sales-focused content. With that in mind, marketing leaders need to be sure that this content piques the interest of their intended audience. As previously mentioned, a considerable amount of work needs to be done researching the preferences and dislikes of their audience.
Soft sell posts serve as advertisements for a business’ product or service, but there is less pressure to act when compared to hard-selling posts. For example, a company selling sports equipment may post a video compiling sports highlights from the past weekend and plug in a promo code at the end of the video. Selling the product is not presented as the main purpose of the content, but seeds are planted in the viewers’ mind to purchase the product without any pressure. The primary focus of the content should be to benefit the audience but care should be taken to not squander this sales opportunity.
Hard sell posts advertise a product or service with added pressure to make a purchase in the near future. This type of advertising uses a more traditional and direct approach than the types previously mentioned. Obviously, specific scenarios exist in which hard sell posts are most effective. First, hard selling tends to be more successful when marketing low-cost products. Pushing prospective customers to purchase a product in the near future results in more success when the purchase does not require a substantial financial commitment. Second, hard selling becomes much easier when the customer has an immediate need for the product. Urgent situations necessitate quick solutions. This tactic should be used sparingly because of the amount of pressure that is put on prospective customers. Adopting this stance too often may lead customers to perceive businesses as overly pushy and disagreeable.
Conclusion
Obviously, an enormous amount of potential lies in marketing through social media that is often not fully taken advantage of. Currently, advertisements are thoroughly integrated into social media; users log into their social media accounts fully expecting to encounter advertisements without any feeling of annoyance. The ability to create a high number of connections with both prospective and current customers greatly facilitates customer retention and lead generation. Additionally, businesses can observe competitors and capitalize on untapped market share. Businesses that properly take advantage of social media marketing should expect rapid growth at the expense of companies that are slow to react or fearful of change.
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