The importance of organic social media.
Regardless of the size of your business, small or large, social media gives you the ability to connect with your customers, increase brand awareness, and establish yourself as an industry expert. If you’re questioning the importance of ‘getting on the social media bandwagon’ here’s some key reasons why social media needs to be an integral part of your marketing plan.
Delivering random posts on an ad hoc basis is not going to get you an effective result. Having a consistent and organised approach to your exposure is not hard, but it does take some commitment and knowing why you’re doing it is going to help you keep going!
Organic Social Media is good for business! Here’s why …
Increase your Brand Awareness
Probably the number one reason Social media is a must for your business today is Brand Awareness. Social Media gives you that unique opportunity to put yourself out there, to share your values, stories and skills, to be seen, be known, be understood. If you can deliver your unique brand attributes to your target audience they will get to know you more intimately more easily and over time will develop a connection that will ultimately lead to more sales and new customers. Staying top of mind in a world that moves quickly and changes rapidly is critical, being in front of your audience keeps you ‘on the list’ for when they are ready to purchase or talk to you.
Communicate Authority
By demonstrating industry-specific expertise you can become a voice of authority or a trusted advisor in your profession or field. By sharing your recent successes, posting forward-thinking articles, or delivering valuable industry-related content, you place yourself in front of your competitors and position yourself as an industry leader. When a customer is interested in gaining knowledge or seeking advice in your field of expertise, you will be the go-to person or business to access the information they are seeking.
Tell Your Story
Social media platforms give you an easy means to connect with your target audience on a more personal level. People do business with people, and when you share your real stories and day to day work, it helps build a personal connection that people can relate to. From a customer’s point of view, this offers insight and meaning to your business and helps develop a stronger connection, build trust and develop relationships – even before they talk to you!
It’s Cost-Effective Marketing
Social media gives you the ability to grow your business without investing heavily in marketing. Social media platforms are free platforms with millions of willing participants gobbling up content hourly. If you take the time to produce relevant, timely and insightful information, you’re going to benefit from that audience. Consistently posting interesting and relevant content that is optimized for online searches will increase your brand’s online presence.
First Impressions count
It’s well known that if someone is researching a business prior to making a purchase, one of the first places they’ll check are your social media accounts. It may well be the first impression someone gets of your brand – so you want your profiles and content to be current, relevant and professional.
Word of mouth referrals
Connections are powerful and real stories are highly impactful. It’s highly likely that someone will see your content and share that with someone they feel could benefit from your expertise. Sharing is a powerful element here. Your social media accounts are linked by a deep and powerful web of people that reach far and wide, so all it takes is one person watching what you’re out there, that can share that with someone, who shares that with someone…
Deliver value to your valued audience
Customers today are a discerning bunch. They expect more and demand more. If you’re consistently delivering value over and above what they pay you for, you’re going to build loyalty and earn respect in whatever field you operate. Taking the time to produce content that is engaging, relevant or even entertaining shows you understand them, you care and that you value their custom.
Marketing has changed, so changing the way you market is important
It’s no longer enough to do a great job. It’s not as easy as assuming you’ll be ‘on the list’ for the next project. There are plenty of people with far less experience than you churning out oodles of content grabbing the limelight and potentially stealing your clients. It’s now a critical part of business to be seen where people expect to see you – and that’s online. Sure, social media only plays a part in the digital marketing world, but it is the most accessible, affordable and consistent way of being seen, being known and being understood.
And don’t give up, you never know who’s watching you …
Whilst you can sometimes question the effectiveness of your activities, it’s worthwhile remembering that most people who are viewing your material are not going to engage. Of course, encouraging engagement is great, but there are people who just won’t. And those people are very likely to be ones who one day will turn around and contact you with insight into how much they have appreciated and valued your content – and are NOW READY TO TALK TO YOU! I call them silent stalkers – and they are there – watching you …
- If you’re keen to get going or improve your Social Media content, but a little unsure of how to produce the best content, here are some tips that will help you get started Content Strategy Simplified
- If you are interested in visual identity checkout this article Are you delivering Your Brand with Confidence
- To gain more insight into our Branding process follow this link to The Brand Plan
If you would like more information or assistance with your content strategy we are here to help you with this, email me at sandy@elephantcreativedesign.com
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