Building the Business Case for Social Media Marketing
Everyone seems to be raving about the abounding benefits of social media for business, but is it justified? Absolutely.
Social media is neither a fad nor a “young man’s game”. It’s a fundamental part of your customers’ lives and, so, today’s dominant marketing channel. It’s not only where your customers choose to live online, but where your competitors are eagerly snatching up their attention too.
If you’re on the fence about going social, read on. These are the bare-bone facts about social media marketing for business.
What is Social Media Marketing?
Social Media Marketing, SMM, is a branch of digital marketing that uses various social media networks (or platforms) to promote a brand, product, or service.
Like Search Engine Marketing (SEM), SMM comprises organic and paid-for elements to increase business exposure and thus [audience] reach. Beyond branding, SMM is also one of the few marketing channels that enables you to reach potential and existing customers during every stage of their buying journey.
Why Use Social Media For Business?
Social media marketing is an immensely powerful tool, offering heaps of rewards with very little risk.
Audience behaviour has changed
People have shifted their attention from conventional media to online (think Netflix and streaming radio). Of which, social media gets the lion’s share of their attention.
Fish where the fish are
The numbers don’t lie.
- There are some 57 million people in South Africa, and 54% are online, according to the We Are Social and Hootsuite Global Digital Yearbook for 2019¹.
- 21m people in SA are on Facebook, that’s 38% — and counting! That figure was released in Arthur Goldstruck’s 2018 SA social media landscape report².
- LinkedIn, a platform for business professionals, has 6.8m users.
Let’s not forget that some people are on Instagram (IG) but not Facebook, or may hold several social media accounts.
- South African’s spend an average of 8 ½ hours per day online, of which nearly 3 hours is on social media³.
Purchasing habits have changed
These days, as soon as we want to know or buy something, we look online. When it comes to purchasing decisions specifically, we look for reviews. We want to know about other peoples’ experience.
We trust reviews and peer recommendations from 3rd party sources more than brand-generated content. Yes, customer testimonials on your website build credibility (keep that up) but, Google reviews or Facebook recommendations hold far, far, more weight.
It’s what people want
The customers of today and tomorrow (especially) like the idea of having a relationship with their brand of choice. They crave an authentic experience with your company; they want to “know” your brand as if it were a person.
This is the power of building a following. Social media allows you to create a community of followers who actively choose to hear from your brand. When you thought it couldn’t get better, social media proves to be the marketing channel that just keeps giving.
It’s what we want!
When you earn the hearts of your audience, unwavering loyalty follows and two very important things happen.
- Your audience becomes your sales team. Followers will publish sterling reviews, answer prospects’ questions and tell more people about YOUR business.
- Your ambassadors become your defenders. Should your company come under fire for some reason. A troll posts a lousy, unnecessary comment, for example. Your audience will be quick to put that nasty human back in their place. It’s PR perfection.
That’s just the tip of the social media iceberg. Social media marketing is an immensely powerful tool that offers heaps of rewards with very little risk, provided it is properly executed. We’ll cover the benefits of social media marketing and the right way to do SMM in-depth in future posts.