According to some of the latest stats, there are some 3.2 billion people on social media. This equates to 42% of the population. 54% of social media browsers use these platforms to research products. This means that social media marketing is extremely powerful for brands and getting their message out to potential customers.

The conversational pull of social media

The question has to be asked as to why social media marketing is so powerful. Social media is all about contacting consumers directly. It’s about having a conversation that’s unique to them. It’s not about the ‘old school’ spray and pray approach to marketing where marketers put together a generic message with the hopes that  it will reach favourable ears who would respond to it.

Through social media, consumers are able to contact brands and tell them what they think of certain promotional material and why it’s effective or ineffective. Brands are able to strike up conversations with their target market and make the customers see that their opinions matter to them and shape their business practice.

Low budgets produce great results with social media marketing

With the advent of social media, big brands no longer have the advantage when it comes to advertising. Small brands can just as effectively put out successful campaigns on social media channels that rival – and may surpass – those put out by big brands.

The secret lies in defining the objectives of the campaign well and devising innovative ways and means that you can use in order to carry these objectives out. During this process, you will need to figure out how much you can afford to spend on the campaign and stick very closely to this budget.

For example, Burger Revolution – which is a stand-alone burger restaurant in Ontario, Canada – has a board in their restaurant where customers can post comments about their experiences at the restaurant. The marketing goal of Burger Revolution is to reach local customers and to make their current customers into repeat customers.

One of their ongoing social media campaigns is to take one of the comments which were posted and to post these on social media. This activity – which doesn’t cost that much – proves to be highly effective at spreading the positive experiences of current customers with a view to attracting new ones.

Real-time responses

Social media gives customers real-time access to the brands. This is especially powerful with respect to customer relationship management (CRM) and customer complaints. People are able to contact the brand and are directed, within a matter of minutes, to the right person who will solve their problem. Sitting on the phone to the customer complaints line for hours on end – or sending emails which never get answered – becomes a thing of the past.

However, brands need to be very careful when using social media as a CRM tool. A disgruntled customer may post a complaint on your public-facing social media feed and not send you a private message. How you respond to this communication is available for everyone to see. So if you respond negatively to the customer, this communication will be available for all to view

Remember that all communication on social media is in the public forum so make sure that you are happy for everything that you post to be publicly visible.

If you’re not prioritising social media marketing in your business, you need to do so. This type of marketing doesn’t have to cost the earth. However, what you do need to do is to make sure that your messaging is clear and that you are consistent with what you put out.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

The Digital School of Marketing’s Social Media Marketing Course is the best course available to teach you the ins and outs of social media marketing. From teaching you the fundamentals of  how each platform works to giving you hints and tips on what to post, the course has it all! For more information about this and our other online digital marketing courses, visit our website.