The Fascinating World Of Social Media

37% of the world’s population is active on social media!

This is a remarkable amount of people who use social media as a way to communicate and interact with others online. But why is it that so many people enjoy to communicate online? It all has to do with engagement, which the company MOZ, identifies as the heart of social media. People enjoy engaging online, whether it’s with family members, friends, and even businesses. With that in mind, businesses are finding opportunities to get closer to their target audiences than ever before, according to MOZ. Consumers might wonder what the goals are for businesses, and to put things in perspective businesses strive to: reach more people in a genuine and authentic manner, drive more qualified site traffic, increase the authority of your brand, engage people who influence a company’s customers and their behaviors, and gain the data necessary for insights- based on business decisions. Although this may seem like an extensive list, companies are gathering valuable data that can help customers have a better experience with a company, by reaching needs and wants.

Scott Fallon- “Social channels will soon be sales channels.” VP of Marketing, Simply Measured.

Organic Social Media

Social media is constantly growing every year although it’s still a fairly new industry. For instance, in the State of Social Marketing Report it stated that in 2007 Facebook went public and only had 10,000 business pages. Where as today, Facebook has more than 65 million business profiles. This is a large increase in the past 10 years and it’s interesting to see how businesses are going a different route to build relationships with their customers- and it’s through social media. However, the way that businesses choose to post content online can be different depending on the company. Moreover, it’s important to understand that the greatest community relationships are built organically. Organic social media is unpaid media that is crucial for companies to deliver because it’s a more genuine and authentic approach to get a conversation going with customers online. According to Shopify Blogs, current trends that companies do to have an organic approach to social media posts is using: emojis, memes, hashtags, tagging a friend in a picture/post, and many more. Whether the social media is organic or paid, marketers have the advantage to analyze the data collected from customers responding and interacting with the social media posts.

Another wonderful example of organic social media is with REI. REI manages to not only sell outdoor sweater and outdoor clothing gear, but also take the time to create content on tips for hiking, snowshoeing, and fun outdoor activities. This is a great way that REI authentically creates that supports their customers in a way that forms a relationship with them. In the long run, when a customer is “liking” your brand, then most likely they are defending the brand. Now that is brand loyalty on a different level.

The Marketing Funnel highlights the road that customers go through when interacting with a company on social media:

Using Analytics For Social Media

A company having the right analytic tools could really differentiate on their business decisions based on useful information gathered through the data collected from people engaging with the company’s social media accounts.  The State of Social Marketing report explains that the insight gained from the proper analysis of social campaigns is being used to better inform strategies in other marketing functions including websites, email, demand and lead generations, sales, SEO, media buying, and customer service. This is extremely helpful because marketers making assumptions is often unrealistic and inaccurate, therefore having data to backup decisions is huge! In addition, analytics increases budgets for companies, since social media investments lead to higher revenue, through an engaging and sharing audience. MOZ mentions that measurement is only effective if a marketer knows what to measure and why. Furthermore, in order for companies to measure an ROI, they need to have an I. Without an investment for resources, it could be very difficult to gather data to essentially return on investment.

DATA DON’T LIE

Tip - “With any data you’re collecting, whether it be quantitative or qualitative, the most important things to ask yourself are “What can I do with this?” and “What are my insights?” -MOZ

The Rise of Influencers

A company having an influencer is one of the hottest social media topics this year, according to the State of Social Marketing Report. About 84% of marketers planned to launch at least one influencer campaign in 2017, based from eMarketer. When companies are figuring out whom to be an influencer for their company, the two main factors that they focus on evaluating on is reach and expertise. When talking about reach, this brings the question of whether or not the influencer can engage with the audience. As for expertise, this focuses on compatibility between the content of the campaign and the influencer and how the campaign can benefit in the end. With this in mind, HubSpot explains how fans of influencers trust that their endorsement of a product or brand comes from a well-researched, more credible place rather than something as simple as a signed contract between a brand and a person of influence. A great example of an influencer for a brand is DJ Khaled teaming up with Stride Gum, since DJ Khaled is considered the “King of Snapchat,” and Stride Gum wants a more social media presence.

Social is Ever-Evolving

Here are some exciting facts about some of the biggest social media players. These facts show how much these social media platforms are growing and what they’re changing to make their company continue to expand.

Find Your Personality On Social Media

Each and every company has a brand that has it’s own personality within. Depending on each company, some posts and content might not fit with the company’s own personality so it’s crucial for marketers to ask themselves if it fits first. For instance, some companies might want to post jokes on their social media, however that might not work for brands that are more serious and have a different perspective from an audience.

Here’s an example with Harley-Davidson as having a “rebel” personality.