01 Oct WHY SHOULD A BUSINESS INVEST IN SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Marketing trends go in and out of fashion. Gone are the days when business owners had to allocate massive advertising budgets for print ads and multi-media promotions. Nowadays, it’s all about social media. It is no longer strange that people spend a considerable portion of their days on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Aside from individuals, businesses are also spending a lot of their time and resources on maintaining an active social media presence. The reality is, with people spending more and more time on social media networks, businesses have no choice but to make their products and services visible on them to attract attention.
Why should a business invest in social media marketing? Social media works by allowing people to connect with each other regardless of their geographical location. Social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook allow users to keep a record of their interests and activities along with connections and interactions as well. This creates a database of users with various interests on a wide range of subjects which is extremely beneficial to businesses that cater to those particular interests. Businesses should consider entering into social media marketing especially because social networks allow them to create promotions targeted at the ideal audience.
Marketing budgets for small and medium sized businesses are not as large as what they were ten years ago. Social media marketing, even when it’s paid, is especially cheap and will allow businesses to connect with audiences well beyond their usual circle. A lot of businesses don’t even spend a great deal to hire social media marketers outside the business. In many cases, they simply assign an employee who is an enthusiastic social media user to manage company profiles. In addition, there are plenty of highly affordable tools that allow social media marketers to post simultaneously on multiple platforms as well as to schedule posts to save time and to maintain consistency.
Another reason for social media to be the ideal marketing method is the fact that the profiles on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ all allow businesses to interact directly with their customers. In fact, some companies are actually using their social media profiles to contact their customers directly. It has actually become commonplace for a customer to place a happy review, a complaint or to make an inquiry via Facebook or Twitter.
However, business owners need to understand which social media platform works best for them. With the right platform, the right content and the right timing, social media can become much more than just a marketing outlet for just about any type of business. Many companies have managed to obtain rapid success with the aid of successful social media campaigns at a fraction of a cost they would have had to spend on traditional marketing. Despite the high-tech foundation of social media, the principle of marketing that it employs is pretty much the same as what it was decades ago : making your products and services visible where people are most likely to notice them.