7 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is NOT Optional
First and foremost, we understand. Social media is confusing. Between Facebook and Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest, Twitter and beyond, it can be very overwhelming trying to figure out what platforms your company needs and doesn't need.
Have you set up a Facebook page already and failed to make any sales? Frustrated to have less than 100 followers on Instagram and Twitter? It's not because social media marketing doesn't work, it's because social media marketing requires an investment of time and strategy to achieve specific goals. Your social media pages are not meant to make sales directly. They are just the tools you need to identify your target customer and funnel them to a point of sale.
Look at it like this:
Option #1
For $5,000 TopGolf can put up a billboard in Orlando, FL and for 30 days people will pass by it. Will the billboard make plenty of impressions? Sure. But, how many of those people play golf? How many don’t care about golf at all? And most importantly, how is anyone at TopGolf keeping track of the ROI on that billboard? Even if someone is interested, they still have to do the extra work of looking up TopGolf’s website or finding their phone number to reserve a bay.
Option #2
With that same $5,000 TopGolf can purchase advertising through Facebook. There are roughly 970,000 males living in the United States who have told Facebook that they like TopGolf or they have visited TopGolf in the past. For $5,000 Facebook can put an ad in front of every single one of them. And instead of taking 30 days to do this, it can be done in just 24 hours. The ad can provide both the phone number and a link to the reservations page on TopGolf’s website with just one click. And again, most importantly, everything that happens with the Facebook ad will be trackable and produce valuable data to learn more about your target audience.
This is how social media marketing is supposed to work. Stop guessing where your customers are paying attention and start making use of the available tools to better understand their behaviors and speak directly to your target customers.
Still not convinced? Here are 7 reasons why Social Media marketing is no longer optional:
1) 80% of business owners who use Social Media marketing claim an increase in website traffic
Without social media, your inbound traffic is limited to people already familiar with your brand and individuals searching for keywords you currently rank for. Every social media profile you add is another path leading back to your site, and every piece of content you post on those profiles is another opportunity for a new visitor. The more quality content you post on social media, the more inbound traffic you’ll generate, and more traffic means more leads and more conversions.
2) A lack of Social Media pages or improper page setup can hurt your website’s SEO and lower Google rankings
SEO is the best way to capture relevant traffic from search engines, but the requirements for success are always changing. Google and other search engines are now calculating their rankings using social media presence as a significant factor, because of the fact that strong brands almost always use social media. As such, being active on social media could act as a “brand signal” to search engines that your company is legitimate, credible, and trustworthy. That means, if you want to rank for a given set of keywords, having a strong social media presence is mandatory.
3) The efficiency of Social Media advertising can decrease overall marketing costs
According to Hubspot, 84% of marketers found as little as six hours of effort per week was enough to generate increased website traffic. Six hours is not a significant investment when considering how great your potential reach is on social media. If you can lend just one hour a day to developing your content strategy, you could start seeing the results of your efforts.
4) Social Media “humanizes” your brand which leads to a 100% higher lead to close ratio than traditional outbound marketing
Social media marketing results in higher conversion rates in a few distinct ways. Perhaps the most significant is its humanization element; the fact that brands become more humanized by interacting in social media channels. Social media is a place where brands can act like people do, and this is important because people like doing business with other people; not with companies.
5) A Social Media presence reinforces brand recognition and authority in the marketplace
Interacting with your customers regularly is a show of good faith for other customers. When people go to compliment or brag about a product or service, they turn to social media. And when they post your brand name, new audience members will want to follow you for updates. The more people that are talking about you on social media, the more valuable and authoritative your brand will seem to new users. Not to mention, if you can interact with major influencers on Twitter or other social networks, your visible authority and reach will skyrocket.
6) Social Media enriches the customer experience and develops brand loyalty
According to a report published by Texas Tech University, brands who engage on social media channels enjoy higher loyalty from their customers. The report concludes “Companies should take advantage of the tools social media gives them when it comes to connecting with their audience. A strategic and open social media plan could prove influential in morphing consumers into being brand loyal.”
7) Your competition is likely involved already
Your competitors are already involved on social media, which means your potential social media traffic and conversions are being poached. Don’t let your competitors reap all the benefits while you stand idly by. If, somehow, your competition is not involved on social media, there’s even more of a reason to get started—the field is wide open!
Conclusion
The longer you wait, the more you have to lose.
When done strategically, Social Media Marketing can lead to more customers, more traffic, and more conversions — and it’s here to stay!