5 Benefits of Social Media Marketing

Good marketing meets consumers where they’re at. Increasingly, consumers are on social media. According to Yahoo Small Business, Facebook is the most visited website of all websites. Consumers of all types are wandering around in social media spheres—market yourself in those spheres, and you make your company visible to them.

Social media marketing isn’t a passing fad. According to Convince and Convert, 56% of Americans have a profile on a social networking site, up from 48% in 2010. If you want to give your company an edge in today’s market, a social media presence is a must. Most of your competitors are already plugged in, pulling potential customers from your goods and services. A good marketing strategy will make use of social media.

Here are some ways social media marketing can help your business:

1.     Increase Brand Visibility

Visibility is a key aspect of social media marketing. Display your content on social media and suddenly you’re accessible to a tremendously wide audience. Customers who may have never heard of your business might see you on Facebook or Twitter. Or conversely, a customer who has heard of you before might simply become more familiar with your brand because of its social media presence. Either way, your product becomes more visible, and over time, more familiar and recognizable.

2.     Humanize Your Brand

Social media provides companies with a way to speak directly to customers. With each comment, share, and like on your social media accounts comes an opportunity to engage and build a relationship. For instance, if a customer walks away with a negative experience and posts about it later, this provides a unique chance to reach out, apologize, and offer ways to make their experience better. These kinds of interactions improve trust and credibility, dramatically increasing the odds that they will come back and even recommend your company to other people.

3.     Increase Traffic

Every person who visits your site could become a potential customer. The trick, then, is to get as many people to your site as possible. Normally, the only traffic for your site comes from people who already know of your company, or from people searching keywords your business ranks for—unless, of course, you have social media profiles. Think of social media profiles as roots, and your website as the trunk. The more well-established roots you have spread in different places, the more nutrients reach the trunk. Every social media profile you have is essentially another pathway to your site.

4.     Improve Search Engine Rankings

Search engine optimization, often referred to as SEO, is the practice of improving how well a site ranks in a search engine. Social media is becoming more and more important in SEO, so that companies with excellent social media presences often rank higher than those without. As evidence of Google taking social media seriously: recently, Twitter teamed up with Google, making it possible for specific tweets to show up in Google searches. If nothing else, this is good for the future of social media marketing. Basically, because strong brands tend to be social media powerhouses, the Google search engine algorithm places a lot of value on a strong social media presence. So if ranking well on search engines is important to you, social media marketing is nothing less than required.

5.     Understand Your Customers

In any industry, having an excellent understanding of your customer base is crucial. Essentially, social media provides an easier, more intimate way to do just that. You can look at what customers are saying about you directly and gain a better understanding of the public’s thought towards your company. What topics gain the most interest and interaction? Gather information. Adapt to their needs. Find out what questions your customers have and answer them. Social media is the most efficient and effective way to learn from and engage with customer voice.

About Bigfin.com

Bigfin.com LLC is an industry leader in online advertising, SEO and custom web design. Our comprehensive digital marketing solutions include social media management as well as social media advertising on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn and other social outlets. Looking for mobile website solutions or help with search engine marketing? Contact us online or by phone at 425-822-8200.