Why Social Media Marketing is Vital For Every Business

No matter your industry, the benefits of social media marketing (SMM) are something that your business can’t afford to pass up. With the right mix of content, social platforms, and some strategy to back it up, your business can start to reap benefits that you may have never even considered. A good social media marketing plan can make a world of difference for any business.

Some businesses tend to shy away from marketing on social media due to their industry, time constraints, lack of interest, or any other number of factors. However, in today's digital landscape, failing to incorporate a social media marketing strategy into your overall business strategy can be a costly mistake. 

What is Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

Most simply put, social media marketing is the use of social media platforms to help achieve the marketing and branding goals of your business. The specifics of social media marketing can vary widely from platform to platform in terms of both content types and marketing goals. 

The first step in any social media marketing strategy is deciding what social media platforms to focus your strategy on. Video marketing on YouTube? Polls on Instagram stories to promote audience engagement? Ads/boosted posts on Facebook? Some platforms work better for one industry than another but every business can benefit from being active on at least one social platform. Social media is an extremely valuable marketing channel that overcomes the boundaries of demographics, location, and limited marketing budgets.

What Are The Benefits of Social Media Marketing?

We could cover the vast range of social media marketing benefits in detail and still not cover all of the reasons why your business should be using social media. However, a few key benefits stick out as the most important reasons why your business should be using social media marketing. 

The Numbers Don't Lie

If your business is relying solely on a website for your marketing strategy, you’re missing out on some serious potential business. According to the University of Maine:

• 93.33% of internet users are on social media
• 72.3% of the total US population actively use social media (over 240 million people)
• Globally, the average time a person spends on social media a day is 2 hours and 24 minutes
• The average social media user engages with an average of 6.6 various social media platforms
• 33% of internet users would rather contact a brand via social media than call them. (OptinMonster)

If you’re not using at least one social media platform, you’re missing out on millions of potential customers every single day.

Your Competition is Doing It

If you think social media marketing isn't the right fit for your industry or wonder if social media marketing can really help your business, you may be surprised. 

• 93.79% of businesses use social media (combined data collected from Statista, Entrepreneur, NealChaffer, Truelist, and Adweek)
• 80% of business executives think it’s very important or essential to invest additional resources in social media marketing (Sprout Social)
• 91% of executives will increase social media marketing budgets in the next 3 years (Sprout Social)
• 72% of companies use social media data to inform business decisions (Sprout Social)
• 52% of social media marketers believe social media positively influences their company’s revenue and sales (Marketing Insider Group)

If you’re not taking advantage of social media for your business, odds are, you’re falling behind the competition. The above statistics are projected to increase in the years to come, so now is a great time to hop on the social media marketing bandwagon, before you fall too far behind.

The Most Cost-Effective Mass Marketing

Imagine how much time and money it would cost your business to reach the 240 million people in the United States who use social media through cold calling, word of mouth, paid advertising (SEM), etc. With social media, you have the potential to reach thousands of new consumers in a single post without spending a dime. Once you’ve caught consumers' eyes on social media, you’ve achieved a whole new lead-generation tool (for free)!

Enhanced Lead Generation

No matter the type of product or service that your business is advertising, social media marketing provides tons of unique opportunities for lead generation. 

• Sales and appointments booked directly through your social media profile
• A new traffic channel to your website to help increase website traffic 
• Another opportunity for consumers to get in contact with you 
• Boost word of mouth by users following/liking your profile and sharing or interacting with posts so their friends can see 
• Attracting new applicants and collecting more applications during hiring efforts 
• And so much more

Build Brand Awareness

Consumers are more likely to buy a product or service from a brand they recognize. The marketing rule of 7 asserts that a potential consumer needs to hear/see your message at least seven times before they’ll take action. Social media helps get your brand's message in front of consumers faster, easier, and more frequently in the most cost-effective manner.

Increase Customer Retention/Repeat Customers

Once a consumer has purchased a product or service from you, they are more likely to follow your social media account, sign up for a newsletter/email list, or visit your website more often. By keeping your business in front of consumers on a regular basis, they are more likely to make another purchase from your business. This is especially true when part of your social media strategy includes promoting deals/sales/promotions, or you have some form of loyalty/rewards program. 

Get More Consumer Engagement <-> Get More Target Demographic Data

Websites typically offer limited opportunities for consumers to engage with your brand with engagement typically being limited to filling out contact forms, leaving a review, etc. With social media, users can comment, share, and interact with your content in a more robust way. This can be a great way to get customer feedback and gather demographic data to refine and improve your marketing and overall business strategy. 

Wondering what new clothing item or brand your boutique should start carrying? Put a poll on your Instagram story! Not sure if you’re consumers react better to a graphic or a stock image? Check your Facebook post insights. Want to see what users think about your new service offering? Encourage them to comment their thoughts below. Social media insights can be a great way to see what your consumers do and don’t like, what type of content they engage with the most, and get new ideas for what type of content you should be sharing. Social media engagement and performance metrics can be an extremely valuable (and free!) consumer data analysis tool.

Humanize Your Brand

Consumers like to see the people and message behind a product or service. It creates a connection, shows transparency, and builds trust, which can all help increase sales. If you’re a service provider, post an employee highlight showcasing their experience and interests outside of work. If you sell a product, give consumers a sneak peek into how/where it’s made. If your business supports a charity or gets involved in the community, share that with your audience. 

From a hiring and retention perspective, social media can also provide a massive benefit. Showing off your company culture and what makes your business unique can help attract new talent. Employee spotlights and shoutouts help show your employees that they’re appreciated and important to your business. Putting a face behind the name of your business helps show that you put your consumers and employees first. 

Social Media Marketing Strategy Tips

For social media strategy tips on different social media platforms, be sure to check out our blog How to Optimize Your Social Media!

Why You Should Employ Professional Social Media Marketing Services

Marketing your business on social media may seem simple enough, but the outcomes can be dramatically different when you hire an experienced social media marketing agency. Some of the benefits social media marketing companies provide include:

Time: Creating a strong, detailed, long-term social media marketing plan takes more time than you would think. From competitor and market research to post drafting and graphic creation to scheduling out social media schedules, SMM can take a lot of time. Not to mention the additional time needed to monitor and analyze performance to refine and adjust your ongoing social media marketing strategy. 

Experience: Effective social media marketing takes more than just posting a photo with a caption and a few hashtags. Social media agencies are well-versed in the structure and formatting of social posts, what makes a social post effective, and what to look for in terms of analytics and overall strategic goals. 

Social Media Advertising: Social media ads can be a great option for paid advertising. However, setting the right budget, ad settings, and more takes knowledge and experience. You can get more for your money when you hire a social media advertising expert to manage your social media advertisements.

Tie Into Other Digital Marketing Services: Social media marketing experts at digital marketing agencies understand how SMM ties into the bigger digital marketing picture. Knowing how social media marketing plans tie into ongoing SEO and paid advertisement efforts can make your overall digital marketing strategy more effective and affordable. 

Make Your Social Media Marketing Go Viral

From one-time social media profile optimizations and recommendations to monthly social media schedule creation and implementation, Global Reach is here to help. See what professional social media marketing services can do for your business!

Get a FREE Social Media Marketing Consultation Today!