Recession hit many markets hard going into 2023, making it tough times for marketing budgets, marketing programs, headcount, and martech tools. However, one thing that grew- and continues to grow- in importance is social media marketing. In this highly competitive economy, it’s much more difficult to capture new customers, reduce churn, and retain your existing ones. Keeping revenue up across every front is just as important as getting fresh leads. Social media is a crucial tool for keeping existing customers engaged, building trust and loyalty, and connecting with new audiences. In the age of information, authenticity equals attention. Buyers trust and listen to real people over brands, and are seeking real-world experiences of their peers to validate a product or service.
Social Media Marketing Is Key For Community Building
Social media marketing is most critical than ever before due to the fact that buyers and customers are mostly engaging across social media. Essentially, people are connecting with each other seeking information, guidance, advice, resources, and much more- it’s like the old days of word of mouth, except with unlimited access to different voices. The people who are able to provide these things will stand out as subject matter experts and thought leaders, and people will give weight to their perspectives when making decisions. As a marketing leader, it’s key to be a thought leader, and your ultimate aim is to have brand advocates who can construct and lead these social media communities.
Reasons Why Social Media Is Important For Your Business
The list goes on and on, but here are some of the top reasons why social media has grown so important to B2B marketers over the past year:
- Lead generation: Marketers can create meaningful conversations and engage their target audience, building credibility and capturing new potential customers
- Brand awareness: Companies can broadcast their story, the products and services they provide, and update audiences
- Capture leads: Professionals can leverage thought leadership pieces, social proofing, etc. they can assist with solving problems and thus build credibility and trust
- Real-time feedback: Social media offers invaluable insight into how other people view your brand. You can quickly target and improve the weakest areas of your business while amplifying the parts that people resonate with.
- Connect opportunities to social posts: Leaders are able to drive customer posts to their CRM with the right enterprise solution to have a more thorough comprehension of customers
- Measurable marketing efforts: Track key performance metrics (KPIs) easily and assign a monetary value (Earned Media Value) so that you understand the cost of how much you would’ve paid in ads versus organic social engagement.
- Make your brand more authentic to customers: Brands can build engagement and trust with potential customers and clients, talent/employees, and partners. If other people are promoting your business, it’s a bonus- Trust is nearly tripled when the recommendations or advice is coming from friends and family versus official brand channels.
Contact Us Today
Social media is more important than ever in 2023, and marketers need to take note. If you aren’t already using social media marketing, you need to. And if you are, you need to do it better! Call Affordable Digital Marketing for your digital marketing services today.