Social media is a normal part of everyday life for most consumers today. It is hard to find someone who is not active on at least one of the major social networks. However, there are still many business owners who dismiss social media as being a waste of time. The way that brands interact with social media is very different to the way that consumers use such services. Proper use of social media can be incredibly beneficial for your business.
Consumers are the Best Influencers
When a consumer is looking for a product or a service provider, they will usually turn to other consumers for advice. Someone who wants to find a great restaurant in Sussex is more likely to ask their friends for a recommendation than they are to purchase a guidebook for the area. New products are frequently discovered through word of mouth, and social media is the most powerful form of word of mouth there is in terms of the reach of individual messages.
Get Instant Feedback
One of the best things about social media marketing for businesses is that it is a two-way form of communication. Instead of having to rely solely on standard market research methods, you can get a constant flow of instant feedback about all of your business decisions. If you launch a new product, you will find out immediately whether your customers like it. If you offend someone with a poorly targeted marketing campaign, you will find out straight away. This gives you the opportunity to respond to problems and take advantage of goodwill in a way that companies without a social media presence simply cannot do.
A Superior ROI
If paid search is your primary way of reaching web users, you may be wondering how you can justify running a social media campaign when the reach and performance of such a campaign is harder to predict. Paid search is easier to analyse and understand. Your ad is displayed and if it is clicked on, you pay for it, and you can feel confident that a certain percentage of those clicks will convert into customers. Social media is more fluid, and it is harder to measure the impact of each campaign.
There are a lot of powerful analytical tools available for social media marketers, and you can use those tools to profile your customers and calculate the reach and ROI of your social media campaigns. Once you establish your social media presence, you should find that your campaigns perform incredibly well, cost less than paid search and offer a better ROI. You will also get a sustainable source of traffic to your website, goodwill from your customers and two-way communication.