It’s 2019 and you have a good understanding of social media and how it works —or so you think. But did you know that there have been several algorithm changes across the various social media platforms in the first three months of 2019? What if I told you that Facebook is most active on a Friday at 3pm or that YouTube is used as a search engine more than ever before… Do you still think that you can manage to use social media marketing as a tool for your business by yourself?
The bottom line is your business needs to be on social media – and a clear social media strategy, which should form part of your overall business marketing strategy, is of utmost importance.
Here are the most important reasons that social media is vital for your business:
- Awareness: Social media boosts your visibility among your target market, letting you reach a wide audience by using strategically planned content.
- Increased traffic: By sharing your content on social media, you are giving your audience a reason to click through to your website. Every social media channel you add is another path that leads to your website.
- Better search engine optimisation (SEO) ranking: Social media presence is becoming a vital factor in calculating rankings. It is no longer enough to simply optimise your website and regularly update your blog. Businesses sharing their content on social media are sending out a brand signal to search engines that speaks to your brand validity, integrity and constancy.
- Brand authority: People are more perceptive about which businesses they support. They decide by looking at your website and your social media presence. Setting up the correct channels with informative and relevant content is key to building your authority and making sure that you create a positive first impression.
- Authenticity: People aren’t interested in dry and formal social media content. Having the right brand voice and tone is crucial, as people want to connect with “real” people.
- Improved customer insights: Social media also gives you an opportunity to gain valuable information about what your customers are interested in and how they behave.
- Connect with the right people: With social media advertising, your ads will primarily show up in the feeds of people interested in what you offer. That means that traffic is typically very targeted. It won’t just boost your traffic numbers — it will bring in the type of visitors you want to attract.
The 2019 Hootsuite Digital Marketing Report found that out of a population of 57.73 million South Africans, 31.18 million are internet users, of which 23 million are active on social media. From January 2018 to January 2019, active social media users increased by 28% and the average daily time spent by users on social media is 2 hours 48 minutes.
Ask yourself: can you afford NOT to be on social media?
Get your business’s social media off the ground right now! Contact us today to discover the true importance of social media marketing and the digital marketing services that we offer to ensure that your business stays top-of-mind with your target market.
