Businesses are faced with more social media platform options that ever before and it is imperative that they are analyzing which one could serve as a brand enhancement. This starts with a proper understanding of each of the channels and accurate customer metrics. Having this understanding of the platform’s competitive differentiator and how it can be best utilized to position a product or enhance a brand is very important with staying relevant in today’s fast evolving marketing environment. Organization’s marketing departments are moving from a silo of advertising and non-interactive communication toward becoming a natural part of the sales cycle and an extension of customer service.
I do not believe an organization should only choose one social media channel, but I do believe each channel should have a specific purpose and implementable plan. Yes, there are particular instances when one strong platform will work for an organization, but as a rule of thumb it is going to be far more effective to have multiple channels.
Here are the primary two reasons I feel multiple channels are important:
1. Increased visibility and exposure to target audiences
Over 80% of all Americans have active social media accounts. With these staggering numbers of people to potentially reach out to on these platforms, social media has become a major area of potential increase in both revenue and visibility that is possible. Connecting with popular pages on different social media platforms, that are relevant to your industry, can also provide a big boost to your visibility.
The more online visibility your company has, the more likely people within your target market will look to you for necessary products or services. In its simplest sense, online visibility refers to how easy it is for consumers to find your company and its products in relevant online locations.
2. Each social media platform has a competitive differentiator
To get this part right, you really do need to know your audience by analyzing metrics pertinent to the specific medium. Is your product or service very visual? Perhaps Pinterest would be best. Do you have constant updates or like to engage in ongoing discussions about your field? Twitter may be best. If you are B2B, then LinkedIn is a good place for you.
To be effective, an organization’s social media strategy needs to be a part of brand at large, and it rarely works as a standalone campaign. One way social media advertising has changed the landscape of online presence is that the subscriber base on any given channel doesn’t even have to necessarily be actively searching out a related product or service. Facebook is changing the game with targeted advertising based on demographic and psychographic information while in contrast Google AdWord’s claim to fame is the massive volumes surrounding keywords. Social Media platforms can be a huge factor in generating traffic. Traffic, while not the only attribute that will help you see your profits increase, is very important for turning curious visitors into paying customers. Social media plays a vital role in generating curiosity because they are usually visual platforms. This is why brands can be very effective in increasing exposure because products are often times very visually appealing and can generate that initial click. Brand reputation is important to any company, no matter what industry it serves. Being visible is not the only thing needed to achieve this; you will also need a reputable product as well. However, making your company more findable and visible is still of the utmost importance in building your brand reputation.
As it relates to click through rate social media advertisements have been posting impressive numbers. Desktop ads have been shown to have an 8.1x higher click rate than traditional web ads while mobile ads scored even higher with a 9.1x higher click rate than normal web advertising. With these kind of numbers to back up their effectiveness, social media advertising has proven itself to be a useful marketing tool that can help you reach users beyond your current followers on social media platforms. Everyone wants to measure the volume of leads generated to get to the bottom line return on investment of social media efforts, but don’t forget about the value of the conversion rate. While the volume may not be there yet, the propensity to convert may be gold for an ecommerce focused business.
In my opinion, one of social media’s greatest value to a business can be found in customer acquisition.
Here are two examples of how this can happen in a fictitious company:
- A user clicks on a link in one of your tweets and goes to your site and converts into a new customer.
- A user clicks on a paid advertisement on Google and doesn’t convert. Then later clicks on a link in one of your tweets and goes to your site and converts to a new customer.
Depending on your business model and typical advertising expense, in the first example, the cost to generate that customer could be less than a standard customer who comes through paid advertising. In the second example, the cost will be higher than the standard customer who comes only through paid advertising, but even if it’s slightly higher for those who responded to more than one channel for lead generation, the incremental cost of social media will likely be less than trying to replace the unconverted lead with a new one.
References:
Bendror, Y. Which Social Media Channels Should I Use For My Business. Retrieved from: https://www.aabacosmallbusiness.com/advisor/social-media-channels-business-223554094.html
Newman, D. (January, 2016) Social Media Is No Longer A Marketing Channel, It's A Customer Experience Channel. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2016/01/12/social-media-is-no-longer-a-marketing-channel-its-a-customer-experience-channel/#7766a6d44967
Newman, D. (November, 2015) The Top 10 Marketing Trends That Will Define 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnewman/2015/11/03/the-top-10-marketing-trends-that-will-define-2016/#3016c9e57d58
Kelly, N. (November, 2010) 8 Social Media Metrics You Should Be Measuring. Retrieved from: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/8-social-media-metrics-you-should-be-measuring/
Ganguly, S. (March, 2015) Why Social Media Advertising Is Set To Explode In The Next 3 Years. Retrieved from: http://marketingland.com/social-media-advertising-set-explode-next-3-years-121691
Many good points. I like the way you organized this post.
ReplyDelete