Marketing has evolved substantially over the last ten years with the introduction of social media and digital channels and their benefits. Companies no longer rely on email and phone contact with customers, but they are moving toward social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Although social media marketing is not a new concept, the platforms and capabilities surrounding them have transformed rapidly over the years. Brands are able to reach, engage with and monitor customer behavior in real-time at all times. The last year has seen a leap in social users and online presence. Statistics show that more than half of the world is online, with over 300 million new users signing up for social media during the course of the year.
This means more engagement for you as a company and more opportunities to reach and convert new customers. But, just how do you do it, and how can you use social media to build your brand.
Engage Directly With Your Customers In Real-Time
One of the biggest benefits of social media platforms is that your customers can get in contact with your brand and get answers, assistance or guidance in real-time. Modern customers demand instant answers and use the ability to directly message brands on social media channels like Instagram or Facebook to get their queries resolved.
Luckily, there have been huge strides in progress to manage the process. For example, the latest Instagram API allows customer care teams to manage all of their Instagram direct messages and comments on their posts from a single inbox. Additionally, you can include all of your other communication channels.
What’s more, the recent updates have moved past simply scheduling, tracking and responding to engagement on posts, but have started expanding the various capabilities. Brands are able to directly respond to DM’s from customers, allocate tasks within the teams and communicate progress.
All of this enables brands to increase contact with customers, in real-time and from one platform. Not only does it create a sense of accountability and transparency for the brand, but it also increases conversion rates.
Educate And Inform Your Customers
Content is king on social media. The platforms are a great space to put out educational content about your brand. By using content effectively on social media, you will be creating a sense of trust with your audience. So, you will want this content to be as educational, informative and entertaining as possible to hook in your customer. So, a good benefits of the social media channels.
If you are, for example, a pet food and accessory retailer, useful content like “foods your dog should avoid”, or “reasons why your cat is putting on weight” is really helpful information that your customer will use. Create blogs, articles, infographics and videos around the content and post regularly to develop that sense of trust with your audience.
You are then able to include links to your products that are associated with the content. Provide alternative solutions to their problems, or answer their questions with your products.
This kind of content is also great for SEO purposes. Make sure you have the relevant keywords in the content but do not stuff the content as Google will penalize you. But, with the right content and SEO inclusions, potential visitors will be able to stumble across your brand when they are asking their questions.
Reach New Audiences: Social Media Channels Benefits
Social media is also great to make contact and reaching out to audiences. So, who is not your customer just yet? As mentioned, with the use of the right content, you can reach new, untapped audiences.
Keep track of what is trending on social media by following your competitors as well as similar brands. Conduct regular keyword research to ascertain what is working, and keep up to date with current trends. With all of this, you can create campaigns targeted at specific audiences and post them on social media channels.
In order to reach more than just your direct audience and followers. You will have to put some money behind these campaigns. But that means that you can create specific filters and target your direct audience. Simply fill out your demographics, choose your campaign type and decide on your budget. The right campaign will increase your following, heighten engagement and improve your conversion rate.
Monitor And Track Your Audiences’ Preferences
You may be wondering what this has to do with customer contact and engagement, but stick with us. Social platforms have campaign metric capabilities, which allow you to track the success of your campaigns. You can measure your click-through rates, engagement and comments, open rates and conversion rates.
This will allow you to track how well your campaigns are performing. Get a better idea of what your customer responds to. Based on the success of other campaigns, you can create similar or duplicate campaigns and expect a similar turnover.
This kind of data and information is vital for future content. Campaign planning, so keep a keen eye on those metrics.
Social Media Channels Benefits: Last Thoughts
The key to customer contact and engagement on your social media channels is to know what your audience wants. Keep those communication lines open, respond to all questions, complaints, and requests. The more you know about your customer. Finally, the stronger your brand presence will be and the higher your conversion rate can be.
