Online shopping continues to reach new heights, and many businesses are choosing to establish strong digital presence as more and more consumers prefer to make their purchases on the internet. Social media plays a crucial role for the discovery of products and services; it allows consumers to browse the latest brand news, read feedback about the products via comments and hashtags, as well as explore any third-party endorsement via top influencers, industry leaders, or celebrities.
As many businesses continue to invest in higher numbers of digital traffic over declining foot traffic, social media presence will become more relevant. Below, we are including five top ways in which businesses can expect social media to impact their business:
1. Building trust: social media has become one of the main ways in which brands build trust with their community/customers. Many software businesses even report bugs and glitches on their socials instead of sending an email to all their subscribers. Audience on social is able to receive a macro perspective on a brand with less research – the brand is able to improve trust by showcasing their achievements, partnerships, endorsements, and even reviews.
2. Building a community: businesses are able to build a close community via their social channels by spreading the message about their values (culture), products, and people. They are able to tap into greater number of potential target consumers that share passion for their industry. According to A&E, digital agency and social media agency NYC, influencers serve as a great anchor to help brands establish communities by spreading their message and telling the brand story. Building a community on social media allows companies to maintain communication with existing consumers as well as broader target market.
3. Increasing interest: social media channels like Facebook allow brands to not only re-market to the audiences who have previously browsed brand’s Instagram account, but also to “clone” the most engaged audience and channel ads towards the same target demographic. This means that companies can rapidly expand their consumer base and precisely devise and target the most interested people, i.e. niche enthusiasts.
4. Improving partnerships: as brands build their reputation on social media, they are able to leverage their standing and improve their partnerships (collaborations). For example, they are able to work with influencers, industry leaders, and even celebrities by displaying their authority via number of followers, engagement, and previous partnerships. Influential brands want to work with other influential companies, and improving social media presence can result in increased amount of brand partnerships that further help amplify the brand’s presence.
5. Nurturing relationship with existing customers: brands are able to maintain their existing relationship with customers on social media by having them as followers on social channels. Existing customers can also serve as one the best brand ambassadors as they often share content created by the company with their own followers. Any new product launches or news can further be easily shared with existing consumers, and comments can act as great product reviews.
As businesses turn more digital, social media will continue to play a greater role in brand’s ability to connect and expand their consumer base. Utilizing social channels to build trust, expand the existing community, increase interest, build new partnerships as well as nurture existing customer base will allow companies to keep growing despite the ongoing economic contraction.
