4 Ways That Social Media Marketing Impacts Business

Jose Capelo

With the ongoing rise in social media usage and marketing on and through the platform, modern businesses are continually challenged to alter their strategies. Social media marketing (SMM) affects virtually all businesses in varying degrees regardless of their nature, size and scope. True enough, it is the experience of social media marketers while working their way up the social media learning curve that shape the experience of their target audience. Here are four profound ways SMM is changing the business landscape.

Marketing

Aside from email marketing and word-of-mouth which are still widely used today, SMM is changing how businesses are informing their target audience about innovations, launches, promotions and sales. SMM became a platform that drives instantaneousness wherein the consuming public can keep tabs on what these businesses are up to next just by connecting with the business on social media. Did you know that 95% of the millennials is active on at least one social profile?

Branding

Again, SMM became a fundamental factor in synergizing branding strategies and building brand awareness. Through the businesses’ social media profiles, the management is given the opportunity to become more transparent when it comes to their brand. Before, when no social media platforms are available, people have distant and impersonal impressions of these brands. However, with the birth of social media sites, the process creates a favorable perception of the brand and shapes the purchase decision-making of the people based on how the business interacts with them while on social media.

Communication

Social media sites are becoming the customer service arm of the businesses. Instead of calling the store or emailing, the people can direct their concerns and feedbacks to these profiles and they can expect a reply in 30 minutes or so. Of course, the quicker, the better. Some customers even chose to inform the business through brand-specific hashtags, that is, if the social profiles are constantly being monitored. Based on how the effective the communication is between the management and the users, the process can improve the reputation of the company while fostering brand loyalty.

Value

Successful SMM is able to create not just brand awareness, but also the perceived and actual value of the products and services that companies offer. Previously, it would take years (and substantial budget) before any business can establish their value proposition in the minds of the consuming public. The process is tedious as well wherein they need to build awareness, recall and trust before they can build loyalty and authority. What digital marketers can learn from the process is the law of value wherein their target audience will stop listening if they blatantly promote products and services instead of interacting with them.

SMM has dramatically changed the way businesses communicate, interact and do marketing today. SMM gave these companies an opportunity to make their brands and messages more personal and communicate with their target market in a more dynamic way. To sum it up, how social media marketers make sense of the social platforms themselves can affect how they do business with their target market. Regardless of the influence of social media on your business and customers, your SMM strategies and tactics should always strive for win-win scenarios. That is, give what your target consumers need and desire and they will recognize your brand, its value and your efforts in return.

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