What is Social Media Marketing?
That’s a good thing… because you need it if you’re serious about connecting with local consumers – who happen to spend a great deal of time online.
“Social Media” is one of the most popular online platform models today.
Everyone is using it including women, men, and children of all ages. Most importantly, your customers are using Social media as well and they expect that your business is in the social loop too.
Social media can be described as information content that is created using new technologies with an aim to facilitate influence, communication, and interaction with the world; including friends, family, peers and customers.
Social Media Marketing is the practice of using social media platforms to market to your target audience. Just to clarify, social media is not meant to be used as a spamming mechanism. In fact, it’s the complete opposite.
Building a loyal customer base using social media requires that your business engages with its audience to foster a long-term relationship that will produce ultimate results with having to spend a lot of money.
In other words, social media is the “new age” way that people can interact with their favorite businesses without feeling like their being “sold.”
Through social media, your business can provide your target market with valuable information on a consistent basis. While promotional offers should be limited, an occasional promotion using social media works extremely well.
Still don’t think social media is effective for business marketing? Take a look at some of these numbers about Facebook, which is currently the largest and most popular Social Media site.
- Facebook has approximately 800+ million users
- Approximately 50% of Facebook users will log on every single day
- The average Facebook user will have a minimum of 130 friends and will like about 80 pages
- On average, 3.5 billion content pieces are shared via Facebook
- Approximately 77% of consumers have admitted that they interact with businesses on Facebook before purchasing their products
Benefits of Social Media Marketing
- Easily Create Brand Awareness – Since most of your target market is already using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, having a presence on sites such as these is the first step towards engaging with them while silently building your brand at the same time.
- Ability to “Soft-Sell” Your Products and Services – Social media is all about “socializing;” so when it comes to “selling,” your approach has to be different than traditional methods. Instead of hard-selling your audience, make a point to genuinely engage with them, which will establish a trusting relationship. This will ultimately lead to more sales down the road.
- Perfect for Occasional Promotions – Although this should not be your main focus, Social Media is a great way to let your customers and prospects know about a special offer or new product.
- Improved Customer Loyalty, Credibility, and Trust – Once your Social Media followers establish a personal connection with your business through Social Media, their trust in your business will grow, which leads to higher customer retention rates.
- Great Way to Get Customer Feedback – People generally go online to tell the world their opinions about businesses these days. Listen to what your customers are saying on social media networks about your product or service. Then, take that information as an opportunity for you to make improvements.
Getting Started with Social Media Marketing
We are proud to help businesses build their brands via Social Media Marketing. Today, having a loyal online following could do wonders for any company that is looking to connect with local consumers.
If you are ready to learn more about the impact Social Media Marketing can have on your business, contact us today at (413)884-3439 for a free, no-obligation consultation!
