Social Media Branding Share your Site Worldwide
Social Media Branding
A Brand New, Effective Marketing Method
As social media marketing continues to gain popularity, traditional advertising on the other hand is slowly being phased out. New research actually indicates that more than 200 million internet users have installed some sort of ad blocking software on their browsers. This is due to the fact that most internet users hate ads popping up every now and then. Also, users no longer trust companies that employ uninventive traditional ads.
Recent statistics indicate that social media marketing is currently on the rise and is further expected to rise by approximately 12% to 15% on average and account for a larger portion of marketing portions. That’s why as an entrepreneur, embracing social media marketing is no longer optional- rather, it’s an essential requirement that will ensure the success of your business. In addition, you need to understand that nowadays, consumers tend to value the recommendations of their family, friends, and colleagues when purchasing products/services, and this often happens when they exchange opinions on social media.
In fact, long-term research indicates that approximately 71% of users who have a positive experience with a certain brand on social media don’t hesitate to recommend it to others. That’s not all. Bop Design estimates that about 80% of consumers are more likely to evaluate solutions from the brands they follow on a social media network.
Therefore, without social media branding to empower your marketing efforts, your sales and marketing team may not reach their set goals, and this may lead to the failure of your business. So as a business owner, social media marketing is not something you can ignore. If social media branding is not something you can do by yourself, you can hire professionals to do it for you. Of course, it will cost you a tidy sum on expenses, but it’s all worth it considering the immense benefits you will reap in the long-term.
Choosing the right social network
Now, with social media branding, one positive experience is not enough to win the loyalty of customers for good. The truth is that loyalty factors have been largely overshadowed by relationship factors, and social media gives you the perfect opportunity to make these factors work to your advantage. That’s why nowadays, true social branding has become all about nurturing a first-class consumer experience.
That being said, how can your business establish beneficial, long-lasting connections with your target audience? Well, first things first, you need to conduct thorough research and identify the most preferred social media platforms for target customers. It’s highly advisable to focus on networks that command a huge social following. Facebook in the case is the ideal choice, with over 2 billion monthly users consisting of approximately 75 per cent users and 83% female users.
LinkedIn may be a much better option for companies that sell their products/services to other businesses. For companies that aspire to reach prospects and customers via visual marketing, Pinterest is an excellent platform. Businesses looking to target younger internet users should consider using platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat. Therefore, it’s very important to focus on social media networks that are popular with your target audience and fearlessly face fierce competition in your niche.
Employees as Brand Representatives
Social media has facilitated a smooth, dynamic ecosystem that allows communication to be instantaneous and continuous. Over 2 billion social network users interact every single day with one million new ones joining every day. As such, brands must establish a 24/7 online presence. That’s one of the reasons why mobile-friendly blogs and websites are continually increasing in popularity.
To ensure instantaneous and continuous communication, it’s best that your employees become brand representatives so as to increase your brand awareness on relevant social networks. As brand representatives, your employees will be in a position to provide rapid responses to your customers’ questions and quick solutions for their problems. And considering that customers consume a substantial amount of digital content which does an incredible job establishing trust and spreading your brand awareness, it’s also important to ensure that the content serves their needs and interests, is educational, fun, and free.
Establish the right content strategies
As much as increasing your brand awareness on social networks is important, the kind of content you provide either on your blog or website must resonate with the audience and suit their best interests and passions. The truth is, content strategies and calendars have become important elements that either make or destroy social media branding. Either way, it’s important to note that visual content is 40 times more likely to be shared on social media networks. Also, visual content is a great way to spice up your content strategy and enhance your brand, increase your reach, and earn more new business. And remember that every single post and piece of content should support your main agenda as well as social game plan.
Even after applying the right content strategies, you cannot overlook the aspect of measuring results, which is one problem that remains a challenge in digital marketing. In fact, about a third of digital marketers say they have no idea how their social media content strategies impact on their businesses performance. It’s therefore important to measure key performance indicators like the conversion rate. There are certain tools that can help you achieve this.
Conclusion
Social media accounts are basically the pride of brands’ online persona. They make excellent customer service tools that drive engagement and effectively amplify marketing messages. So if you’ve been underutilizing these social networks, you are definitely missing out on so much. And remember that staying responsive and attentive will help increase your brand awareness and delight your customers with an exceptional experience. Also, be sure to use social media platforms for other forms of communications that can help take your branding efforts to the next level.
Any questions or ideas? Please leave a comment 🙂
Farid
