Social Media Marketing 2018
Today, many businesses are trying many ways to connect their products with audiences across many social platforms. Due to intense competition, it’s harder than ever for brands to catch the attention of users. At this pace, those involved in social media and business marketing must be creative. The trends that may have the greatest impact in 2018 are:
- The use of chatbots in customer service. The bots provide instant connections with potential customers from around the globe. Moreover, they interact with audiences in a more personal way.
- Taking advantage of ephemeral content. This is a type of content that lasts for short periods of time. Most of it appears for only 24 hours. To produce more real-time content, some brands are utilizing their Instagram profiles to create high-quality stories and content.
- Use of influencers.
- Use of video. Designing captivating video content promises much in media marketing.
- The use of Augmented Reality. This is a very quick and easy way to reach customers through their mobile phones.
How the Social Media Marketing Funnel Works
Today, everyone who does digital marketing knows the significance of social media in terms of content and engagement. However, many companies still think a strong media presence, consistent content posting, and engaging fans is sufficient. This is not going to impact the overall return on investment (ROI) of a brand.
The missing link is a social media marketing funnel. Funnels can guide prospective customers through their purchasing journey. For instance, targeted ads or news feeds updates from friends on Facebook may direct a user to a new page. The person may then gain interest and follow the page or visit the website.
Companies carefully guide users who continue to interact with them through social media to take key actions. Such actions may include newsletter sign ups or software downloads. If the engagement continues, it may lead to more interactions on other locations and pages. This may result in users deciding to buy.
There are many other ways that social media could play leading roles in marketing funnels of businesses. Today, some of the well-known social media funnels depend very much on paid social ads. Their goal is to send maximum traffic to optimized landing pages. Companies can then make their conversions from there.
Advantages of Social Media Marketing
Since social media has a big following, it promises to grow businesses greatly. The advantages of social media marketing include:
- Cost-effectiveness. With social media, businesses can increase their recognition, traffic, leads, and sales at little or no costs. Most social networking platforms offer free sign up and profile creation. The paid promotions of social media are low-cost as compared to other marketing strategies.
- Improved brand awareness. Since it involves interactions with larger audiences, social media can immensely increase the recognition of a brand.
- Increased traffic. It is unlikely that a business could reach potential customers outside of their loyal circle without employing social media marketing. Every social media content and profile addition may result in people visiting a website.
- Increased ranking. Social media marketing does not directly affect SEO. Many marketers confirm that it has an indirect effect over long periods of time.
- Increased conversion rates. Businesses gain more opportunities for making conversions when they have increased visibility. Blog posts, videos, and comments may lead people to websites where they would make purchases.
- Improved customer satisfaction. Most potential customers love to interact with companies on a personal level. Social media is a sure bet to creating the humanized effect.
Social Media for B2B
Many people seem to view social media as a playground that is only meant for B2C companies. Of course, the majority of top brands that are leveraging this platform operate in the consumer segment. However, this does not mean that the social media arena is not fit for B2B companies.
A number of B2Bs are already succeeding in social media marketing. They are growing at a great rate as they tap into the customer base of major social networks. Most of these companies are travel-based. They either use Twitter or Facebook for marketing and customer service purposes. Can other companies also profit from this?
The major problem that many B2Bs have is lack of knowledge and awareness. Some of them believe that social media is not meant for them. Other B2Bs may not have the right personnel to lead their campaigns on social media. Fortunately, there are agencies that such companies could hire to do for them the necessary marketing.
B2B businesses that consider fundamental goals could get as much result from social media marketing as B2Cs. Such companies can improve their products’ awareness and build stronger brands by taking advantage of well-known social media platforms. Such platforms include LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.