Welcome to the future, self-driving cars are just around the corner, your smart phone is more powerful than the laptop you bought 5 years ago, and to have a successful business, you NEED to be on Social Media.
Whether you have a social media manager on staff or you outsource to an agency, social media marketing is essential to the continued success of any modern business. When you hire a social media expert, you’re hiring someone with a multifaceted skill set that can take your business to new heights by making your marketing more cost-effective, targeted and wide reaching. Digital Marketing IS the future, there is no question about that. Are you taking the right steps to ensure your business doesn’t fall behind?
Here are 12 reasons why every business needs a social media expert:
1. Increase Revenue and Profit with a Social Media Manager
The end goal of any marketing strategy is to increase the amount of money a business is making. Generally the goals will be fairly clear. For restaurants this would mean getting more feet through the door. An Estate agent would need to bring in more leads and inquiries, and a store would need to sell more products to more people. Social media experts are highly skilled at turning followers into customers.
Over 75% of companies that market their products on social media report an increase in sales within 12 months. This is because more and more consumers are influenced by the businesses they follow on social media. According to a study by the ODM Group, 74% of consumers rely on social networks to guide purchase decisions.
2. Build recognition & Popularity
Beyond growing your customer base and increasing revenue, one of the main goals of social media marketing is to increase your brands image and gain a favourable reputation in your local area and beyond.
In this day and age, no one trusts a company without a social media presence. By posting consistent and relevant content you are building a friendship with your audience in a way that just wasn’t possible before. You are building trust and credibility that will encourage them to take notice of your marketing messages, and make them them far more likely to recommend your business to their friends.
3. Create Quality Content
In order to keep your marketing messages engaging and to build the trust previously mentioned, you will need to consistently put out quality content. You are going to need more than just a few basic images and some Facebook Ads, competition is becoming fierce. A social media manager will have learned how to make your business stand out and will use their knowledge and experience to give your business the upper hand in a crowded market place.
4. Track and Measure
In order to take full advantage of the endless opportunities that social media marketing offers, you need to know how to effectively track and measure progress. A social media expert will be experienced in capturing analytics that matter to your business, and using that data to shape and optimize your marketing efforts.
Setting up Facebook pixels on your websites and landing pages, writing specific conversion tracking codes, creating custom audiences, and building effective re-targeting strategies are just a few of the skills needed in order to maintain an effective digital presence for your business.
5. Monitoring
When you are running a business, checking and maintaining all of your social networks will take a significant amount of time and effort that most business owners just don’t have. Its not just creating and posting content that takes time, these platforms need to be monitored on a daily basis. A social media expert will respond to any incoming messages and queries, engage with your audience, remove spam or offensive comments, thank people for reviews, check-ins and mentions and keep an eye on the efforts of your competition.
6. Precise Audience Targeting
Especially when it comes to creating effective advertisements on social media , targeting is key. Marketers have never had more access to consumer data than we have today. This means we can target people based on an almost endless amount of information that users provide to social networks. Demographics, interests and online activity are just some of the ways that users can be targeted with content that is both relevant to the consumer and profitable to your business.
For example, we can specifically target people that have already expressed interest in selling or buying a home. An experienced social media expert can target people who have visited certain websites. People who are interested in a type of food, drink or lifestyle. We can even target people who have recently got engaged or had a baby. The possibilities are endless.
7. Save money
Everyone wants to be able to market their business effectively while spending the least amount of money. Social media, if done correctly, it is THE most cost effective way to advertise your business. This is why online advertisers will outspend TV advertisers by $40 billion in 2018. A whopping 40% of this year’s global ad spend will take place online. And more specifically, ad spend on social media is expected to increase by more than 20%, to over $58 billion.
8. Crisis Management
Being unfazed by the unexpected is integral to operating a business. Being unprepared, however, is not. A social media expert will have the required experience to deal with any unexpected surprises. By responding to customer concerns, dealing any unpleasant reviews and making sure your business stays on top of any issues that may arise on your social channels, your social media guru will become an integral part of your team.
9. Keeping up with new features and trends
Staying informed about all the changes and trends on social media is nearly impossible for the average business owner. Social media is constantly evolving. Most fields change every few years but social media platforms change every few weeks! It takes a significant amount and time and effort to stay up to date with all the various changes. A social media manager will make sure that your business stays on top of these changes and continues to thrive online.
10. Modernization
Historically, magazines, TV and radio were the primary means of advertising. With over 4 billion people using the internet and over 3 billion active on social media, your business will need to adapt and grow. A social media expert will ensure that you take advantage of this incredible new way to communicate with your customers and secure a successful future.
11. Build Brand Awareness
A strong online presence is what sells and keeps you relevant in today’s world. Not only does it help big businesses thrive, it’s even more important for small business! With social media, your company, no matter how small, is planted out there right next to your biggest competitors and in front of the eyes of your ever-scrolling audience.
12. Create Brand Loyalty
A report published by Texas Tech University found that brands with active social media profiles have more loyal customers.
It’s easy to understand why: when you’re engaging the public on social media, you’re building connection and rapport. You’re taking the time to provide your followers with useful information, help and entertainment, without asking for anything in return.
That shows customers you value them, not just as a source of revenue, but as people. Customers will begin to see you as an entity that cares about them, and has values, personality and vision. And in a competitive market, that can make a huge difference.