Social media has been around for a couple of years and is still expanding at the speed of light. Everyday you can find politicians and new global organizations making social media part of their everyday digital activities. The days are over where social media is just a direct reflection of our everyday interactions with our friends and family.
We are no longer using social media to only make informal conversation. Our updates and messages are now planned around customers and outsiders while driving the brand’s digital marketing campaign from a social perspective. The digital world has evolved and so must we if we want to stay ahead of the game and make a positive contribution.
Social media should not be seen as an “add on” activity and should be a prominent part of business. Social media is not only part of the marketing department because it touches everyone in the business and they can all be part of it. Many brands are starting to use social media for customer service by assigning a dedicated social media profile for this, but is it enough?
Social media market research
Social media is now a goldmine for customer feedback and market research. With the increase of user-generated content on all the social media channels available, retweets, +1’s, likes, and the addition to the ongoing conversations happening on the social web, if you are not using social media for market research, you are losing out. Did you know that brands can now target their market directly based on their interests and likes, using Facebook PPC ads?
Change with time
Social media has caused many businesses to evolve, but there’s still a big gap between companies using social media purely for marketing purposes and consumers using it for discussion. The task of any digital marketing agency is to bridge the gap and connect the distinction between business and social.
It’s really awesome to have customers that are fans of your brand, but it’s even better if they can help you create value for your business. When your business engages on the social web, your supporters gain a mutually beneficial voice that never stops. This changes the way business operate forever.