Can Social Media Marketing Really Help My Business?

Standing out and knowing exactly how to separate your business from the competitive back on social media can be daunting.  This is  particularly true if you’re a newer business or a small local business without unlimited resources. Considering that most small and medium-sized businesses today use social media to market their products or services in some capacity, your company must compete in this forum for attention and sales.  It is a big challenge. But used correctly, social media marketing can be a powerful tool.

Here are some key benefits:

1. Increased Visibility: Social media platforms have billions of active users. By establishing a presence on popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others, you can increase your brand's visibility and reach a larger audience.
2. Brand Awareness: Social media allows you to showcase your brand, and services to as wide or narrow an audience as you need to. Consistent and engaging content helps build brand awareness, making your business more recognizable.
3. Audience Engagement: Social media provides a direct channel to connect with your audience. You can engage with your customers through comments, messages, and social media groups, fostering a sense of community around your brand.
4. Targeted Advertising: Many social media platforms offer highly targeted advertising options. This allows you to reach specific geography, demographics, interests, and behaviors, etc.  This ensures that your marketing funds are focused on the most relevant audience, most likely to buy from you.
5. Controlled Cost-Effective Marketing: Compared to traditional advertising, social media marketing can be more cost-effective. Many social media platforms offer free account setups, and paid advertising options often allow you to set your budget and target specific demographics.
6. Customer Feedback and Insights: Social media platforms provide a space for customers to leave feedback, reviews, and comments. This information can be valuable for understanding customer preferences and improving your products or services.
7. Drive Website Traffic: Social media is an effective way to drive traffic to your website of for potential customers to contact you directly. By sharing links to your services, products,  and contact information, you can direct users to your website or someone with whom to speak, and hopefully convert them into customers.
8. Stay Competitive: Many of your competitors, are almost certainly using social media to promote their products and/or services. By actively participating in social media marketing, you can stay competitive and ensure your brand remains relevant in your service areas and in your industry.

While social media marketing can offer numerous benefits, it's important to have a well-thought-out strategy, consistent content creation, and engagement with your audience. Additionally, the effectiveness of social media marketing can vary depending on your industry and target audience.

That said, your social media marketing strategy and branding don’t necessarily have to be completely revolutionary or totally innovative.  Find ways to stand out in your specific industry or service area. Here are some helpful tips that can help your small business get noticed and truly stand out on social media (for the right reasons).

You will need to discover how and what to post on a variety of social media platforms.  Social media is no longer optional.  It has become an essential part of any business’s marketing and branding strategy.  However, to make your social media content effective, you have to continually look for ways to set yourself apart. Consider the following in order to attract more followers and stand apart from the competition on social media:

• Select the social media channels that are the best fit for your potential customers and your line of business
• Understand where the people in your target market spend time on the internet.
• Produce social media content that is engaging and differentiating in your market.
• Make sure to include content with eye-catching visuals, including infographics, videos, charts and photography.
• Most importantly, create content that stays true to your brand and includes client interaction, suppliers, events, and whatever else helps potential and existing customers  fully understand and value your image and brand.
• All content and information that you share on social media has to be are timely and relevant to your market
• Be consistant and stay active on social media.
• Regularly share industry tools and techniques,  the “how-tos”, and other valuable content
• Stay helpful, kind and human when interacting with your market on social media.

If you can’t or don’t want to put the required time and effort into developing a social media strategy, work with well qualified digital marketing experts like Spéir Mór Media to creating it with you (not for you-- make sure you are involved in the process!).

One last word of advice -- consistently differentiate your company from your conpetitors through common threads that bind together your marketing strategies.  Remember these social media differentiators aren’t simply part of your ‘social strategy’ — they are an integral part of the company’s marketing in its entirety.

Social media content works best when it amplifies the positions of the company in addition to its offerings. It doesn’t work well when the messaging coming from social is fragmented and non-specific compared to other firms in your market. Make sure your entire marketing plan is aligned with how you want to stand out: in branding, content, in events, on social media content -- everything.