20 Reasons Why Customers Will Find You On Social Media Faster Than Traditional Means
Written by
Michael Saly
Posted on December 20, 2020
Social media marketing is a tool that cannot be ignored. There are 20 reasons why customers will find you faster on social media channels than by any other means. The right social media plan help you reach your goals. The power of social media is not a scary thing, but a rose that needs to be nurtured and cared for.
Just like consumers, they need guidance and not just pushy agendas. Social sites offer unique benefits that are difficult if not impossible to beat. With over half the world on social sites, that is a vast marketplace that won’t go away. Your company needs a viable presence on these sites.
Most Customers are on one channel or more
Like it or not, social media marketing can do more than just look pretty. According to Oberlo, “there are over 3.2 billion active users on social media”. Social media allows the individual business to focus on creating meaningful relationships that benefit them and their consumers. This creates a real-time or near real-time capability for the business to reach out with their messages at the right moment. Message release timing is everything, and some subject matters are meant for a different time slot.
Social marketing allows for errors without the heavy financial costs associated with traditional marketing.
It’s easier to attract more than one customer at a time
“54% of social browsers use social media to research products,” says Oberlo. That is not including those looking for help to run their businesses. Educational content plays a vital role in helping your customers find you. Personalized messaging gives you a greater pull than material that is generic and not aimed at specific buyer type. One person may find your educational post helpful and may share it on their feed, thus opening a new feed to reach others. This channel may be temporary unless you turn them into a hardcore fan and then the channel becomes something amazing.
Advocacy from previous clients can generate attention and sales
“83% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends about products and services – making these recommendations the highest ranked source for trustworthiness.” according to Nelsen. That alone means an untapped source for recurring business and consumer acquisition for your business.
One of the biggest questions is “How do I turn my customers into fans?” The short answer is not to make them mad. The longer answer is to create an experience that surpasses their expectations without causing you to break the bank to do it. Treat them like they’re the only customer you have, give them support and offer something to them that they find valuable.
People faster access to your solutions
“For 45% of consumers, social media is one of the first channels they go to in case they have any questions or issues.” according to SproutSocial. People want quick answers that are not complicated or diluted with fluff. If your competition is providing answers to some questions about a service or product. What should you be doing? How can you help your consumers reach their goals?
Cheaper than traditional advertising methods
Social media marketing offers a lower cost per advertising medium than traditional marketing The cost association with social media is nearly zero. The cost associated with traditional marketing is unreal and can run into the thousands of dollars with no guarantee return on investment. In social media ad campaigns, you can track the ads and see what the impressions, engagement, and conversion per click is and figure out if the ROI is worth it.
Real-time monitoring saves resources from being wasted
“If you think of Social Media Listening as creating a baseline for what your audience feels, Social Media Monitoring is about the maintenance of that baseline.” From Netbase. What comes into your range of vision may be a key to opening tomorrow’s door for success.
Companies make blunders all the time and if you are a type to keep an eye on the competition. This area will allow you to feel out the audience of the competition. In this sentiment, you can create lures that are attractive to them, especially after an incident.
Real-time engagement creates instant gratification for consumers
“Each person spends an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes on social networks and messaging.” according to (Globalwebindex) report. Consumers love getting their hands on solutions and deals. It’s that simple, by going social, you can cater to your customers and help them become a brand ambassador. The happier that someone is, it is more than likely they will spend money on a product or service to help them.
Reputation management is easier to control
It is far easier to manage a business reputation in real-time than be reactive to the crisis. Quick responses that are catered to deal with the crisis can help smother any wildfire that may occur. Be prepared to have a crisis communication plan written up before you go social. Otherwise, you may find your business in a world of pain from consumer backfire.
Messaging is less interruptive on social media
Unlike traditional marketing, where the material interrupts people’s day. Social media is targeted at those who want your message. They “tune” into it and may interact with it. The closer to understanding your audience, the better messaging and content you can produce, thus achieving quicker sales and lower costs per new customer.
“If your Facebook ads contain images, then they will be between 75% and 90% more effective.” (Consumer Acquisition)
Easier to build brand awareness and trust than other means
“Consumers are equally likely to share and engage with inspirational posts from brands,” says Sproutsocial. “71% of consumers who’ve had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others.” thanks to (Ambassador). By establishing a strict quality control policy on content production for social media.
Consumer trust can be gathered at a good rate, but a bad piece of content will destroy consumer trust. Be careful with content and the direction it is going in.
Social Media brings organic traffic and SEO juice without paying a dime.
You don’t have to pay a dime on advertising. You’ll grow organic traffic and SEO juice from well performing content and an active audience. The key trick is engaging with your consumers regularly and mixing up your content promotion. Share and get some user content going on for a well-blended mix into the social media strategy.
Just like a radio, each social channel allows you to “tune” into specific consumers.
Every social channel has a different audience, its because they prefer that channel. Some people love Facebook, others enjoy Snapchat and still others Instagram. You don’t have to have a presence on all of them. By analyzing your buyer’s persona, you can find the right channels to focus your energy into. Once you get the right messaging rhythm going; people will find your business and follow it for updates.
You keep an eye on your competition on social media channels
“Those “similar-but-different” companies are going to be out there. And, as with most aspects of the business world, the better you know them, the better you can know how to have a leg up on them.” says Hubspot. If you have the time to focus on your competitors messaging. You find gaps and loops in their marketing strategy and capitalize on what they missed. This creates an opportunity to gain a market share in a different area.
Conversion rates tend to be better on social media channels
“86% of consumers prefer an authentic and honest brand personality on social networks.” (Smart Insights, 2017). Social purchases are a strong reason to get on social media and reach out to consumers. “Four in ten reps have recently closed two to five deals due to social media.” (HubSpot, 2018).
How much business are you losing out on not being on social media? Sales are sales, but when it’s easier to create an ad that has a sweet offer, it is far cheaper to create a targeted ad than to spend hundreds of dollars on traditional marketing that may not get you any customers.
Social Media brings new insights and data to marketing strategies
Analytical tools are important in social campaigns. They will uncover trends to the weaknesses and strengths of every message that you deploy on the channels. You can glean some behaviors and other graphical data to help you create personalized messages that may hit a home run with your consumers. Not using these tools is not wise. Facebook to Instagram has a free set of analytical tools that you can use to measure your campaigns and ads.
Social Media can improve client retention and lower new customer acquisition costs
Addressing concerns from your audience will help you retain lifetime consumers. “59% of Americans believe that customer service through social media has made it easier to get their questions answered and issues resolved” (Lyfe Marketing, 2018).
By being active on social media and answering questions with relevant material will decrease new customer costs and help you turn old customers into word of mouth advertisers for you. Thus reducing overhead costs and allowing you to grow your business.
Social Media mining can turn on the light bulb for new content
Your business team can gather ideas from social media, from your fans and alliances. You will eventually get content burn out. Where are new ideas going to come from? Social media provides insights and information on which you can capitalize easily. The information gathered can open new avenues to previous ideas or help you generate a new topic to expand upon.
Check out our dedicated social media management resource if you are interested in find out more how you can leverage the power of social media to gain exposure for your brand on the internet.
