How has social media changed marketing?

Social media has evolved over the years into a digital platform that connects people from all over the world. Social media has changed the way people interact and behave with each other even the way businesses interact with their customers. You have become so reliant on social media in almost every aspect of your life which makes you feel like it’s the only way you can feel connected to the world. That is why businesses and brands are taking advantage of it. Social media is a powerful tool you can use to connect and engage with your target audience to build lasting relationships and a positive brand reputation. 

Social media is no longer a place where people can just gather and connect, it’s a place where advertisers can reach a bigger audience than ever before. You can tailor your social media marketing approaches to keep up with technology trends and consumer behaviours. Social media has changed the way marketing works in more ways than one.

Ways social media has changed marketing

Customer service

Social media has completely changed the way customer service works. Customers are now able to engage and interact with their favourite brands and get a quick response. The open line of communication between you and your customers will allow you to answer questions from your customers and this way you can get to learn more about your customers, their concerns, and comments. With this information, you can tailor your future campaigns to address the needs of your target audience.  

Although customer service is an effective way of building your brand reputation, it's a double-edged sword. Everything posted on social media is in the public domain, which means that every bad comment or complaint goes viral in seconds. The only way you can turn a negative comment to a positive one is by responding to the post in a humane manner.  Deleting negative posts can cause the user to be more aggressive and become more vocal in other ways which will catch the attention of other users. 

Advertising

Social media has many marketing opportunities that are free and they also have paid advertising opportunities. As a growing business, you need to invest in paid advertising on different social media sites like Facebook or Instagram. Paid advertising will help you know when is the best time to advertise to your target audience based on their interests, demographics, behavior, job title, and income. You can customize your marketing campaign to achieve specific goals like customer engagement, brand awareness, more conversions, and increasing traffic to your site. 

Facebook has many advertising options that are cost-effective. You can use safe automatic likes to draw more traffic to your site this way you can reach more users. You can monitor your ads at any time and be able to analyze their performance based on your campaign objectives. Facebook has tools that will help you optimize your ads so that they appear at specific days and time for maximum effect. You can then collect a detailed report on how many links clicks, conversions or engagements each ad has achieved.

Analytics

Before technology and social media, increase in sales was the only way you could tell your marketing efforts worked but you couldn’t prove it. Now with social media marketing, you have a complete and detailed analysis of why a customer bought your product and how long it took them to make that purchase. Social media gives you access to a lot of information that you couldn’t access before. You’re able to study your customers over a certain period of time without any interruptions. 

This data will give you information on an individual according to the posts they liked, comments they shared, their profile information, and more. This will help you to personalize your marketing campaigns to suit targeted individuals instead of targeting the larger market. You can focus on reaching the people who love your products and who can become your brand ambassadors. By making your marketing more personal and real you decrease the size of your target audience significantly. 

Brand engagement

Social media is a powerful tool you can use to build your brand image. Social media users love to interact with their favourite brands which are also a popular source of information. It's important that your brand image is correctly represented when engaging with your customers. You have the opportunity to directly talk to your audience publically or privately and show a different personality aside from your brand. Solving problems your customers face swiftly, addressing their concerns, and customer satisfaction will play a big role in building a successful brand image. Constant communication with your social media following is a great way of promoting your brand and building a potential customer base.

Using hashtags in your campaigns is a catchy and effective way of getting people to know and talk about your brand. If this campaign goes viral, it will present a great opportunity for your brand to engage with your current customers and potential customers. Remembering to post and engage regularly on your social media sites and respond quickly to user comments will go a long way to increase your brand popularity.

Using live and video services

The most popular social media sites with millions of users like Facebook and YouTube use videos to communicate with their users. Most businesses post their video ads on YouTube to attract more customers to their sites. You can use live and video services to promote your brand to your target audience. Using interactive content, graphics, and videos you can use customer data information and creativity to post content that will suit different target markets. 

Conclusion

Social media is a major contributor to your marketing strategies. Coming up with a creative message that is visually appealing and one that your target audience love and easily share will be the key to having a successful marketing strategy. This will lead to more conversions, potential customers, and growth in business. The way you handle your clients will reflect on your business.