As social media continues to integrate itself into our everyday lives, the importance of incorporating social into business, B2B or otherwise is clearly becoming apparent. Social media continues to open new doors and opportunities, making businesses struggle with the sudden importance of having a social media presence.
Often businesses can be wary of social media, believing it can be a time drain on their resources, a waste of money or a place negative comments can make a home. Yet, what most businesses do not realise is with the correct understanding of social media, it can be your best friend, rather than your enemy. There is no need to update, monitor and report on all your social channels. Instead the focus needs to be on the channels that your target audience use and engage the most. Taking advantage of this, is your way to an easier journey with your consumer.
In 2015, Spotify capitalised on its target audience’s favourite social media sites, in this instance Twitter and Instagram, where they released their #foundthemfirst campaign. This involved promoting Spotfiy’s recently launched online tool that scanned users’ music history, informing them if they were early listeners of artists who later became mainstream. The hashtag #foundthemfirst instantly became a popular trend, with thousands participating, proving that if social media tools are utilised correctly, campaigns can become a huge success.
Still convinced social media isn’t worth the hassle? Let see if these 5 benefits of social media change your mind:
- Social media allows almost instant feedback from customers, allowing a new insight which can help product growth and customer retention.
- You can target a wider range of consumers, from all over the world.
- Important relationships can be made over social media, which can be converted to leads.
- It is an affordable way to increase brand awareness.
- You can get to know your audience quickly and easily, with social media tools such as Facebook analytics.
It can be easy to miss-spend your advertising budget on social media, wasting money in the process. But with a clear strategy, and understanding of your audience, your business will reap in the benefits. There’s no need to worry about wasting time either, as an agency can help take the immediate strain off. Armed with a clear brief and social media policy, an agency can submit a whole month’s worth of social media posts for approval, saving businesses valuable time. With no excuses left to not join the social media wagon, businesses need to take advantage of these opportunities and explore the benefits a social presence will provide.
Why Companies Should …
This is one of a series of three blogs written by Napier intern Hannah Kelly asking why companies should undertake different marketing activities. Read the other posts in the series: