And, with more and more businesses taking to social media to increase their brand awareness, it has now become a valuable location for a better understanding of both your competitors and target audience. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that brands are always getting it right and using social media in the wrong way can have a serious detrimental impact on your brand image.
With 86% of UK adults regularly using the internet, your website, marketing literature and social media accounts really are the first port of call when it comes to contact with potential customers and even competitors. Whether you like it or not, potential clients judge you by your mistakes, often resulting in a loss of sales, and potentially pushing your clients into the arms of your competition. Make sure you write it, read it, read it AGAIN, then post it.
Social media is about more than just brand awareness, it’s also a great tool for generating solid business leads. Yet, businesses that come across as too ‘salesy’ are likely to push potential clients away at the first hurdle. Using social media to build relationships with your current and potential customers will help you to utilise it more effectively.
So, you’ve built up a network of connections and followers but you fail to speak to them – Why?! Engagement is the key to effective social media marketing campaigns, enabling you to present the human side of your brand and socialise with potential clients, while side-lining the automated messages that consumers instantly dismiss.
Familiar with the phrase, ‘quality over quantity’? Well, this is exactly right for social media marketing. While people love to hear the latest news, spamming your connections with outdated content can be detrimental to your brand image, often resulting in connections opting to actively unfollow you.
So, what’s the moral to the story?
While social media has a huge potential for any business and brand, if done incorrectly, it can seriously hurt your business’ reputation. Equally, using social media the correct way can result in improved brand loyalty and increased brand recognition.
If you are one of the billions of users using Facebook for your business; you may want to read our blog – Facebook Zero – Everything you need to know!