Social media has more to offer than just socializing with people online or providing folks with something to kill time with as they browse through their newsfeed. It does more than connect people and showcase pretty pictures and viral videos.
It also has the ability — the power — to boost a business’ success rate and significantly increase its bottom line.
Pandemic-induced Revolution
Because of COVID, what was supposed to be a near-future digital transformation and transition became a present reality. The pandemic has accelerated the process by as early as five years, with projections for 2025 taking place in the latter part of 2020. In fact, in Southeast Asia, forecasts made for 2025 have been exceeded by what took place in the past 12 months.
Analysts and experts have long been predicting a time when almost everything will be done online. The only thing is they didn’t see it taking place this soon. The pandemic sped up what was initially seen as an inevitable occurrence, given the technological advancements we see today.
Pivoting Businesses with Social Media
As businesses closed their physical stores since COVID spread worldwide, they have opened their doors to online shops since then. However, most newbies found that merely transitioning to a virtual shop does not guarantee that people will come in droves. They soon realized that to establish a strong online presence, they would need the help of social media and tap into its practically limitless powers.
And tap into social media they did.
Studies have been made about how utilizing social media platforms has increased traffic and sales to different businesses. The top five social media platforms that were vital to their newfound success are Facebook (89%), LinkedIn (83%), YouTube (81%), Twitter (80%), and Instagram (56%). Social media marketers believe in the positive influence that social media can bring to increase a company’s sales and revenue.
Making Social Media Work
Business owners who are agile enough to quickly adapt to the pandemic-induced changes are surviving and thriving during this season. One of their main weapons is the proper use of social media to market whatever goods or services they are selling. Many of them have even effectively merged the use of content marketing, SEO campaigns, and social media to put them at the forefront of people’s minds, not to mention their newsfeed.
Getting on social media is not enough, though. It has to be utilized properly to ensure optimum results. There’s more to social media than just posting stuff online. Business owners need to understand that they need to work for social media to work for them. With no clear social media marketing strategy in place, all the time, money, and effort in the world will go to waste.
Social media marketers recommend trying the following:
Spread the word about the business or brand
Social media is quite helpful in boosting a brand’s visibility. If a business has a strong digital marketing strategy, it can use social media to improve its online presence and reach out to more people.
Become an expert in the industry
Becoming an expert in the industry does not require one to know everything about it. They need to know enough to educate the people about their line of business, making them more familiar with how the industry works and how the particular brand can meet people’s needs. That being said, people will look at the type of content a business publishes if it is relevant to them or not.
Keep things real
While businesses are expected to be formal and professional, it doesn’t necessarily have to be uptight regarding social media. A brand needs to find its voice and personality and should work around those two. People are looking for authenticity, and giving the brand an authentic voice, one that isn’t pretentious and too formal, will add some charm and appeal to the brand.
Create a genuine connection with the target market
Understandably, businesses will turn to social media primarily to market their brand, but it doesn’t have to be used exclusively for that. Social media platforms are great ways to engage both existing and potential customers, get honest feedback, and connect with them on a more personal level. Marketing is not always about in-your-face advertising.
Provide customer support
Gone are the days when customers would need to pick up a phone and call a hotline for product-related concerns. With instant messaging features on social media platforms, customers can go to a brand’s official account and send them a direct message. Experts recommend using these channels to provide quality customer support eliminating the need to pick up a phone or send an email.
In the world we live in today, social media is no longer considered a past-time but something that’s highly essential in businesses. With the right marketing plan and social media strategy, any business owner will enjoy its benefits despite the present global pandemic.
