The Power of Social Media – Part I

Unless you’ve been deliberately avoiding social media over the last few years, you’ll know just how influential the digital tool has become. If you already use social media on a regular basis, you’ll know that it’s now very much a part of modern marketing and should form an integral part of any comprehensive strategy. When combined with PR, exhibitions, events, seminars, networking and white papers, social media can help you to achieve your marketing goals.

Connecting with your target audience

One of the main reasons social media is so important to modern marketing is that it allows you to have a two-way conversation with your client base. In the past, it was a question of you pushing your message at your target audience. This meant that meaningful communication was often minimal and that there was often a lack of information coming from your customers.

Now, however, social media allows you to have a real dialogue with your client base even before a sale has taken place. Once you have made a sale, you can use social media to keep the channels of communication open. This will help you to ensure your customers are happy with their purchase and give you the opportunity to garner valuable market research and feedback.

Social media objectives

If you’re still developing your social media strategy, it’s important you decide exactly what you want to achieve before you start posting, liking and sharing. Possible objectives could include establishing your target audience and their needs. This is often particularly relevant when you have a new product or service and want to ensure you’re targeting the right customer base.

Another common goal for businesses using social media is raising brand awareness. For new companies looking to build their name and existing companies who have re-branded, this is where social media can really come into its own.

Companies who post reliable, informative and well-written content on social media will often find their blogs are shared widely both within their social network and on numerous digital platforms. This can help you to position your company as a thought leader within your industry. As well as being good for your company’s reputation, this will encourage customers to see your company as trustworthy and could help to boost your business.

Last but not least, a major objective for most, if not all, companies using social media is ultimately to grow sales. An important business goal no matter what industry you’re in, continually working to increase your customer base and grow sales will help your business to achieve its full potential.

For an in-depth look at how social media can impact your company and how you can use the tool to realise your business objectives, read the next part of our series on The Power of Social Media.