Benefits of Social Media Marketing: The Key to Unlocking potential

Are you still living in the dark ages of marketing, relying on billboards and flyers to get the word out about your business? It's time to join the 21st century and hop on the social media train!

With billions of users on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, social media has become vital for reaching and engaging with customers. And the best part? It's not just for sharing memes and cat videos (although those are important, too).

By using social media for marketing, your business can enjoy many benefits, from increased brand awareness to targeted advertising to Increased website traffic and sales.

Whether you're a small business owner, a marketing professional, or just someone tired of being stuck in the past, it's time to discover the power of social media marketing.

In this article, we will discuss the benefits of social media marketing and the secret ingredient to business growth.

Read more: 5 Best Social Media Plugin for WordPress

Social media marketing Increase brand awareness

Expanding Reach with Social Media

Social media allows businesses to promote their products and services to a large and targeted audience.

Businesses can easily share updates, offers, and content with their followers by creating profiles on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Using social media marketing, businesses can also reach a broader and more targeted audience by placing ads in front of users who are likely to be interested in their products or services.

This can be done by targeting users based on their interests, demographics, and location. Social media can also help businesses to increase their website traffic and search ranking.

By regularly posting and sharing content on social media, businesses can drive more traffic to their website, improving their search ranking and making it easier for potential customers to find them online.

Overall, social media is a valuable tool for businesses looking to reach a broader and more targeted audience, increase website traffic, and improve their online presence.

Effective Brand Awareness on Social Media

Apple's “Shot on iPhone” campaign

Apple's "Shot on iPhone" campaign is a fantastic successful marketing campaign showcasing the iPhone's high-quality camera. The campaign featured stunning photographs taken with an iPhone camera.

Including professional photographers and amateur photography enthusiasts, Apple was able to appeal to a wide range of consumers by highlighting the capabilities of the iPhone camera.

They used submissions from 77 users across 25 countries and 73 cities. Then they plastered these images across 10 000 different billboards across the world. They went all out!

But it was on social media that the campaign really gathered momentum. There was exclusive user-generated content readily starting to be available on platforms such as Instagram.

This was brilliant as it was essentially free marketing. At this point, Apple had to reach out to these creators and ask permission to use the content on their social media.

They further reinforced this campaign by the use of hashtags. On Instagram, they used the hashtag #shotoniphone, which has 27.1M posts to this day.

Overall, the "Shot on iPhone" campaign effectively showcased the iPhone camera's capabilities and helped position the iPhone as a top choice for photography enthusiasts.

Purely based on the stats, the “Shot on iPhone” campaign was a rousing success!

TBWA Media Arts Lab estimates that the campaign was mentioned by 24,000 opinion leaders and received approximately 6.5 billion media impressions. The majority of these mentions, 95%, were positive.

Wendy’s savage Twitter roasts

If you were not living under a rock in 2017, chances are you will remember seeing Wendy’s savage roasts all over social media.

Wendy’s took an unconventional approach to market and started roasting followers and trolling its competitors on Twitter. He expertly used one of the most prevalent aspects of any social media nowadays in meme culture and massively stepped up its outreach game.

After an initial bevy of sharp-witted and all-around hilarious tweets, the campaign took on a life of its own. Soon people started to ask Wendy’s to roast them using hashtags such as #roastmewendys #wendysroasts.

Wendy’s was only happy to oblige.

Wendy’s competitors weren’t spared either. Some of the most memorable and talked about tweets were the ones where Wendy’s butted heads with another competitor. The most famous one is their savage put down of Mcdonald's, the biggest restaurant chain in the entire world.

As a result of this marketing strategy, Wendy’s Twitter account grew substantially, going from just under a million subs in 2017 to close to 4 million. Along with the rapid increase in followers, Wendy’s unique blend of humor and tongue and cheek insults also cultivated brand image.

Financially, their sales numbers went from $129.6M to $194M, a 49.7% growth in 2017 alone!

Dear kitten by Friskies and Buzzfeed

Who rules the internet? The answer, as many of us know, is simply……CATS!

Currently, there are social media accounts of cats that have more followers than multiple World leaders put together! 😂

Friskies, a cat food brand, used this feline obsession of humans to maximize their sales.

How did they do it?

They started a small web series called “Dear kitten.”

