Over the last two years, social media’s role in marketing has significantly grown. As more consumers turned to online transactions and social media users ballooned to over 4.5 billion, marketers have found that social media is now the leading means to attract, retain, and convert consumers. As of 2021, 30% of all internet ad revenue was even allocated to social media networks.
Although we’re still just in the early stages of the year, social media’s growth and popularity show no signs of waning. Considering that Data Reportal’s social media research shows that 13 new users sign up online every second, social media’s clout and influence will only continue to grow. Even as businesses and companies try to re-direct consumer traffic back to brick-and-mortar stores, here’s why marketers should still focus on social media:
Massive Daily Traffic
No other platform offers the same level of traffic that social media does. With a massive user base around the world, social media never sleeps. This means that at any given time, millions of people may be stumbling onto your social media profile. In fact, as shared in a previous article called “Advertising on Social Media”, social media sites can have up to 1 billion active users who each spend an hour on the platform daily. For marketers, this traffic can be used to create conversions. What’s more, this traffic can also be optimized by using the platform’s built-in marketing tools like Facebook ads and Twitter Promote. This helps more users within your target market to discover you, thereby adding fuel to your digital and traditional campaigns.
Builds Brand Awareness
Recent data shows that 71% of consumers are more likely to transact with brands they recognize. This is why improving brand awareness and recognition is a top marketing goal. Through social media, this goal can be met faster as research from Sprout Social reveals that 43% of consumers use social media to discover new brands. Thus, by joining these platforms you’re more likely to connect with people who are open to learning more about you. On top of this, because social media algorithms can introduce you to new audiences, you can also organically connect with users who would otherwise not find you. Because of social media sites’ different content types (stories, reels, carousel posts, etc.), marketers can even create more specific awareness around topics like products, promotions, and thought leadership. Over time, the more recognizable your brand is, the more top-of-mind it is.
Creates a Community
Social media is designed to be a more casual and emotion-driven platform. Hence, it’s easier to foster a mutually beneficial community between brands and consumers. Recently, surveys have even shown that 78% of consumers want brands to connect with them online. There are many ways to create this relationship online, but one easy way to do this is to create a positive feedback loop. On social media, where criticism and negativity are rampant, one effective way to begin this is by simply showing your gratitude. As explained in LHH’s article on ‘The Power of Thank You’, whether you are saying thank you to consumers or paying it forward by acknowledging peers, saying thank you on social media is appreciated by all. This helps you forge an uplifting community of which you’re the center. With this in place, consumers will see your brand as a trusted brand that they can feel safe and acknowledged with.
Empowers Social Listening
Aside from providing you with a venue to share content, social media also has the advantage of giving data-backed insights. Unlike traditional marketing efforts which require a separate post-mortem or consumer reception follow-up, social media provides this within a few moments. Called social listening, social media can gather consumer data that illuminates their preferences and pain points. This information can be gathered through the various ways that a consumer can react to you online. For instance, Forbes shares that 16% of consumers are willing to write an online review. With social listening, this review is further analyzed so that it can help you pivot your efforts accordingly. When implemented regularly, social listening keeps your brand agile and proactive to consumer trends.
Conclusion
Although social media is not an easy platform to perfect and it can turn against you in a moment, its benefits greatly outweigh its cons. Relatively inexpensive to penetrate, flexible with content, and a direct line to consumers, social media is a tool that will continue to shape—and improve—marketing efforts until the foreseeable future.
