Undoubtedly, the digital marketing world has changed significantly over the past decade. In particular, social media reach has grown immensely, with recent estimates showing that over 4.62 billion people worldwide are active on social media today. Essentially, most of your existing customers and prospects are spending more of their time on social media platforms.
Now more than ever, if you aren't marketing on at least one social network, you could be missing out on potential conversions. This blog shares five reasons why social media is an important marketing strategy for manufacturing, distribution, and commercial service providers in 2023.
Compelling social media marketing stats to ponder
If you are thinking twice about whether to include social media in your 2023 marketing budget, here are a few statistics to convince you otherwise:
- At least 82% of US internet users are on social media. The total number of social media users is expected to increase to over 257 million by the end of 2023
- 56% of Internet-connected adults have multiple social media accounts
- Social media boasts a diverse saturation based on age. Approximately 90.4% of millennials are active on social media. This is followed by Gen X at 77.5% and Baby Boomers at a rate of 48.2%
- Internet users spend more than 1/3 of their internet time on social media
- About 91% of social media users use smartphones and other mobile devices
- About 74% of customers share branded video content. A video posted on social media has earned 93% of brands new customers
- Nearly 97% of people who buy things online have accessed social media in the past month
- 73% of marketers believe social media marketing has been very effective for their business
Reasons to include social media in your marketing budget in 2023
Social media marketing allows you to connect with the right audience and engage them where they are at. With a solid social media strategy and the ability to create engaging content, you could target the right prospects who are more likely to do business with you.
The following are some of the reasons to include social media in your marketing budget in 2023:
1. Help drive crucial traffic
The more traffic you have, the more leads, conversions, and profits you get. Getting sizable traffic your way requires you to consistently reach out and communicate with your target audience. Part of this involves regular updates on your website. Unfortunately, posting multiple times a day on your site is not viable. This is where social media comes in. Unlike your website, you can post multiple times on your social media to keep your customers updated on key happenings, establish brand personality and improve brand recognition. You can also use your social media posts to link back to your website and boost traffic.
2. Effective audience targeting
Knowing your audience is key to the success of your marketing strategy. Not only does social media help you identify your target audience, but it also has tools to target the demographic variables of your audience specifically. Ideally, you can use customers' personal information, such as language, age, gender, or relationship status, to offer content curated to their needs to make them feel more connected to the brand. Identifying where your audience hangs out online and categorizing them into unique groups helps you connect with the people who are interested in what you offer.
3. Expands your message
Social media platforms typically allow users to like, comment and share your content or pages. This free advertising creates a ripple effect to expand your business reach and attract new potential customers. The more followers, likes, comments, and sharing you get on your platforms, the higher your engagement and conversion rates. You can also create blogs and link your business activities to your social media accounts to improve your visibility and traffic on your website. In a nutshell, the more active your brand is on social media, the more leads you get.
4. Facilitates instant feedback from prospects
One of the unique benefits of social media marketing is that it helps marketers get real-time feedback from customers and prospective customers. Once you have created a new marketing campaign on social media, study feedback from prospective customers and review engagement metrics. If it is not performing to your expectations, take the appropriate steps to fine-tune your campaign to suit your customers' needs and attract new ones.
5. Cost-effective
In the current highly volatile marketplace, social media can be a viable marketing technique for start-ups and SMEs to create brand awareness on shoe-string budgets. With inflation rates expected to hit 5% in 2023, experts warn many companies will see a slump in their revenues and profitability. Compared to other traditional advertising and marketing methods, social media is a cost-effective alternative that allows you to maximize your returns on investment without breaking the bank.
Optimize your digital marketing strategy with Synchronicity
If your business is not making use of social media marketing, you could be losing out a lot of potential customers. Most of your existing customers and prospects turn to social media to read content related to different industries and find businesses that offer what they need. If you need help optimizing your digital marketing strategy, contact Synchronicity. We are a digital marketing agency in Charlotte, NC, helping companies achieve real growth through holistic digital marketing. Contact us today to learn more.