Five reasons to get serious about social media

We’re now a long, long way past the point where social media is considered the preserve of teenagers, bored young adults and a few brave businesses. Those who incorporated it into their marketing strategies used to be regarded as trailblazers; but these days, it’s the norm. If you’re not using it, you risk appearing out of touch.

And your target audience will definitely notice, as they’ve evolved too. Businesses and consumers alike depend on social media for useful information and visual treasures to share. Facebook now has over a billion active users every month, while 255 million use Twitter. That’s far too big an audience to disregard – so make sure you’re not lagging behind the pack.

Like any other medium, investment tends to produce the best results. Most social channels – Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, etc. – have a range of advertising options for all sizes of budget; and they’re flexible to allow for testing different approaches.

Still not convinced? We’ve got five big reasons why you should be. We love social media because you can…

1) Create a buzz around your products and services

If you’re clever about how you use images and other media, your social audience will do your advertising for you, by sharing innovative, appealing or amusing content among their peers (both business and personal) – and learning about your products and services in the process. Asda’s Mum’s Eye View channel on YouTube is a great example of this.

2) Tailor campaigns for your audience

Social media users are a diverse bunch, representing all age groups, genders and tastes. You can focus your attention on the people you most want to target by selecting preferences based on users’ profile information and online interests.

3) Focus on the channels that are most suitable for your brand

Different products and services work better on different channels. For image-rich campaigns, there’s Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. For clever words and quick high-profile references, there’s Twitter. For videos, there’s YouTube (or Facebook again). Audiences can also vary, with younger users tending to prefer Snapchat, businesses opting for LinkedIn and Google+ and mainstream masses comfortable with Facebook.

4) Monitor your return on investment and control costs

As well as generally observing the number of followers and interactions your posts and profile generate, you can also obtain genuinely useful marketing statistics to monitor how well your brand is performing across different channels – and how much progress you’re making. This includes your social performance index (SPI), which comprises your awareness quotient (AQ), engagement quotient (EQ) and attribute scores. Our eguide explains these in more detail.

5) Connect with other marketing channels

Your social media profiles and posts are also a gateway to your other marketing mediums, directing users to your website or real-life outlets; or perhaps to sign up for a regular email newsletter. They’re also an extension of your offline marketing, acting as a forum for discussion around your brand and what you offer – just like this cheeky ad from Carlsberg. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are also an ideal place to offer incentives that can be shared more widely, thus increasing traffic and general engagement with your customers (both existing and potential).

Want to know more? Take a look at our eguide: The importance of investing in social media.