How social are you? Are you thinking of leveraging the power of social media on and for your company website? In this digital age, social media platforms and your website should work seamlessly to promote your brand in the online world. There are many different types of social media platforms. Social media platforms may include networking sites (e.g. Facebook & Google+), micro-blogging (e.g. Twitter & Tumblr), publishing platforms (e.g. WordPress & Blogger), photo sharing sites (e.g. Instagram & Pinterest) and video sharing sites (e.g. YouTube & Vimeo).
If you are a small business owner, you may be overwhelmed with all the social media options. Consider your business objectives and marketing strategies. Be realistic about the time and resources you are willing to spend on social media marketing. In Singapore, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube are popular social media platforms. You can probably consider these platforms as a start.
So, how does being social help in your business? What values do social media platforms provide? In a nutshell, social media platforms:
a. Increase Your Online Presence
Are you aware that consumers nowadays have developed the habit of first searching on social media platforms before they further their exploration on search engines? If you do not have a social media presence, chances are, you’d have lost the opportunity to provide the first touchpoint experience to consumers. Having your business on social media platforms will grow your online presence. It makes your brand searchable on whichever platform you’re placed your business in.
b. Create Brand Awareness
Social media platforms are great for creating brand awareness. Brand awareness is the extent to which consumers are familiar with the qualities or image of a particular brand of goods or services. Every single post you make; every single Tweet you blurt; every image you share; they all add up to create brand awareness. Be mindful of your actions on social media platforms!
c. Improve Sales for Your Business
The bottom line for all profit-making businesses is to make sales. When you provide quality brand awareness, consumers will consider your business. And when you manage to tip the consumer over in favour of your business, you make sales. It may sound easy on words but converting awareness to sales is always a challenge to businesses and marketers. As a start, effective communication on social media platforms may help you put forth concise and compelling marketing messages to your audience and incite sales.
d. Increase Brand Advocacy
When you’ve successfully made sales, the audience becomes your customers. The next big step in propelling your business would be to promote brand advocacy. It simply means to make your existing customers become advocates and referrals for your brand. Social media platforms are great channels for brand advocacy. Every time a customer likes your post or makes favourable comments about your business, they subtly approve for and support your brand. You reach their network of friends in the process and thus makes brand awareness on them! Create loyalty programmes for customers who refer prospects for your brand! Entice existing customers to spread news about your business!
e. Point Audience to Your Website
All social media platforms come with restrictions. Twitter limits Tweet length to 140 characters. Facebook does not allow you to bold and italicise text of your posts. You cannot display animated GIFs on your Facebook posts, etc. You get the drift. Lone social media platforms are unlikely to provide the full brand experience to consumers. They work best at being auxiliary platforms that engage the audience, stir up their interest and finally pointing them to your website for the full deal. We believe that a website should be the main online presence for any businesses. You have total control of how your website look like, the type of content you’ll want to have and much more.
Integrate Social Media on Your Website
The above points cover how social media platforms can benefit and work for your website. But being social is never a single-sided relationship. Your website has to be equipped with the necessary tools to promote social media sharing. Your website must have links that enable audiences to reach you on your social media platforms for engagement and interaction.
Having said much, how do you measure the success of social media marketing for your business? Use Google Analytics to understand how each and every platforms are performing. Know the user flow of the audience that comes from your social media platforms. Track conversions and whatnot with Google Analytics if you haven’t already!