Social Media is a term used to describe platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that allow people to connect with friends, post about their lives and create communities around specific interests. While it’s not just used by individuals, it is also a crucial tool for brands to use to engage their audiences and customers online.
There are several different types of social media, and the platform choice you make depends on your audience. Some are best for visual content and others work better for long-form written pieces, like blog posts.
LinkedIn is ideal for long-form written content, while Pinterest is best for visually-focused posts. Some of these platforms can be time-consuming to manage, so a dedicated team is required for optimal success.
The key to a successful strategy is understanding your target audience and what they are looking for in their daily news feeds. Knowing this will help you zero in on the right tone and format for your social media strategy.
For example, Vox Media is a great example of a brand that understands how to be conversational while still talking about serious topics. The brand posts interesting statistics that are connected to real-world things that ordinary people can relate to.
This type of post will be more relatable for readers than a bland, product-focused post. It shows that the company takes a human approach to their business, which can help increase customer engagement and trust.
Similarly, Microsoft has been known to tie their products and initiatives back to real-world stories. For example, they recently shared their reaction to the Boston Marathon bombings on Twitter.
These kinds of posts help to build a personal connection with their followers, who will be more likely to follow and support the company in the future. They can even serve as a call to action for potential customers to take the next step in their purchase process.
The other important aspect of a successful social media strategy is creating engaging content that attracts and retains followers. The most successful brands do this by understanding their target audience and how they interact with each other.
For example, Microsoft’s tweet in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings showed that the company understands its customers and that they are human beings with a similar background to those of the victims. This helped to show that the company isn’t just a business with a product to sell, but a friend who cares about its community.
One of the biggest challenges for businesses that use social media is making sure that their messages are consistent across all of their accounts. This is especially difficult for smaller companies, which may not have the budget to hire a social media manager.
Fortunately, there are tools that can be used to automate certain aspects of the social media management process. These can reduce the need to spend time managing each account and ensure that your messages are consistent across all channels.
Social media has been a staple of the digital revolution, with its growing influence it has evolved over the years, playing an increasingly fundamental role in brand interaction. The power of social media cannot be underestimated. It has become an essential part of any organisations marketing communication plan and its importance in not only engaging customers but also in driving business objectives and business results is without doubt.
Social media has its own potential to create a way for brands to communicate essential values and messaging used to create customer interests in the product or service. Additionally social media can be used to generate customer loyalty through providing customer service and responding to customer queries. With this, brands can access customer insights which can lead to improved marketing results due to the customer feedback.
Additionally, brands are now able to use the data they collect through social media to analyse customer behaviours. This can be used to understand customer preferences and tailor services and products to meet the customer needs. A great example of this is Amazon’s “recommended to view” products based on customers past purchase history as well as items related to current products.
Social media marketing has enabled brands to develop meaningful relationships with their consumers, through stories, images, and video content that customers find interesting, allowing conversations to take place and engage with customers. This helps to build trust and loyalty, and creates a relationship with customers.
The impact of social media on brands cannot be underestimated; it has allowed brands to reach audiences that have been previously inaccessible, and enabled brands to successfully implement cost-effective marketing strategies for big campaigns as well as small businesses. It has enabled conversations between brands and customers, and above all it has enabled brands to track performance.
In conclusion, it is clear to see that the impact of social media on brands is significant and undeniable, from the ability to create customer relations, to the ability to reach customers in different ages, cultures, and geographies. Social media is a valuable tool that enables brands to drive their objectives, reach customers by connecting and communicating with them, and improve customer service.
