Be Social: Build a Community

With continued expansion in social media platforms the importance of having a social media presence continues to grow. Beyond being able to expand your brand awareness and creating a more “emotional” relationship with consumers – having a social media presence is also a factor in a customer’s decision making process. Social media is quickly becoming the new medium for word of mouth recommendations and is another digital tool your customers are using before they make a decision.

You already know that a large majority of your customers are on social media, but why is it so important to build a loyal and engaged following on social media platforms? Based on consumer research, studies have found that 71% of consumers will be influenced to make a purchase decision based on your social media referrals and brand mentions. Additionally, 78% of Americans say that social media posts by brands influence their purchasing decisions. Without a strong social media presence you risk losing potential customers to more socially savvy and engaging competitors.

Here is what you need to know while you’re building a social media community:

Social Indexing – What is it? Simply put, your social media can now affect your search ranking on google. Google has begun to crawl social media pages just like it does your website. This means your content and how people engage with your social profiles has become an important search ranking metric. Without a strong social presence you lack an important piece of the Google PageRank puzzle. Building an engaged social media community is becoming an important part of your SEO.

Social Content Creation – As social indexing grows in importance, it isn’t enough just to have social media profiles and passively post. Your social media will need consistent postings with content that truly engages and resonates with your audience. Rich visual content (images and video) is what social platforms want and will get more engagement from followers.

Social Advertising – As social media influence grows so does the benefits of paid social advertising. 70% of companies have a budget for paid social media advertising to target potential customers, grow their following and increase sales. Using paid social media advertising doesn’t mean that potential customers stop on your social media page. Social advertising can be used to drive customers to your website and blog as well. Paid advertising on your social media platforms works together with your existing social presence to get more customers in to your sales funnel and move them through it.

Have questions on how to get started advertising on social media? Contact your Account Manager today!