Social media is typically seen as a way to get brand recognition, but if you’re just using social media to have a social media presence, you aren’t utilizing social media to its full potential.
If your company has done the research to know exactly who your target audience is and where they are spending their time online, then it is time to recognize just how much a strong social media presence can pay off.
Here are three ways to harness social media as a better marketing tool for your company.
1. Harness Social Media with Your Employees
Most companies consider how social media could help their customers or even their own company, but they miss the opportunity to provide benefit for their employees.
Social media can connect employees outside of the workplace, helping them bond and build more impactful relationships with their peers in the company, industry, and their community at large.
When your employees are on social media as professionals, your company can support their position as knowledgeable professionals, as your brand is simultaneously supported by those very same professionals.
EveryoneSocial is a perfect tool that makes it easy for your employees to post industry-related content on their own profiles.
The benefit here is two-fold; your employees end up with stronger professional profiles and better work relationships while your company is given a stronger, more verifiable online presence with a greater reach.
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2. Boost Brand Reputation with Active Presence
Your brand reputation is increasingly important in a world where most consumers look at reviews, websites and competitors online before making a purchase decision.
GE found that even in 2013, 81% of consumers were going online to do research before making a purchase.
Social media pages that are kept updated with recent events and consumer questions are going to put a positive boost on your company’s online presence.
If you are hoping to outshine the competition, social media can really make the difference.
You might feel as though your company is going to be too exposed to negative feedback and public complaints, but this is far from the truth.
Of course, consumers can now complain directly on your page, but staying off of social media won’t stop them from complaining publicly online. Instead, a strong online presence gives you your own public platform to answer those concerns and complaints in a professional way.
Research has shown that consumers who see a brand respond well to criticism and irate customers are actually more likely to trust the company. A few negative comments actually make your brand seem more grounded and less whitewashed.
3. Support Customers’ Expectations
As of June 2015, Facebook reported 968 million daily active users and 1.49 billion monthly active users. Twitter has 316 million monthly active users sending an average of 500 million Tweets a day.
The Pew Research Center noted that in 2014, 28% of adults on the internet had Pinterest profiles (up from 21% in 2013) and the number of Instagram accounts nearly doubled to 26% of all online adult users.
What do all these numbers mean? Well, it really just means that a lot of people are getting their information through social media platforms.
Consumers expect to find their favorite brands on their platform of choice, available to answer questions and provide support. Your company can build a stronger relationship with your customers by offering fast and accurate responses.
It isn’t just about the content; it’s also about the connection.
