Social Media for Business

Social media for business is no longer optional. It's an essential way to reach your customers, gain valuable insights, and grow your brand. Social media provides immense potential for businesses because consumers habitually log on to it daily and are exposed to companies. It also presents huge challenges for businesses, however, because it’s an ever-changing space that is extremely noisy and crowded.

It can be difficult to keep up with evolving trends on social media, so B2B reviews and ratings firm Clutch partnered with marketing agency Smart Insights to learn the current state of social media marketing; they surveyed 344 social media marketers from around the world to determine the value of social media, the most engaging content to share, common challenges, and what social media resources businesses are investing in.

 

Essentials of Social Media for Businesses

Social media is a crucial part of your business marketing, but it doesn’t have to be stressful to manage. Take the first step, create a profile, and start engaging with your customers.

As it continues to weave itself into the daily patterns of our lives, more consumers will go to new and upcoming social platforms for purchasing decisions. Those who have a strong social media presence and branding will increase conversion rates, while those without active social media campaigns could lose potential customers. Which company do you want to be?

If you’re still not convinced, here are six things you can try out yourself to realize that social media is a wise business move.

1. Get Attention and Build Awareness. If people don’t know about your business, they can’t become your customers. Social media boosts your visibility among potential customers, letting you reach a wide audience by using a large amount of time and effort. And it’s free to create a business profile on all the major social networks, so you have nothing to lose.

Here’s a fact: social media content gets attention.

However, it’s really easy for a consumer to become overwhelmed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms filled with noise from companies trying to promote their brands. How can a company create relevant content in such a crowded space?

“These content types are effective in getting cut-through in newsfeeds, so it’s important to not only use them, but to invest in them so the quality is there,” Smart Insights CEO Dave Chaffey said.

This is where original content intersects with quality design. Between GIFs, memes, Facebook Live and more, a content strategy has to be carefully thought-out and executed. What message do your customers want to see, how are they going to identify with your brand, and what will get them to click on your post or comment on it to garner a conversation?

Define what you want to get out of social media to develop a social media strategy for brand awareness. Do you want new customers to discover your services? Do you hope to bring more local shoppers into your stores? By keeping your strategy specific, you can determine which social media channels are the best fit for your business.

2. Communicate Authority. Customers are increasingly savvier and more discerning about which businesses they support. Before making a decision, they’ll do a quick search to browse your website and social media.

Will they find an empty storefront or a rich source of information? Setting up robust profiles that you update frequently with relevant content will build your brand’s authority and make sure you make a positive first impression through social media, showing that your business is trustworthy, knowledgeable, and approachable.

Look for ways to demonstrate your expertise as a thought leader in your industry—like writing pieces related to your expertise or expanding on your company’s mission. By showing what your business offers and values, you will establish confidence in potential customers.

3. Show Authenticity. Customers aren’t interested in businesses that publish dry, corporate-style social media posts.

Instead, let your brand’s personality shine through in everything you share on social media. What does your brand voice sound like? How does it represent who you are? While brands need to be polite and empathetic to their audiences, it is more important to find a voice and take a stand.

Practice getting your tone just right, whether it’s casual and funny or formal and friendly. Be true to who you are, not who you think you should be. Followers want to see real people behind your social profiles. Show them.

4. Encourage Engagement. Sometimes, a seemingly simple social media post, such as one promoting a pair of shoes, can receive several likes, comments, and shares. People can even ask strangers in the feed if they have received their shoes, how long the shipping took, if they liked them, and other questions.

Social media opens the conversation for instant interaction, relationship building, and customer loyalty.

“It’s really important that companies have the right organizational structure to support social media,” said Josh Krakauer, founder and CEO of Sculpt. “A customer support team and a product development team tends to be extremely effective.”

Social channels evolve, constantly releasing new features, and this rapidly changing environment can be intimidating for some business owners.

But remember: you don’t have to do everything. Play with new ways to connect with your audience, and give yourself permission to learn as you go. One day, you could post a series of Instagram Stories to give customers a behind-the-scenes tour of your office. The next, you could host a quick Q&A session via Facebook Live video streaming. Over time, you’ll get a better idea of your followers’ preferences.

You can create engaging video content for social media with a simple setup—good lighting, a smartphone, and a tripod. Also, do a test run before you go live to make sure your internet connection or hotspot has enough speed to avoid delays and interruptions?

5. Grow Affordably. Yes, social media isn’t a place to be overly salesy, but after all, it’s a marketing channel and you need not ignore the opportunity to make sales, should it present itself. Sponsored info on timelines, videos with CTAs, cross-channel retargeting and shoppable posts are the mainstay of social media.

