Why Your Brand Needs to Invest in Social Media in the New Year

In 2019, 73% of small businesses used social media marketing to increase traffic, generate leads, and create strong connections with their audience. That number continues to rise today as the number of users has grown well beyond 3.7 billion. Read on for 5 ways you can expect to see ROI from social media!

INCREASE BRAND AWARENESS + RECOGNITION

When consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z,  first hear about a brand, they’re likely to go straight to social media if they’re interested in learning more. 

But what about consumers that have never heard of your brand? Increasing brand awareness starts with meeting your current and potential audience where they’re already at. 

A solid social media strategy can help you create organic social media content and paid advertisements that puts your brand in front of the right audience at the right time with the right messaging. When this happens time and time again, brand recognition is built and an engaged community begins to form. 

Don’t just take it from us, here’s what the stats say:

• About 90% of marketers claimed that social media generated immense exposure for their company

• 55% of consumers learn about new brands on social

• 81% of consumers research a business on the internet before buying from them.

FOSTER AN ENGAGED COMMUNITY

A recent study found that 89% of people that follow a brand on social media will ultimately end up purchasing from that brand. How do we get these followers to stick around long enough to eventually convert?

The answer? Quality content and an engaging community. 

Let’s circle back to the Know, Like, Trust Factor and why fostering community is important. Before you can convert an audience, you must come to know the audience and the audience must come to know you as the brand. When you show up consistently and provide value, users will share about you, resulting in more users coming to know you. Once they know you, they will start to like you. Once they start to like you, they will start to trust you. And where there is trust, there is a sale on the horizon. Check out this graphic for a nice visual representation of this growth process!

Don’t just take it from us, here’s what the stats say:

• Over 51% of marketers claimed that taking the time to develop relationships with consumers showed positive results in sales.

• 78% of consumers are willing to buy from a company after having a positive experience with them on social

INCREASE SITE TRAFFIC + SALES

Social media is an effective way to direct consumers to your online shop (or sell directly on the platform via Facebook and Instagram Shopping). Consider your social media like a digital handshake inviting users to your website. If consumers like what they see on social media, they’re likely to get to know you even further by heading over to your site or storefront. 

Think about it like window shopping, where social media is the window display and your website is the inside of the store. Your social media should be a beautiful sneak peek enticing people to come inside and see all that your website really has to offer. When you fully understand your audience and have a solid social media strategy in place, you can put together irresistible content and copy that will resonate enough for them to head to your website to learn more.

Don’t just take it from us, here’s what the stats say:

• 3 out of 4 people look to social media before purchasing from a company.

• More than 50% of marketers using social media for at least two years report it helped improve sales.

IT IS COST-EFFECTIVE

Organic and paid social media tends to be significantly more cost effective than “traditional” marketing methods, like television or newspaper ads. Plus, when you pay for social media management, you’re often not only paying for the content, but also customer support. Investing in social media creates a direct line to support customers’ needs and overall satisfaction with your brand through interpersonal dialogue.

Don’t just take it from us, here’s what the stats say:

• In a recent cross channel media costs comparison, the CPM of various media channels were measured and social media ranked the most cost-effective.

• 63% of users expect customer service via social media and more than ⅓ turn to social media to voice their concerns

INVALUABLE DATA

Lastly, social media analytics provides invaluable customer data that your brand can leverage when making future business decisions. Insights from social media include, but are not limited to, your audience’s age, gender, location, the kind of content that resonates best with them, and more. A recent survey revealed that 72% of companies use social media data like this to inform business decisions.

We hope you found this blog post helpful in learning more about the return your brand can expect to see from investing in social media. If you’re ready to invest in social for your brand, fill out our intake form here to learn more about our services.
In the meantime, we’ll catch ya on the ‘Gram and in our weekly social media newsletter. Chat soon!

xx- The Homies