Friskies collaborated with Buzzfeed, which was one of the biggest Youtube channels at that time. The campaign consisted of a series of humorous videos featuring a senior cat advising a younger cat on how to navigate the world. The videos were released on Buzzfeed's social media channels and gained widespread popularity, with some achieving millions of views.

One of the critical elements of the campaign's success was its humorous and relatable content. The videos featured relatable scenarios for cat owners, such as the senior cat teaching the younger cat how to "attack" a laser pointer and sneak food from the kitchen.

Another factor in the campaign's success was the use of social media to reach a broad audience. By partnering with Buzzfeed and releasing the videos on social media channels, Friskies was able to tap into the vast and engaged audience of cat lovers on those platforms.

Fun fact: The first episode alone currently has 32M views.

Overall, the "Dear Kitten" campaign was a successful example of a brand using humor and relatable content to engage with its audience on social media. The campaign generated significant buzz and helped to raise awareness of the Friskies brand.

Social media marketing Improves customer relationships

Building Community through Social Media

Social media has become an integral tool for businesses looking to build a customer community. There are several ways in which social media can be used to achieve this:

Social media platforms allow businesses to connect directly with their customers in real time and engage with them. Businesses can respond to customer comments and messages to show that they value their customers and are willing to listen to their feedback.

Social media can be used to create a sense of community among customers. Companies can encourage customer interaction through sharing content, starting discussions, and hosting events. This helps cultivate a sense of belonging in your customers.
Social media can be a powerful tool for gathering customer feedback. Keeping an active eye on customer comments and reviews on social media can help businesses gather valuable insights into what their customers like and dislike about their products or services.

Social media can be used to drive traffic to a business's website or online store. Through link sharing and promotional campaigns on social media, businesses can drive traffic to their online presence and ultimately drive sales.

Customer Interaction on Social Media

Social media allows businesses to connect directly with customers and address their concerns promptly and effectively. Companies can show that they value their customers by actively listening and responding to customer feedback on social media.

There are multiple channels and methods currently used by successful businesses. Some of them are discussed below:

Customer tweets: A customer tweets about a broken item they received from a company's online store. The company responds to the tweet, apologizes for the inconvenience, and offers to send a replacement or issue a refund.
Negative customer review: A customer leaves a negative review on a company's Facebook page, complaining about poor service at one of their locations. The company responds to the review, apologizes for the poor service, and offers to make it right by offering a discount or other compensation.
Direct customer message: A customer DM's a company on Instagram, asking about the ingredients in one of their products. The company responds with a detailed list of ingredients and provides additional information about its sourcing and manufacturing processes.
Asking questions: A customer posts a question on a company's LinkedIn page, asking for advice on using one of their products. The company responds with a helpful response, providing tips and guidance on how to use the product effectively.

Some notable case studies

In 2020, Delta Air Lines used Twitter to respond to customer inquiries and address concerns about flight cancellations and schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company used its Twitter account to update and answer customers' questions in real time.
In 2019, Nike used Instagram to address concerns about factory working conditions. The company posted a detailed response on its Instagram account, outlining its steps to improve conditions for its workers and ensure compliance with labor laws.
In 2018, Starbucks used Twitter to apologize for an incident where two black men were arrested at one of its locations. The company used its Twitter account to apologize for the incident and announce that it would close all its stores for a day of racial-bias training for its employees.
In 2017, United Airlines used Twitter to respond to a viral video showing a passenger being violently removed from one of its flights. The company used its Twitter account to apologize for the incident and announce launching an investigation into the matter.

Social media marketing allow target advertising

Social media platforms offer a range of advertising options that allow businesses to target specific demographics and reach a more relevant audience. This aspect, known as targeted advertising, can effectively promote products or services to a particular group.

With the ability to target users by demographics, interests, behavior, and location, businesses can reach the right audience with the right message at the right time, resulting in increased ROI.

Targeted advertising on social media can be a powerful tool for businesses looking to promote their products or services and reach their ideal customer.

Targeting demographics on Social Media

Social media allows businesses to reach specific demographics through targeted advertising and content marketing. Many social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, enable businesses to create social media carousel ads and other targeted ads based on various factors such as age, location, interests, and behaviors.

