Marcus Richards
The success of every business, whether it’s a mom-and-pop shop around the corner or a Fortune 500 conglomerate, depends on its visibility online. With over 4 billion people actively using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, these sites have become the primary means through which people learn about and interact with various brands. Although countless businesses are competing for consumer attention in the online world, a well-executed social media strategy may offer your company a competitive edge by boosting brand awareness, attracting new leads, and fostering genuine connections with customers. This article discusses the best strategies to harness the power of social media for business marketing.
Way 1: Leverage User-Generated Content
User-generated content, or UGC, which includes everything from unboxing videos and product photos to review podcasts posted by consumers, is essentially the modern equivalent of word of mouth. A survey conducted by Stackla found that 90% of customers across industries, including e-commerce, education, and health, said that authenticity was important when deciding which companies to support. User-generated content is seen as more genuine and trustworthy than brand-created material since it comes from real people. Ultimately, it can help you gain an edge over the competition by increasing brand recognition and fostering a positive image for your company.
Take apparel retailer ASOS’s #AsSeenOnMe campaign as an example of how to use hashtags to create free advertising with user-generated content (UGC) for your Instagram feed. Through this initiative, customers were able to take photos of themselves wearing ASOS products on Instagram, which were then featured on the company’s official page and website. By implementing this strategy, the brand was able to give consumers an idea of how its products would look on regular people rather than just models in staged settings. Also contributing to the brand’s rise to prominence in consumers’ minds was the fact that they saw the outfits on people of varying body types.
Way 2: Utilise Influencer Marketing
By signing up Kevin Curry, a popular food blogger and influencer with over 1.6 million Instagram followers, as the face of their new Air Fryer products, department store Kohl’s expanded its brand visibility among Curry’s massive audience. Businesses of all sizes are jumping on the influencer marketing bandwagon to help fuel their expansion. The term “social media influencer” refers to a person who is recognised as an expert in their field and possesses a significant number of devoted online followers.
Influencer marketing’s greatest strength is that it can build relationships with consumers in a friendly, non-intrusive manner. By interacting with customers on a more personal level, influencers can help your company build a unique and memorable social media experience. Influencer partnerships can help your business achieve company goals, gain consumer confidence, increase website traffic, and boost conversion rates.
Way 3: Use Lead Magnets
In order to increase the number of people who become paying customers, marketers will often use lead magnets such as a welcome bonus and promotional codes or offer free shipping on the first order. Lead magnets are resources of substantial value offered in exchange for the contact information of potential clients. They are a crucial component of any content marketing campaign and substantially boost your brand’s online visibility.
Attracting new buyers is crucial for any business, and one effective way to do this is by offering a free evaluation or consultation. This allows businesses to gain essential insights into customers’ behaviour, preferences, and expectations through assessments in the form of questionnaires or quizzes. These assessments not only encourage in-depth thinking but also increase customers’ emotional investment in the brand.
In addition, many industry leaders like Amazon, Netflix, and Spotify, offer welcome bonuses and promotional codes as lead magnets to convert newcomers into loyal regulars. Businesses within competitive and localised markets, like new slot sites in the UK, also utilise lead magnets to catch the attention of their target groups. This strategy has proven to be successful in engaging customers and encouraging repeat business.
Way 4: Use Paid Advertising
One of the quickest and easiest ways to get your business in front of new customers is through paid advertising. Instead of hoping that people will stumble onto your business on their own, you can speed up the discovery process by paying for advertisements tailored to your ideal customers.
Paid marketing is highly customisable, and you may choose from a variety of channels like Google Ads or Facebook to define your target audience based on factors such as location, preferences, demographic, and past purchases. Moreover, paid advertisements on social media don’t need to conform to traditional advertising standards; they can be anything from humorous reels to artistic photos, gamification stories, or short videos. Uber, McDonald’s, Gymshark, and Udemy are just a few examples of companies that consistently interact with their clients via entertaining and thought-provoking advertisements that generate substantial returns on investment (ROI).
