Why Social Media Is Just as Important as Any Other Digital Channel

There was a time when anyone with an online presence would put their sole efforts into a website, so that they could ensure it remained to dominate within the online sphere. However, although websites still play an integral part of establishing an online persona, the social media sector is where customers and businesses have their most prominent and engaging communications, and as such, should be cared for in the same way you would for a website.

Building a Social Media Strategy

The reason that social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have gained traction is due to their sandbox approach to the Internet. Within reason, people have free reign to air their opinion, especially when it comes to an experience with a business. As such, it’s not enough to post a series of autonomous posts with a hope of capturing the audience’s attention, as the more seasoned Internet user expects more interactivity.

As such, a social media strategy has to be instilled in the correct way, as you could be missing out on an influx of new visitors otherwise.

Many may not be aware of just how prevalent social media is. In this regard, it can be worthwhile considering the following points when deciding as to whether investing in a social media strategy is worthwhile.

A Business or Brand Can Improve Its Online Reputation

It may surprise you to know that around three-quarters of online shoppers will research a company before making a purchase from a particular retailer. Those who haven’t instilled a robust social media campaign will find that their sales funnel decreases as a result, because it will be likely that a series of customer comments and complaints have gone unacknowledged.

However, this is the downside of social media, and with some good practices, there’s no reason an e-commerce store can’t use social media to its advantage. Having the right kind of social media strategy in place ensures that you are able to offer a combination of engaging posts, and a seamless communication process which ensures all questions and queries are dealt with quickly.

Even if a customer has a negative experience when shopping via an online store, their opinion can be quickly changed by ensuring that the issue is rectified quickly and professionally.

Not only does this mean that more potential customers are engaging with your business via your social media accounts, but your business is more likely to get positive reviews, which can only mean a higher turnover moving forward.

Website Traffic Can Be Gained from Active Social Media Profiles

Just because social media has soared in popularity, it shouldn’t be assumed that the websites are a thing of the past. It’s simply a case of adopting the right kind of strategy as to how to benefit them moving forward. To put this into context, there are over 1.7 billion monthly active Facebook users. Granted, you wouldn’t receive all of this traffic, but it does showcase just how relevant Facebook can be in driving more people towards your website. Although Facebook has narrowed the organic reach of your posts, relatively cheap paid ads can be an effective way to reach your target audience.

What’s more, platforms such as Facebook has even adopted the partnerships made between itself and many other websites, and offer a slew of tools to encourage webmasters to do so. When used in partnership with raising your online reputation, you will find that you have more web visits as a result.

Getting Started On Your Social Media Strategy

With the benefits mentioned, you will undoubtedly be keen to instil a social media strategy as soon as possible. However, it’s important to ensure that you’re embracing the right kind of social media channels. Although a number of them are universal, there are some that may not be suited for some platforms. For example, Instagram and Pinterest are more pictorial in their content, than the likes of Facebook and Twitter, but this doesn’t mean that your brand or business can’t take advantage of the platform. It can also be worthwhile bearing in mind the number of users for the available platforms.

Some examples are as follows:

Note: If you wish to share some stats, simply highlight the text 🙂

Twitter

• There are 310 million users active on Twitter each month. 
• There are 6,000 Tweets send every second.
• Around 89% of news junkies rely on the platform for breaking news.

Facebook

• Facebook has over 1.71 billion monthly active users, and an astonishing 1.13 billion users who engage with the platform on a daily basis.
• Facebook accounts for every one in six minutes that users spend online. For mobile users, the statistic is one of every five minutes users spend online.
• An astonishing 100 million hours of video are watched on Facebook on a daily basis.

Instagram

• Instagram boasts more than 400 million active users on a monthly basis.
• Instagram users have shared over 40 billion photos since the platform started.
• As an average, Instagram users collectively post over 80 million pictures a day.

Pinterest

• Pinterest has 100 million users engaging with its platform on a monthly basis.
• Over 75 percent of Pinterest traffic comes from users with mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
• More than 40 million articles are pinned every day

Expand Your Professional Network

It’s not only the affections of customers you can win over with the right kind of social media strategy, but you can also improve relationships within your industry sector. As well becoming trusted within the industry, your business will also be able to form relationships with other firms, which contributes towards bigger opportunities moving forward.

These examples are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many benefits a professional social media strategy can deliver. With the right kind of research, you can ensure that proven methods are reused, and those gaining less traction are disposed of in favour of something else.

Although some could see the investment into social media as time-consuming and costly, there’s a tiny requirement for you to undertake the role yourself.