Social media is a potential marketing channel and it is always on the move. Of course, life without social media is just like a meal without salt, sorry to blood pressure and sugar patients. Not only private individuals are constantly busy with Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other social media sites, companies are also increasingly focusing on these platforms.
Social Media Marketing technology offers you the opportunity to get in touch with your target group, your brand awareness increase, and listen to your customers. By actively participating you give your company a face and you make your communication more personal. Social media is about being in constant contact with your customers and of course expanding your network beyond visual. Concepts that effectively enhance social media importance include interactive, current, transparency, integration, exchange, subjective, and dialogue.
What is Social Media?
Social media is a collective term for online platforms where the user places the content, with little or no intervention from a professional editorial staff. Examples of these platforms are weblogs, forums, and social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Social media platforms are also characterized by the terms ’interactive’, ‘transparency’, ‘integration’, ‘exchange’ and ’dialogue’. In 2020 there are all kinds of social media platforms. Below a small impression.
Why Social Media?
The presence of social media is huge worldwide. If you just look at Facebook, the size immediately becomes clear. According to Facebook statistics, they have an average of 1.23 trillion Active users every day. And the same goes for TikTok likes and followers these days, an emerging social media network that can effectively be utilized to get the goals.
But the market is equally impressive around the globe. The research shows that WhatsApp again in 2019 the best score by as much as 12.9 million users, of which 8.8 million send apple daily. A neck-and-neck race along with Facebook, which currently has 12.4 million users, 8.5 million of whom scroll through the timeline daily.
How Social Media is Important for Companies?
- Increase brand awareness: You let people reach your company via the internet. You increase the online presence of your company and thereby increase the reach of your brand, company, or product. Consumers are more likely to recognize your brand, company, or product name.
- Increase in turnover: Research has shown that companies that engage in social media in a good way achieve a large increase in turnover. It has also been shown that when you use multiple social media channels, the turnover increase increases.
- Standstill is a decline: a well-known saying that is true in many industries. The advent of social media has changed marketing forever. Social media is now (becoming) mature so that you can no longer ignore it as an (innovative) company. Not to mention the massive presence of your (potential) audience.
- Using social media is cheap: Social media costs your company almost nothing (unless you advertise), which of course makes it even more attractive. The only costs incurred are the working hours of the deployed personnel who manage the social media channels.
- Competitors: Your competitors are probably also active on social media. With this, they bring in customers that you do not reach. If you follow your competitors on social media platforms, you will also be kept informed of their activities.
- Influencing purchasing behavior: By being active on social media, your customers are confronted with you more often. Consumers who follow companies buy these products more often and make recommendations within their network more often.
- Generating website traffic and improving search engine results: In your messages, you can place links to your website. This generates extra traffic and influences your position in the search results in a positive way.
- Expert status: Your company profile or page is an excellent opportunity to be labeled an expert by the consumer. A profile allows you to keep consumers up to date with the latest news about your business, as well as industry-related news. When relevant news articles are shared regularly, the consumer will see your company as an expert.
- Niche or local marketing: With the advent of social media, it has become even easier to focus on a niche. You can search for customers by demographic characteristics and interests. It is also perfect for location-based services because you can select by residence. Ideal for looking for your target group.
- Online reputation management: Social media makes it easy for companies and individuals to monitor what customers think of their company or brand on the internet. By monitoring social media, you as an entrepreneur can quickly respond to reactions from (potential) customers and follow negative feedback.
- Staff recruitment: Facebook is more important today than recruitment and selection agencies to fill vacancies. Snapchat, Instagram, and Tiktok are also gaining in importance, new research shows. LinkedIn is still the most used channel to fill vacancies.
What now?
It is therefore important for the growth of your company to use social media, but as soon as you want to make a start you will soon notice how complex the social media world is. It needs tremendous efforts to score Tiktok likes and followers, Facebook page fan following, and fame over Instagram. You should have effective social media marketing skills to get your work done.
