6 Benefits of Social Media Marketing in 2020

Maybe you’re a social media specialist in desperate need of reinforcement. You’ve answered, “What’s the value of social media for our company?” one too many times – this week.

Or maybe you’re a CMO or the VP of Marketing struggling to understand the real value of social media marketing. You fall short on how social media marketing attributes to the bottom line.

Regardless of your position or your brand, everyone reading this has one big thing in common: Your customers will go through a journey to reach a conversion.

The customer buying journey is why it’s important to view social media from a user-focused lens, because that’s what the social media landscape is made of – people. These people – some of which are your target audience – are the main reason why you should be leveraging social media in an effective way for your brand. Here are the six benefits of social media marketing.

Benefit #1 – Brand Awareness

The customer journey starts with brand awareness. Once consumers know your brand exists, they can begin the journey down the funnel to purchase. Until that moment, your company doesn’t exist in a consumer’s world. Social media is a fantastic place to build awareness, because of the number of users and the bang for your advertising buck (CPMs are typically lower than traditional advertising). Unlike traditional marketing like commercials and billboards, you get to decide who specifically sees your brand and get exact metrics on just how many of those people you reached.

Most social media platforms allow you to build audiences of specific demographics, interests, and behaviors – and Facebook & Instagram even let you add people that are not already familiar with your brand. Creating content for these audiences & then putting some dollars behind that content to get it in front of these folks is one of (if not the most) effective way to get the first brand touchpoint your business needs.

Pro tip: Your brand doesn’t need to be on every social media platform. If you’re building your brand from ground zero, focus on the social media platforms that your target audience are most likely using. If you don’t know which platforms your target audience is using, Sprout Social has a demographic breakdown of popular social media sites.

Benefit #2– Brand Authenticity & Credibility

What says ‘spam’ louder than an email subject line that starts with “100% free…”? A business or brand with zero social media presence. No matter your company or product, you can be sure that people are searching for your brand or engaging in conversations about your industry on social media.

Use your brand’s Social Media channels to establish credibility, trust, and provide a space for users to learn more about your brand. Think of them as an extension of your website.

Not sure what to post about? Check out our Lifestyle Digital Marketing Guide that focuses on how to build content that speaks to your tribe.

Benefit #3 – 24/7 Opportunity for Engagement

You can’t click on a billboard or have a conversation with a magazine ad. Well, you can, but people might start looking at you funny.

Social Media platforms provide a space where your customers can connect and converse with you (and other customers) whenever is convenient for them. In our new 2020 virtual world, managing, engaging, and monitoring these conversations have become more important than ever.

Connecting and building relationships with your customers online is expected out of users nowadays. Use our Social Media Engagement Checklist to nail down the best way to go about this and make your strategy as effective as possible.

Benefit #4 – Creepin’ Just Got Easier

Social media platforms provide access to a lot of user data. Facebook, for example, provides insightful data about your audience, including the ability to compare how your followers’ demographics or behaviors measure up to all Facebook users.

Using Audience Insights to dive into Volume Nine’s Facebook followers, we see that they’re more likely to like a page, comment, react to a post or click on an ad, than the average Facebook user.

For more details about Facebook Audience Insights, visit Facebook’s blog.

Benefit #5 – Inbound Traffic

Social media platforms are another outlet for consumers to link back to your site. As an added SEO bonus, quality traffic from social sites sends positive triggers to Google, which means increased organic exposure in search results.

In this client case study from Vitamin World, we amplified branded blog content to a targeted audience on Facebook and Instagram. We saw high engagement on both social platforms and an 89% increase in site traffic.

Benefit #6 – Conversions

You’ve shared your brand story through a Facebook post, you’ve targeted your customers with a well-crafted blog article that’s right up their alley, and now they’re visiting your site. Use your social media marketing to seal the conversion deal through a retargeting ad campaign optimized for conversions or an organic post with a direct response focus. The opportunity to get your message in front of people in the final stages of their journey is available to you on social media. Use this power wisely.

Hopefully, these benefits have informed and inspired you! Want specific examples of how social media marketing can help support your business goals? Contact us today!