It’s an interesting paradox; everyone familiar with the web understands the power and reach of social media, yet millions of businesses are still not making full use of it. Some aren’t even bothering with social media at all, which in many ways really doesn’t make sense as these are exactly the kinds of people for whom the allure of social media should be total.
In the majority of instances, minimal investment in social media marketing represents the product of simply looking to make savings, or cut outgoings. Nevertheless, when you weigh up the potential benefits of actually increasing investments in social media, it’s almost impossible to justify doing anything but.
So for those who are still unconvinced or generally procrastinating with their own social media strategies, here’s a brief outline of just some of the reasons why now’s the time to get serious with things:
Up-Close and Personal
First of all, it’s important to acknowledge the fact that to understand your target audience is to gain total power with regard to influence and appeal. Suffice to say, the fact that social media allows you to get up-close and personal with your most important prospects should be self-explanatory in its value. You don’t simply have to guess what they’re thinking, what they want, what they expect and what they’re talking about, it’s quite literally right there in front of you.
Customer Care
These days, strong customer care is regarded by consumers as in equal in importance to both value for money and product quality. The beauty of social media is the way in which it allows you to interact with and respond to your customers almost in real-time. They write posts and comments, you respond, conversation is generated and you become known as a brand that takes customer service very seriously indeed.
Behind the Curve
A quick point but an important point nonetheless, you might want to bear in mind the fact that most of your primary competitors are most likely already knocking social media of all its worth. If you’re not doing the same, you risk falling behind.
Level Playing Field
Another fantastic thing about social media from a marketing perspective is the way in which it somewhat levels the playing field for all businesses at all levels.
Regardless of how much or little you have to invest, you still get basically the same resources and templates to play with when it comes to things like Facebook and Twitter – it’s what you do with them that counts.
The Soft Sell
Social media also represents the best platform of all for practicing the art of the soft sell. You don’t directly advertise your products or try and push your promotions upon your audience members, but instead subtly make obvious that there’s no brand out there quite as ‘on the pulse’ with its customers as you are.
It’s Cheap…Or Free
Last but not least, there will of course be costs involved if you wish to hire a full- time social media manager, but as far as the social media accounts themselves go, you’d be hard-pressed to find one that will cost you even a penny. There’s really no other marketing tool or technique on the face of the earth with this kind of power that wouldn’t cost you the earth to even begin making use of.
