Social media has become so pervasive in the last decade that two out of three internet users worldwide are active on it; 2.7 hours per day on social media.
Most businesses today recognize social media’s ability to influence and build personal relationships with users. So most businesses are on the social media networks that matter to their customers. Despite the hype, social media marketing still involves posting a few updates daily and responding to customer comments as they come in.
You can do so much more with this versatile medium with so little effort. Here are some things you can do with social media that you couldn’t do otherwise:
- Gain a thorough understanding of each client
- Influence their thinking
- Co-create content with your clients
- Attract local users with superior geo-targeting
-
Gain a thorough understanding of each client
Yes, I know you already do this. If not, you should start right away. Social media tracks your followers’ every move and provides rich demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data. So social media allows you to truly know your users. Knowing their preferred media, online activity times, favorite brands, and leisure activities can help you better sell to them.
“Recognizing” your customers means more than that.
Social media is also a great way to recognize and thank your loyal customers. The fifteen seconds of fame you can give a customer with a single post is free advertising that strengthens your bond.
-
Influence their thinking
Social media content is a powerful tool for defining the reaction you want from your audience. A single social media post can achieve a variety of objectives, ranging from amusement to education to emotional connection.
Social activism fueled the Arab Spring, a push for democracy in the Middle East. The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS Research raised over $220 million globally. We all know how social media was used to elect the first African American President. It was also crucial in President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
In any case, social media can help you shape minds and change attitudes towards your business.
-
Co-create content with your clients
Marketing used to be one-way. Businesses created advertising campaigns that extolled their brand’s virtues and distributed them across all user-accessible media. The hope was that at least some of the communication would be seen, remembered, and result in a sale. That’s like leaving your marketing campaign’s fate to chance.
Social media has changed that. You can now target the right user segment, create content tailored to their preferences, and share it across multiple social networks. Your campaign’s visibility is no longer a gamble. It improves. With social media, you can now invite users to collaborate on content creation, giving them a sense of ownership in your brand and message. New social networks like Flyreel allow users and brands to create short video clips and combine them into one cohesive message.
-
Attract local users with superior geo-targeting
Previously, marketers had to “spray and pray” that their messages reached their target audience. Geo-targeted advertising has put an end to that. Brands can now follow users wherever they go with geo-targeted pay-per-click ads and iBeacons that send messages to their smartphones.
7dayz empowers users even more. Wherever users go, they can now discover interesting stories from the last seven days published by locals. Because the app is visual, businesses can share rich content with users at the right time.
Social media is like that old pair of running shoes in your closet. With each step, it opens up new worlds of discovery.