Social media has absolutely transformed the world we live in. This is no different when it comes to marketing. Social media certainly changed how companies alert consumers of their products and services. If you want to compete in the modern business landscape, something you can’t ignore is social media marketing. Below are six of the reasons why it must be part of your marketing mix.
1. Social Media Is How Modern Consumers Communicate
In the past, there were significant barriers that prevented consumer word of mouth from reaching too far outside the confines of a specific locale. While traditional media like radio, television, and print certainly could act as a conduit for allowing consumer trends to reach a national audience, it is nothing like the direct one-on-one communication between consumers without barriers that social media grants its users. Even more important is the fact that so much of the world’s consumer base uses social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, and more. According to the Pew Research Center, 70 percent of Americans use social media.
2. Social Media Marketing Is Cost Effective
Most traditional marketing platforms have a high barrier to entry. Getting your ad into a magazine, the airwaves or even a billboard can be extremely expensive. In most cases, the budget needed is much more than most small businesses can manage. However, social media marketing is a great equalizer in this regard. Unless you consider your own internal labor costs, it is typically completely free to set up a social media account and use it to spread your marketing messages. While there are paid options like “sponsored” tweets or posts, you don’t necessarily need to utilize such options to reach a huge audience on social media.
3. It Allows You to Perform Social Selling
One of the best strategies for utilizing social media to get a really good bang for your marketing dollar is through the utilization of social selling. Social selling is the development of relationships regarding social media interactions that can later bare fruit in regards to converting those social media users into paying customers through additional interactions. For example, Linkedin social selling can take advantage of the LinkedIn messaging application to attract relevant industry professionals to your business. Due to LinkedIn’s focus on professionals, social selling through the platform will allow you to better target that demographic than pretty much anywhere else on the internet.
4. Influencers Are the New Celebrities
You should also keep in mind the nature of pop culture is changing in tandem with the shift toward social media and away from traditional media. In the past, ads with celebrities from film, television, and the sports page went a long way toward attracting trend-conscious consumers and those hooked on those media platforms. Today, however, social media influencers hold that same position. Influencers, in this context, refer to famous or remarkable users of social media accounts that have garnered large lists of followers and great influence in regard to pitching products through their accounts. In many ways, consumers trust influencers more than traditional celebrities because they feel a stronger and closer connection to them through social media platforms.
5. Social Media Gives You Direct Access to Individual Consumers
In many ways, consumers tend to feel that traditional advertisements have no direct connection to them in a personal way. This is understandable and inherent in how they are created. A television commercial, for example, is just broadcast to a consumer whether they want to see it or not. No interactivity is involved. The commercial is the same whether they like the content or not. Social media, however, is completely different. Instead, a social media representative can directly interact with individual social media users on a one-on-one basis. They can talk to them through social media posts and even address individual complaints. Social Media is a game changer in this regard.
6. Social Media Is Here to Stay
It is true that the face of social media has changed over the years. Platforms like MySpace and Tumblr have fallen by the wayside to be replaced by newer social media networks like TikTok. While the platforms may change over time, social media is certain to stay a fixture in people’s lives. As such, it would be foolish to not include social media in any healthy marketing mix for all your campaigns. However, do the research to ensure that your target demographic actually uses the social media platforms you are considering.
Closing Thoughts
If you want to be successful in the modern business landscape, you can’t ignore the importance of social media marketing. Social media has become a fixture in most people’s lives, and it will continue to maintain that important for the indefinite time being. It also has many benefits in regard to cost-effectiveness, reach into the market, direct access to individual consumers, and more. Utilize options like social selling to reach the consumers you need to sell your products.