Marketing costs add up, and not every business can afford huge campaigns. But you can get a lot of value for your dollar with social media advertising. Your business, regardless of size or budget, has an opportunity to grow your audience and reach your objectives through ads on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Even if platforms such as Instagram are primarily geared towards engagement, there are established ways to increase sales on them.

Most businesses are data-driven, but social media isn’t a set-in-stone science. For example, you can scroll by an ad that has a picture of a huge scoop of melting chocolate ice cream topped with a mound of whipped cream. You may not think twice about it, but three days later, you may stop by Baskin-Robbins because you were craving a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Social media can contribute to the buyer’s decision-making process like that.

“Social media, unlike other kinds of advertising, can be notoriously difficult to track,” said Steve Pearson, CEO of Friendemic. “Most consumers say it takes many touch points in their customer journey before a purchase. A lot of those are undoubtedly on social media and online review sites, but customers aren’t necessarily citing those when they walk into a business as the last touchpoint that brought them in today.”

When building an ad campaign, know who you’re trying to reach and what goal you want to achieve so you don’t waste any of your budget on unhelpful advertising. Avoid overly salesy ads, and opt for content that educates or entertains (or does both at the same time).

6. Provide Support. Social platforms have successfully broken down barriers between companies and their customers. Now, instead of calling a customer service line, many people turn to Facebook or Twitter to solve problems or find information.

Develop your reputation as a responsive, caring brand by offering support through social channels:

• Create a system for tracking customer comments, questions, and complaints on social media.
• Respond as quickly as possible to questions and concerns.
• Go out of your way to be positive and helpful.
• Listen to criticism and make customers feel heard.
• Know when to resolve public conversations in private messages.

 

Benefits of Social Media for Brand Building

Social media is a massive lead generation, branding, etc. for any business or company. Without it, a lot of companies are missing out on the bigger picture and what’s still to come! Great points in this post, and great job!

1. Increase brand awareness. With nearly half of the world’s population using social media platforms, they’re a natural place to reach new and highly targeted potential customers.

Think people only connect with brands they already know on social media? Consider that 60 percent of Instagram users say they discover new products on the platform.

When Absolut Vodka ran an Instagram campaign to promote its limited edition Spark bottle, the company achieved a five-point lift in brand awareness.

2. Humanize your brand. A UK study from Trinity Mirror Solutions found that more than half of adults do not trust a brand until they see “real-world proof” that the brand is keeping its promises.

To connect with customers—and potential customers—you’ve got to show the human side of your brand. How are you embracing your brand values? (Do you even have brand values?) How are you looking out for the best interests of your customers and employees? Does your product really work?

The ability to create real human connection is one of the key benefits of social media for business. We call these Meaningful Relationship Moments. Introduce your followers to the people who make up your company and showcase how existing customers are using and benefiting from your products.

A social media advocacy program can be a great way to humanize your brand.

3. Establish your brand as a thought leader. No matter what industry your business is in, social media offers the opportunity to establish your brand as a thought leader—the go-to source for information on topics related to your niche.

Like brand advocacy, thought leadership is a great way to build consumer trust. In fact, LinkedIn research in partnership with Edelman shows that marketers underestimate just how much thought leadership can impact trust, especially for B2B marketers. About half of B2B marketers surveyed believed their thought leadership would build trust in their companies. However, more than 80 percent of buyers said thought leadership builds trust.

4. Stay top of mind. Most social media users log into their accounts at least once per day, according to Pew Research Center, and many people are checking social multiple times per day.

Social media gives you to the opportunity to connect with fans and followers every time they log in. Keep your social posts entertaining and informative, and your followers will be glad to see your new content in their feeds, keeping you top of mind so you’re their first stop when they’re ready to make a purchase.

5. Increase website traffic. Social media posts and ads are key ways to drive traffic to your website. Sharing great content from your blog or website to your social channels is a great way to get readers as soon as you publish a new post

Offer great value in the chat, rather than being too promotional. Just make sure your website address is included in all of your social media profiles so that people who want to learn more about you can do so with one easy click. Even better, use a pinned post to highlight a landing page on your website that’s relevant to the chat.

6. Generate leads. Social media offers an easy and low-commitment way for potential customers to express interest in your business and your products. Lead generation is such an important benefit of social media for business that many social networks offer advertising formats specifically designed to collect leads.

For example, Renault Europe used Facebook lead ads that allowed people interested in learning more about a new model to book a test drive directly from Facebook, with just a couple of taps.

7. Boost sales. No matter what you sell, social media can help you sell it. Your social accounts are a critical part of your sales funnel—the process through which a new contact becomes a customer.

As the number of people using social media continues to grow and social sales tools evolve, social networks will become increasingly important for product search and ecommerce. The time is right to align your social marketing and sales goals.

