Most businesses measure the success of social media marketing by the volume of new customers it brings in. However, there are several other benefits to social media that are often overlooked. Building momentum with social media takes time, and the benefits may not be immediately obvious. This can lead to scepticism about investing time and money in social media. However, it is essential to remember the real benefits of social media marketing:
Brand Recognition – Social media is a powerful tool for building brand recognition. By creating unique, personal, consistent, funny, relevant, and interesting content, companies can build a reputation for their brand around their values, benefits, and advantages.
Community – Social media is unmatched in its ability to build a community around a brand. When followers become part of a brand’s community, companies can learn about their interests and challenges, and engage them by encouraging their input. This builds a relationship that allows companies to learn, improve, and build loyalty.
Repeat Exposure – Social media offers a clear benefit in its frequency of messages and repeat exposure to a brand’s network. Reminding the target market of a brand over and over again should shorten sales cycles.
Authority – Social media is essential for service-based businesses such as coaches, consultants, authors, and speakers to establish themselves as knowledgeable in their field. Social media makes companies the go-to resource for their target market, which creates a loyal fan base that is more likely to purchase from them.
Influence – As a brand’s following increases, so does its influence. A substantial social media audience creates a snowball effect that can attract new customers, media interviews, joint venture partnerships, and other opportunities.
Website Traffic – Social media can be a leading traffic generator for a website. Sharing blog posts, videos, and other content from a website gives the audience a reason to click through and visit the site. This creates opportunities to inspire those visitors to take action by signing up for a mailing list, making a purchase, or scheduling a free consultation.
Ahead of the Curve – Prospects and clients are checking to see if a business is engaging in social media. Avoiding social media can leave a big opening for competitors to capture a brand’s audience.
Mindshare with Lurkers – Consistent social media efforts attract more attention than most businesses realize. Over time, people who have been following a brand’s social media presence will start to engage and become loyal fans.
Competitive Advantage – Most competitors are not likely to do a good job with social media, which gives a business a chance to stand out. Avoiding social media leaves an opening for competitors to capture a brand’s audience.
Big Wins – Social media can lead to big wins that can cover the costs of social media marketing for years. For example, a connection on LinkedIn could lead to a significant government contract, or a major media outlet could interview a business for a national article. Big wins like these make the investment in social media worthwhile.
In conclusion, social media offers a wealth of benefits beyond just bringing in new customers. By investing in social media, businesses can build brand recognition, community, authority, influence, website traffic, and more. Social media is not a fad and is not going away. It is essential to stay current with social media activity to avoid leaving an opening for competitors to capture an audience.
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