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In the modern business market, it is very important that customers see your brand as something more than just a for-profit entity. Social marketing is a way that your company can harness the full power of the internet and use it to improve the public perception of your brand. Social marketing can be a component of a larger digital marking strategy that helps you establish market share, improve profitability, and encourage future customers to discover your place of business. Read on to learn more about how your business can take full advantage of social marketing.

5 Ways to Use Social Marketing to Find Customers

It has never been easier for people to express an opinion. Social media has given everyone a platform, and individuals use their platforms to express their endorsement of their favorite brands, or their dissatisfaction with various areas of injustice. Social media can be used to raise awareness for important causes, and it allows observers to place their fingers on the pulse of public perception. Unfortunately, social media can also be fickle and chaotic, and the issue that trends in the morning might be completely forgotten by the late afternoon.

Learning how to navigate surging trends in social media is only a small part of incorporating social marketing into an overall brand concept. Although enthusiasm for causes can wax and wane, it always represents a means of securing significant engagement and brand awareness. Social marketing offers the opportunity for a business to achieve the dual purpose of gaining visibility while providing value in a targeted subject area.

1. Building A Community

One of the most important concepts in digital marketing is that of building a community. As a business, you have the organizational structure that individuals who are operating independently on social media platforms lack. People have an inherent need to feel that they are a part of a larger cause, and that they are working together as a team, in pursuit of a common goal. A business has resources such as an advertising budget that it can use to help promote a larger cause, which makes a casual partnership between a brand and social media influencers highly attractive.

Customers that see your business as an ally in a social justice issue will develop a strong loyalty to your brand. Other individuals who are interested in the cause or mission will naturally seek the community that your brand proliferates. Establishing this kind of brand loyalty creates a wide net of individuals who will give extra attention to any communication or advertising that comes from your marketing team. Building a community, or tribe (as its often referred as), around your brand helps ensure a positive response and, thus, a greater chance of success for any marketing campaign you might launch.

2. Encouraging Engagement

Word of mouth recommendations are among the most trusted endorsements any business can cultivate. Advertising attempts to engender a feeling of trust and fairness among potential customers. However, people are subjected to a great number of advertisements on a daily basis, and they are often met with skepticism no matter how high the quality of the campaign. When a brand or a business earns an endorsement from a friend or relative, the message is much more likely to be heard and acted upon.

Social media engagement on posts is a fantastic way for a business to get exposure to new customer groups. Posts that are shared, liked, or commented on by existing customers are then seen by the friends of that customer. This is a form of “social proof” that consumers value and trust, even more-so than corporate marketing by itself.  These friends are likely to share similar interests and are likely to be interested in your service or product. Creating social media advertising strategies that encourage engagement help significantly improve the reach of your campaigns, specifically among the groups most likely to be converted into new customers.

3. Campaign Improvement Based on Analytical Data

Social marketing and digital advertising allow businesses to take advantage of a huge amount of customer data. You’ll be able to extract reports that provide detailed information about every component of your ads, including engagement and effectiveness. These reports help create a very accurate assessment of how people behave, which you might even discover is in conflict with their stated expectations and preferences. The result is that you can use analytical reports for extremely accurate projections of customer behavior.

Behavioral data is always more accurate than evaluation forms, and analytical tools provide very powerful insights. Businesses can use these reports to learn the expectations of customers and, more precisely, tailor their services to suit customer needs. These reports can also help businesses create the kind of advertising campaigns that will lead to more engagement, greater sharing, and better exposure to new customer groups. The better your understanding of your customer’s wants and needs, the better able you are to provide superior service.

4. Ensure a Superior Online Reputation

Online reputation management is a critical factor for any business to consider. Think of your business’s online reputation as a worldwide discussion that involves your business or brand. A good online reputation acts like a magnet that constantly draws in new customers. A bad reputation can drive customers away before you ever have a chance to prove the quality of your service.

Positive stories shared by loyal customers that involve your brand’s activism with important social causes create a very beneficial online reputation. Every business does its best to maintain a high standard of customer interaction, but negative reviews can spring up despite a company’s most diligent efforts. Ensuring that there is always a healthy wellspring of positive buzz around your brand helps minimize the effect of any negative press. This helps guarantee the constant influx of new customers.

5. Targeted Marketing

Traditional marketing used to operate on a spray and pray philosophy with the idea that maximizing reach would maximize results. Modern digital marketing is more cost-effective. Analyzing data allows advertisers to launch smaller campaigns that are targeted at the specific groups that are most likely to be responsive to the information. Social marketing gives your brand another critical area of relevant keywords, interests, and behaviours that can help you identify, nurture, and recruit new customers. The result is a more effective marketing strategy that provides a higher return on investment.

Social Marketing: Embrace the Trends, Don’t Fight Them

Today more than ever, everyone has an opinion, and they are not afraid to share them. Ideas can spread like wildfire across the internet, creating a huge amount of visibility from organic enthusiasm. Social causes can lift people out of their lethargy and encourage them to rally their local base of influence. Marketing strategies that can harness the willingness of individuals to support an important cause can help a business earn a positive reputation, improve brand visibility, and have constant access to new groups of potential customers.

There is a growing expectation among consumers that businesses need to provide some sort of social benefit beyond their business interests. With the fickle nature of the internet and the speed at which negative news stories can expand in visibility, it’s important for all businesses to protect themselves by getting involved in community and social causes. A proactive approach helps ensure a positive reputation and can be used to expand the potential customer base of a brand. To learn more about how a social marketing strategy can benefit your business, contact Evolve One Media today.