Maintaining a strong social media presence has become increasingly important, as consumers grow to rely on these platforms for product information and peer-approved brands. In fact, social media continues to be a key driver of traffic to relevant websites, competing head-to-head with search engines for the highest number of site referrals—meaning that your prospects are searching for your product or service on social media, and what they find there may make or break your chances of converting them to a customer before they ever visit your website or location.
Even as some platforms make it harder or more expensive to engage with your audie
nce, others add new and complex features to improve or diversify that engagement. These growing platforms require increasing amounts of your employee timeand advertising budget.
With all the barriers that come between you and consistent social media efforts—other projects, deadlines, customer support—you may sit back and wonder, is it all worth it? For a few likes or retweets?
Yes! Here are 3 key ways that attentive social media management supports your marketing efforts:
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Learn more about your audience. Social media platforms are constantly trying to provide better and more specific content to their users. For this reason, they are able to provide you with extensive aggregate data about the individuals who engage with your content and brand. This assists your overall marketing efforts across the board—such as identifying buyer personas, helping you promote targeted and relevant content to your customers, and categorizing which efforts are most effective—allowing you to make smarter business decisions on- and offline.
Interact one-to-one. Long gone are the days of writing an angry letter about a product that let you down and wondering if you will ever hear back. Consumers are now only ever a fingertip away from their favorite (or least favorite) companies, allowing them to tweet quick questions or reviews and receive immediate support, feedback, or conflict resolution from a brand. Establishing that personal connection with a customer can keep them engaged with your product or service for life.
Earn trust and loyalty. It’s more trustworthy and impactful when other people to say nice things about you, than it is for you to say nice things about yourself. In practice, this means that when the right person or influencer shares your content, you’ve gained visibility from a more persuasive source. Additionally, social media has become the perfect platform for consumers to find and connect with you, making it a key opportunity for customer retention.
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Keep in mind, that a little audience research can help you decide which social media platforms are worth your time and money. Consider beta-testing ads with different platforms, or running A/B tests to see what your social media audience prefers to engage with. If this seems like too much for your team to manage in house, consider these 3 Reasons to Outsource Your Social Media Management.
Contact us today to discuss how the Social Media Team at R.C. Brayshaw can assist with your social media management and ROI.