For individual sales professionals, social selling is already a critical tool.

8. Partner with influencers. Word of mouth drives 20 to 50 percent of purchasing decisions. When you get people talking about your product or company on social media, you build brand awareness and credibility, and set yourself up for more sales.

One key way to drive social word of mouth is to partner with influencers—people who have a large following on social media and can draw the attention of that following to your brand.

Research from Nielsen, Carat, and YouTube shows that collaborating with an influencer can give your brand four times more lift in brand familiarity than collaborating with a celebrity.

9. Promote content. Promoting your content on social channels is a great way to get your smart, well-researched content in front of new people, proving your expertise and growing your audience.

For example, Adobe used LinkedIn Sponsored Content to showcase its research, including info graphics and videos.

Marketing decisions-makers exposed to Adobe’s promoted content were 50 percent more likely to view Adobe as shaping the future of digital marketing and 79 percent more likely to agree that Adobe could help them optimize media spend.

To maximize the social media for business benefits, make sure to have a content marketing plan in place.

10. Go viral. As people start liking, commenting on, and sharing your social posts, your content is exposed to new audiences—their friends and followers. Going viral takes this concept one step further. As people share your content with their networks, and their networks follow suit, your content spreads across the internet, getting thousands or even millions of shares.

This exposure is especially beneficial because all those shares, likes, and comments show an existing connection with your brand. If I see that my friend likes your article, I may be inclined to check out what you have to say, even if I’ve never heard of your company before. In a world where there is far more content than any one person could ever consume, a friend’s social share acts as a kind of pre-screening.

Going viral is no easy task, of course, but without social media it would be next to impossible.

11. Source content. There are two key ways businesses can source content on social media:

1. Source ideas: Ask your followers what they want, or engage in social listening, to come up with ideas for content you can create yourself. Put simply: Give people what they’re asking for. It’s a sure way to create content that people will want to read and share.
2. Source material for posts: Create a contest or use a hashtag to source user-generated content (UGC) you can share. Getting your followers involved can build excitement about your brand while also providing you with a library of social posts to share over time.

 

Using Business and Social Networks for Marketing

As a part of advertising campaign or marketing program, every business will need to use Social Media channels to connect with the market, the prospective Customer as well as the ‘Already’ Customer. If you are interested in building a brand and an image for your product as well as for your Organization or business, you have no option but to be present on the Social Media. Social Media consists of various channels and platforms grouped under Social Networks, Social Content and Social Interactions.

We are focusing on Social Networks including the Personal Social Networks as well as Professional/Business Networks and White Label Networks. Social Networks provide a huge opportunity for an Organization to connect with a community that is interested in the line of business or the product that the Organization is talking about build an online reputation in the long run.

Organizations have found it very profitable to participate and build Social Networks not only with the outside community but within the organization including all the employees. By encouraging, listening and participating in discussions with the employee community, the Organization is able to promote a non-formal platform that encourages the employees to speak up about their views, problems. Important feedback on what the employees think of a particular product, policy or the Company can be gathered easily on such social networks. These networks help the Organizations to search for and recruit good talent as well as nurture smart talent too. Internal Social Networks help the Organization feel the pulse of the employees, build and promote an open culture and enhance the feeling of togetherness too. On the marketing front, it helps the Organization announce its future plans for product development, invite productive and creative feedback and assessment as well as build internal loyalty too.

Apart from using Personal Social Networks as well as the Internal Social Networks, one can benefit largely from using professional Social Networks too. Sites like LinkedIn, Face Book and Jigsaw etc., prove to be a huge mine of data and information on various contacts, specific interest groups, communities of experts etc. Marketers have realized the potential that exists in these business social networks and the community of professionals and have developed successful strategy to engage them for productive purposes. Most of the leading brands and companies have developed strategies of introducing discussions around a new product that they are planning to develop and release and thus build a community of people interested in the said product. By cultivating an online community, they are able to create a buzz around the product and such publicity helps in its actual product launch. In many cases, the Organizations are able to engage with the community of experts on productive discussions regarding the product and thus obtain useful feedback, suggestions and solutions that help with product development. Market research and market feedback can be generated with the help of online communities.

Social Networks, both individual networks as well as professional networks provide the best opportunities for the Organizations to be in continuous touch with its audience and more importantly engage with them on an interactive basis. How far and how much you can get out of these platforms depends upon the how much you can engage consistently and persistently as well as invest time and effort in engaging your customers.

References

https://marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/why-social-media-is-important-for-business-marketing/

https://buffer.com/social-media-marketing

https://youtu.be/9M0Oa7miOoU

https://youtu.be/-tdFvJLw2UQ