There are many reasons why your business should utilize social media marketing. Yes, the value of social media depends on the goals of a given business profile or personal brand goals, but the main, unchanging function of social media marketing is based on building relationships. Relationships, in turn, can lead to sales. Don't believe in the power of social media? In this section, you will learn what you can get from them.

1. Building brand awareness

In 2020, there were almost 3.5 billion people on social media. From year to year, there is an average growth of 9%. The numbers speak for themselves - social media can increase your brand awareness. In practice, this recognition translates into audience engagement, i.e. all the comments, likes, shares, and feedback. Your presence on social media can help build your image as a professional in a particular industry or as a brand operating in a particular niche. The old saying works very well here: "How they see you is how they write you".

Creating brand awareness through social media is about working on the image that will make the brand important in some way to current and potential customers, as well as to all other media recipients. Brand awareness is its positive image, recognition and experience. When does brand awareness manifest itself? Do you know of a situation where you have never used a tool but decided to buy product XYZ because you heard it was "the best"? This is an example that shows that not only your customers are involved in building brand awareness, but also random people who associate your product with a certain activity (even though they have never used it before). Your efforts to do this give your brand personality and opportunity.

High brand awareness is the result of many simultaneous efforts that go beyond trying to get paying customers. If you expect to increase brand awareness by running a series of Facebook ads, none of this will happen. Such ads may sell your product, but they don't "sell" the brand.

2. Generate leads and increase conversions

Conducting thoughtful and planned communication on social media is an easy way to increase customer acquisition and conversion. There are people who post to signal a specific customer need - be vigilant. Or maybe you have a great website that lacks the traffic that would affect your sales? Social media can help you with that.

Every move counts. Today, a potential client will check your social media profile before contacting you. The number of fans, positive reviews, the way you respond to comments, the private profiles of your employees, and the posts you share all have an impact on whether the recipient will cooperate with you. It is very likely that your interest in an offer will depend on what your social media activity looks like.

Here are some basic tips on how to use social media to attract potential customers:

• Don't forget about the "Call to Action", i.e. redirecting to your website and adding links to the offer in sections and posts.
• Post live videos to promote new products and provide company updates. Share your knowledge and ideas.
• Implement a social media marketing campaign based on content creation assumptions.
• Identify the right channels. All social media platforms have their pros and cons, so you need to try to identify which platform your audience is on. It's not always worth wasting time communicating on channels that won't provide the right conversion.

3. 3. customer relations

By connecting and engaging your followers on social media, you can build a strong relationship between them and your business. You can do this by interacting with your audience in posts, responding to their questions and comments, and providing them with all the help they need. You can also ask your followers questions about your products, problems with them, or create freebies to help you build trust and show how much you value your customers' input and support.

Social media - It is also a quick and direct form of contact with your recipients at any time. You can use it as a way to instantly inform your customers about current promotions, special offers, new products, and share your knowledge with them.

Customer service is also involved in building relationships on social media. In some cases, a consumer who has encountered a problem will not approach the business directly. Instead, your complaints will be posted on portals. Today, many consumers use social media platforms as a form of direct contact with various brands and expect an almost immediate response from the company. Studies have shown that approximately 42% customers who send a problem or query to a brand expect a response within an hour. Therefore, businesses can use social media channels to provide excellent customer service. In such a situation, a chatbot will be a useful tool to automate customer queries. Chatbots are becoming increasingly popular on the Internet. If there is a lot of content coming from customers, it is worth supporting yourself with solutions offered by marketing automation at this stage. 

4. Market and competition research

Social media is a great way to keep track of your competition - whether it's related to their social media tactics, the products they promote, or the marketing campaigns they run.

It's worth monitoring social media to check how your competitors are interacting with their recipients, what type of content they are posting, and to assess the frequency of their posts. Following competitive accounts is a great way to identify trends in your industry and determine how you can differentiate yourself from other brands. Social media allows us to observe which tactics of the competition are working or not, thus helping us to evaluate what might work for us.

5. Cost reduction

Let's face it. Printing flyers was more expensive than posting content on social media. Some Facebook ad campaigns reach more people than billboards, and YouTube, which is the second largest search engine in the world, can be more financially beneficial than TV advertising.

Social media is one of the most cost-effective parts of any marketing strategy. Creating a business profile is free on most social media platforms. In addition, the paid promotions that companies can invest in are usually relatively inexpensive compared to other marketing methods. The cost-effective nature of social media advertising means that businesses can get a higher ROI and use more of their budget for other business expenses.

Social media can also be a great tool for creating meaningful opinions about your brand. When your content goes viral, it can quickly reach millions of people. Nothing will make your business look as good as word-of-mouth marketing.

6. Knowledge of the client's profile

Social media allows you to precisely target your ads. Thanks to statistics, you can identify the target group your business is reaching. This is a huge advantage for brands with a niche or local market. Use social media as a way to find potential customers and analyze their information needs.

Knowing your customers can help your business discover creative ways to reach them through content and advertising. That's because you'll be able to judge what your audience expects. Targeting and meeting specific customer needs can lead to increased conversion rates and overall sales.

A quick guide to detailing your target audience

Before we dive into your social media marketing campaign, let's segment the most important data on the largest platforms:

1. Facebook.

Number of users: 2.2 billion
Audience: Generation X and millennials
Industry influence: B2C
Best for: Brand awareness; advertising

2. Twitter

Number of users: 335 billion
Audience: primarily Millennials
Industry influence: B2B and B2C
Best for: public relations; customer service

3. Instagram

Users: 1 billion
Audience: primarily Millennials
Industry influence: B2C
Best for: the natural look of media content created by users behind the scenes; Advertising

4. 4. LinkedIn

Number of users: 645 million
Audience: Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials
Industry influence: B2B
Best for: B2B relations; business development and employment marketing

5. YouTube

Number of users: 1.9 billion
Audience: Millennials, followed by Generation Z
Industry influence: B2C
Best for: Brand awareness; entertaining and educational videos

6. Snapchat

Number of users: 300 million
Audience: First of all, Generation Z
Industry influence: B2C
Best for: Brand awareness; advertising

7. Pinterest

Number of users: 250 million
Audience: First of all, older millennials and younger baby boomers
Industry influence: B2C
Best for: Visual advertising; inspiration

8. TikTok

Number of users: 800 million
Audience: First of all, Generation Z
Industry influence: B2C
Best for: Brand awareness; entertainment; advertising (reach is cheaper than on Instagram and Facebook)