The Power of Organic Social for your Business
Our Social Media Maven weighs in on the top 5 reasons why you need to make social a priority in your business.
Social media trends move so fast it seems like the only people able to keep up are in middle school.
Facebook turns into Instagram, then Snapchat and TikTok and now Clubhouse and House Party are joining the, well, ahh, party (?).
It’s enough to make your head spin.
The good news is, your business doesn’t have to chase the trends to make the most of your social media presence.
To help you get the most out of your social media, we talked with Tarila Uti, our Social Media Maven.
“Social media is basically about community building,” she said.
Why creating a community through social media is essential – Power your Social.
Traditionally, media and advertising was unidirectional. Businesses created messaging to sell their brand and their product/service, but the person on the receiving end had no ability to respond.
But without extensive research with each step, this method can lead to a general disconnect from your clients that affects your advertising ROI.
But with social, it’s different.
“Social media is a two-way street,” Tarila said.
That makes it a very powerful tool for businesses as it can be used both to convey and gather information.
According to Tarila, five of the greatest benefits of staying up-to-date with social media are:
#1: Establishes a solid online presence
With social media, you can create a richer experience for people who are looking to reach out to your brand.
“Your social media is like a second website,” Tarila said. “So when people first learn about your brand, they go to your website. After that, most people go to social media pages: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, wherever to learn more about the company and understand it a bit more.”
That gives your business extra time to create a relationship with customers, build your brand, and walk a lead down the path to a conversion.
#2 Builds a stronger, more connected community
Every business works within a community or niche, and finding that community is one of the best ways to really make your advertising shine. When you know where your community is, how they talk about themselves, and what they’re looking for, you can not only improve your messaging – but laser-focus that messaging accordingly.
“Posting on social media is basically speaking to your followers and speaking to your community,” Tarila said. “So, with social media, you can build a good community, and build some hype around your business and about your brand.”
Social media also allows you to be a part of building that community to create new potential customers. Through search and hashtags, you can grow your audience by introducing your brand to new people.
#3 Allows you to truly listen to your customers
To build community, you cannot treat social media like advertising. Instead, you need to treat your community like a community, which is where that two-way street comes into play. Where before you simply talked to your audience, with social media, you need to equally learn to listen to what they’re saying – and let them know you hear them.
“Social media is super duper important for listening and learning,” Tarila said. “Through comments, feedback, and looking at your insights, you can tell what people like and don’t like about your brand or about your products.”
This can include both responding in the comments section, following and interacting with the right people.
So, while a great website is a one-and-done experience, great social media requires consistency.
#4 Offers a direct communication tool
As social media companies streamline direct messaging (DM) across platforms (like Facebook merging Messenger and Instagram Direct Messages), more and more people are using social media to speak directly with companies.
“Many customers today will go straight to a brand’s page to comment to say they had an issue,” Tarila said.
With phone and email, this may seem redundant, but it’s often the first choice, and the choice they feel most comfortable with, especially for the younger generation. By giving your customers, and prospective customers their preferred option, you open a door they’re more willing to step through. That increased communication will give you greater engagement – a key performance indicator on social media.
#5 Creates a cost-effective approach to advertising
Perhaps the greatest reason to focus on social media is its ROI. With a wide reach and little upfront cost, social media can offer a striking return on investment for those who take the time to learn its secrets.
“If done properly, organic social can help you reach new audiences and increase your engagement rate which in turn leads to conversions,” Tarila said.
And that’s without paying for ads. That means your only cost is the time it takes to post and communicate with your community – which can be very enlightening anyway.
Our data-heavy approach to social media
Of course, the problem is: social media is so vast that it’s incredibly easy to get lost in the shifting seas of information.
For our clients, we combat this by front-loading our work with intensive research to ensure we’re headed in the right direction before we even begin.
“My approach is first of all understanding the business, what kind of business it is, and if they have any social media pages already,” Tarila said.
After talking directly to stakeholders in the business, and surveying any social media presence it has, the research phase begins.
Our social media team takes a deep dive into:
- Follower demographics
- Competitor’s strategies
- Ideal posting times and strategies
- Hashtags
- Brand voice
- Which channels are right for your business
- Who your business should follow
With a complete understanding of how to move forward, Tarila and the team then execute on it.
“The goal is to drive engagement,” Tarila said, “loads of engagement. So, likes, comments, feedback, which in turn increase in leads and conversions.”
The value of the right team
We talk with so many business owners who are ready to give up on social media because it requires such a diverse set of skills, such a consistent effort and, at the end of the day, it isn’t moving the needle.
Employing the right team changes all of that, and makes social media make sense. Currently, our team includes copywriters, photographers and researchers who consistently work to ensure our client’s social media is found by their ideal audience..
“We have dealt with a lot of businesses, and we know what works and what doesn’t,” Tarila said. ”We have the data, we have the research, and we have the experience to help.”
For more information on how you can take one item off your (very full) plate and make your social media presence shine, email Tarila or contact her on social media now or reach out to the IFM right now ~ Click Here.
If you want to pick someone’s brain for anything from social media to display advertising, pick John's. Today, John’s putting businesses in front of millions of users and he can do the same for your business.