In addition to targeted advertising, businesses can use social media to reach specific demographics through content marketing. Businesses can attract and engage users interested in their products or services by creating and sharing content relevant to their target audience.

For example, a cosmetics company might create and share makeup tutorials and beauty tips for young women. In contrast, a car manufacturer might make and share car-related content targeted at men.

Social Media Advertising: Cost-Effectiveness Comparison

Social media advertising can be a cost-effective form of advertising compared to traditional forms such as television, print, and radio. Here are a few reasons:

Targeting: Social media platforms offer businesses the ability to target specific demographics, such as age, location, interests, and behaviors. This allows businesses to reach their desired audience more efficiently, resulting in lower costs per engagement.
Flexibility: Social media advertising is highly flexible in terms of budget, which allows businesses to start with a small budget and then adjust accordingly. This can be especially beneficial for small businesses or those with limited advertising budgets.
Measurement and Tracking: Social media platforms offer a wide range of measurement and tracking tools that businesses can use to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and adjust their strategies accordingly. This can help businesses to optimize their campaigns and improve their ROI.
High Reach and Engagement: Social media platforms have a massive user base, and businesses can reach a large audience quickly with minimal cost. Additionally, social media users are highly engaged, spending hours on the platform daily.

That said, social media advertising can be more expensive than other forms of online advertising, such as search engine advertising. Some businesses may find that they get more value from other forms of advertising, such as billboards or direct mail.

Additionally, measuring the performance of different campaigns and comparing the results is essential to know which works best for your business.

Social media marketing increase website traffic

Another key benefit of social media marketing is its ability to drive website traffic. Businesses that actively publish on social media platforms and provide shareable content can improve their visibility, reach a wider audience, and increase website traffic.

Furthermore, social media advertising can promote a business's website and drive more targeted traffic. With the right strategy and execution, businesses can leverage the power of social media to boost website traffic and increase their online visibility.

Use of social media to drive traffic to a company's website

Social media can be an effective tool for driving traffic to a company's website. Here are a few reasons:

Increased visibility: Social media platforms have a large user base, and by actively posting on these platforms, businesses can increase their visibility and reach a broader audience. This can lead to more website visitors and increased traffic.
Shareability: Social media platforms allow users to share content with friends and followers. Businesses can take advantage of this aspect by generating shareable materials, such as blog posts or infographics, to drive more website visitors.
Advertising: Social media platforms offer advertising options that can be used to promote a business's website and drive traffic to it. For example, businesses can use Facebook ads to promote their website or use Instagram's shoppable posts to drive website traffic.
Retargeting: Social media advertising also allows businesses to retarget users who have previously visited their website. Targeting users who have previously expressed interest in a business through ads can increase website traffic.
SEO benefit: Regularly posting on social media can boost a company's website's SEO by increasing its visibility on search engine results pages. This results in an increase in organic search traffic.

It is essential to remember that social media plays a vital role in driving traffic to the website. However, it's crucial to have a well-designed and user-friendly website. An effective digital marketing strategy, including content marketing and SEO tactics, can also help.

The impact of social media on search engine optimization (SEO)

Social media can significantly impact search engine optimization (SEO) for businesses. Here are a few ways social media can impact SEO:

Backlinks: Social media platforms can source backlinks to a business's website. Having backlinks from authoritative sources can boost a website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERP).
Increased Visibility: Social media platforms have a large user base, and by actively posting on these platforms, businesses can increase their visibility and reach a broader audience. This can lead to more website visitors and increased traffic, boosting the website's ranking on SERP.
Brand Signals: Social media can also help businesses establish their brand. Search engines such as Google use brand signals as a ranking factor. So the more popular a brand is on social media, the more likely it is to rank higher on SERP.
Keyword Optimization: Social media platforms allow businesses to optimize their posts for keywords, including keywords in post titles, captions, and hashtags; companies can help their posts to rank higher on SERP.
User Signals: Social media activity can also influence user signals, such as click-through rate (CTR) and dwell time. User signals are an important ranking factor that search engines use to determine the relevance of a website so by engaging users and keeping them on the website for longer, businesses can improve their user signals and ultimately boost their ranking on SERP.
Voice and video search optimization: With more and more people consuming content in the form of voice and video, social media platforms are providing options for businesses to optimize for voice and video search by providing captions and transcripts for videos and audio files

Social media marketing provide measurable results

One of the key benefits of social media marketing is the ability to measure the results and success of campaigns. With various tools and metrics available, businesses can track engagement, reach, lead generation, and conversions and adjust their strategy accordingly to optimize their campaigns.

