In 2022 there can surely be few individuals, or companies, that don’t understand and court the value of social media when it comes to assisting their business. If you are still unconvinced, then you are some way behind the curve, and you may be beyond salvation.
However, if you are just slow on the uptake and set in your ways, let us help you get to terms with the modern age. Whatever your business deals with, and it doesn’t matter what goods and services you effectively sell, you’ll absolutely need a strong social media presence in order to really crack the market.
Ways in Which Social Media Can Be Used to Benefit Your Company
We spend hours a day on our various social media feeds, and now the usage of these spans just about every demographic, and there are multiple benefits to promoting yourself via the likes of Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram (and many others).
Firstly via social media, you can engage directly with your customers and, in doing so, gather vital data that can be used to increase your conversion rates. Secondly, you can use a popular social media page to boost your brand’s exposure or the latest feature or product you are releasing out into the world.
But perhaps the biggest reason to have a social media presence is to open up a strong sales funnel that will prove far more cost-effective than any other sector of your business. The art of using leads and ads on social media channels requires a lot of hard work, and we’d strongly suggest you outsource much of this as otherwise, you may find yourself failing in this department.
Social Media Trends to Get to Grips With
2022 promises to be a busy year for companies on social media, not least because your average customer is still far more happy purchasing online, even now that the restrictions imposed upon us due to the coronavirus pandemic are on the whole being removed.
Here are some key trends that will help you to steer your social media usage in the right direction.
Short-form Videos Are the Way to Go
The attention span of the average social media user is small, very small. This means you don’t want to waste time, energy, and money putting together long adverts to promote your product.
Look to produce short-form content. Brief, catchy, and easy to consume. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel here; you don’t need a massive budget to put together a successful advertising campaign on social media; you just need great ideas and the willingness to let them bed in; in other words, don’t expect instant results.
Remember when making your videos that you’ll need to avoid copyright-protected music, not least because it’s incredibly expensive to clear such tracks, and maybe consider royalty-free music for YouTube videos.
Increase Your Social Media Ad Budget
Maybe up until now, you’ve been playing around with ad spending on social media networks, with poor results, but let us be clear. Now is the time to maximize your budget in this area, not least because the marketplace is a busy one, and you don’t want to be edged out by competitors.
Your Audience Is Ready to Buy Via Social Media
It’s true that when it comes to converting customers, in other words completing a sale of some kind, there are some social media channels that are far more direct and effective in terms of the funnels they have in place.
TikTok, for instance, is wholly geared to the activity, while the likes of Twitter are less seamless, though this doesn’t mean they aren’t of value.
Use As Many Social Media Networks As Possible
This leads us neatly to the combined value of having an overall approach to social media usage. We suggest you dip your toes in most of the big social media channels and look to each of these to have a different endgame goal.
Twitter might be used to encourage instant debate with your customers instead of completing a sale; Facebook might be a tool you use primarily for data collection and so on.
Enlisting an Influencer as a Brand Ambassador Works
We strongly suggest you consider partnering with relevant social media influencers to broaden your reach, but you need to do so in an organic way. Also, don’t be fooled by an influencer who has a million followers but almost no interaction on their posts; seek out those with strong bespoke audiences that are applicable to your product and company voice, and then be ready to pay for their work, in other words, sending free merch isn’t going to do it anymore.
Be Diverse and Accountable
The last thing your company needs is a bad social media reputation. Be extra vigilant when it comes to anything you post. There are no points for shock value, and it’s important to appeal to as large an audience as possible, so that means being diverse in your approach and methods.
Conversely, social media users are not idiots. They’ll know, or at least get a sense, if you aren’t for real and are simply paying lip service to the latest trend that people are getting behind. Your inclusive approach needs to be real and not merely an attempt to curry favor.