There are also tools such as social media management tools that can help you manage and monitor all aspects of your social media from a singular dashboard.

Understanding the measurable results of social media marketing can help businesses make data-driven decisions and ultimately improve the ROI of their campaigns.

Metrics for measuring social media marketing campaign success

There are several metrics available for measuring the success of a social media marketing campaign. These metrics can be broadly grouped into four categories: engagement, reach, lead generation, and conversion.

Engagement Metrics: These metrics measure the level of interaction between a business and its audience. Examples include likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates. Engagement metrics are a good indicator of the effectiveness of a campaign in generating interest and encouraging participation.
Reach Metrics: These metrics measure the number of people who have seen a business's content. Examples include the number of followers, the number of post views, and the number of impressions. Reach metrics are a good indicator of the campaign's ability to reach a target audience.
Lead Generation Metrics: These metrics measure the number of leads generated from a campaign. Lead generation metrics are a good indicator of the campaign's ability to generate leads that can be converted into customers. Examples include the number of form submissions, the number of email sign-ups, and the number of phone calls.
Conversion Metrics: These metrics measure the number of conversions from a campaign. Conversion metrics are a good indicator of the campaign's ability to deliver results. Examples include the number of sales, the number of app installs, or the number of subscriptions.

Different campaigns and social media platforms may have different measurement options. Tools such as social media monitoring tools can easily assist you in keeping a close eye on these numbers.

Also, some metrics are more relevant to some businesses than others. For example, a B2B business may focus more on lead generation metrics, while an e-commerce business may focus more on.

Best Social Media Analytics Tools

Several tools and software are available for tracking and analyzing social media performance. These tools can help businesses measure the effectiveness of their social media campaigns, identify areas for improvement, make data-driven decisions, schedule content, and so much more. Some popular examples include

Hootsuite Insights: Hootsuite Insights is a social media analytics tool that allows businesses to measure the performance of their social media campaigns across multiple platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It provides detailed metrics on engagement, reach, and conversion rates, and offers a range of analytics and reporting features.
Sprout Social: Sprout Social is a social media management tool that helps businesses to track, analyze, and optimize their social media performance. It offers a variety of analytics and reporting features, including a social media calendar and a social media inbox, as well as support for Instagram and Twitter analytics.
Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a web analytics service that allows businesses to track the performance of their website and social media campaigns. It provides detailed metrics on website traffic, including source, location, and engagement. It also allows businesses to track conversions and e-commerce sales.
Buffer Analyze: Buffer Analyze is a social media analytics tool that allows businesses to track their social media performance across multiple platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. It provides metrics on engagement, reach, and conversion rates and offers a range of analytics and reporting features.
Simply Measured: Simply Measured is a social media analytics and reporting tool that allows businesses to track the performance of their social media campaigns across multiple platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It provides detailed metrics on engagement, reach, and conversion rates and offers a range of analytics and reporting features.

These are just a few examples of the many social media management tools and software available for tracking and analyzing social media performance.

It’s also worth noting that some of these tools also double as social media marketing tools, so that just goes to show how versatile an option they can be for any business looking for a 360 solution to tackling their social media management.

The key is to choose the right tool that fits the business's needs and goals. Some tools offer different features and functionalities, and the prices range from free to paid versions. It's essential to test and evaluate different tools and software to identify the best option for the business.

Conclusion

So, these are the benefits of the social media marketing that can help you to unlock your business potential.

Social media marketing offers a wide range of benefits for businesses. It allows them to increase brand awareness, generate leads, improve customer service and engagement, boost website traffic and drive sales.

Social media also allows businesses to reach a wider audience, target specific demographics, and interact with customers in real-time.

With the increasing number of people using social media, it has become a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their target audience, build relationships and promote their products or services.

Therefore, it is strongly recommended that businesses consider incorporating social media into their marketing strategy to capitalize on its benefits fully. By creating a strong presence on social media, businesses can reach a wider audience, improve their ROI and ultimately drive growth.

Benefits of Social Media Marketing: The Key to Unlocking Your Business's Potential