The majority of the world’s population is avidly using social media these days, whether to keep up with friends and family or simply from boredom. Businesses can capitalize on this and increase their brand awareness at a substantial rate with the use of social media management.
Engagement statistics for social media are incredibly large, with Facebook being the number one platform with 2.91 billion active users per month. Other stats include Instagram with 2 billion users, Pinterest with 444 million, Twitter with 330 million, and LinkedIn with 310 million.
Studies show that 71% of small to medium-sized businesses actively use social media, with at least 52% of them posting on a daily basis, with the aim of efficiently reaching their target audiences. According to the research, 63% of users expect to interact with companies using social media, especially for customer service.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Social media management is important for increasing brand awareness. Companies who promote their brand’s online presence can benefit greatly when it comes to growing and expanding their image. Direct contact with their customer base leads to an exchange of ideas allowing them to improve the ways they do business.
Of course social media has both advantages and disadvantages, but knowing them can help businesses avoid any unnecessary attention or wasted resources needed to manage their brand’s online presence. Because social media is always running, they need to keep constant activity and have daily monitoring to ensure their usage is of benefit.
Negative feedback from users is always a downside, as well as information being leaked or even the account being hacked, leading to the brand’s social media accounts posting content that is not authorized thus tarnishing the brand’s image. However, by planning ahead and working with a social media management agency, all of these disadvantages can be avoided. The agency can help to create a strategy that has long term benefits for both you and your target audience.
Be Relatable, Consistent and Interesting
Relatability can help a brand go far when it comes to keeping their target audience and users active and happy. Content that is relatable and evokes positive emotions has a much higher engagement rate and can lead to better brand and user interactions.
Be as consistent as possible, keep up with trends, engage with your followers, post on a regular basis and on popular events that relate to your brand. Keep your posts interesting and engaging, including polls, AMA’s, competitions and so on. Consider investing in video content and streaming on your social media platforms. Studies show that users engage with video and streaming now more than ever. With the rapid growth of Tick Tock, Facebook Live, Instagram Live and more, we are consuming this kind of content at an increasingly rapid pace.
When it comes to the topic of videos vs Images, videos definitely outperform by 2x the click rate of images. Although if you really want to get the most out of them it is recommended that you use both videos and images, and switch between the two depending on the content being posted and the platform you are using.
Know Your Brand’s Voice, Audience and Which Platform to Use
Find the right voice and be sure to accurately portray your brand – whether it is professional and formal or more relaxed and informal. Think, with each post, about which terminology to use, whether you should be serious or funny, or targeting older or younger users and so on.
Users want to feel like the brand hears them, that the brand relates to them and that they feel part of a community which they can engage with actively. They also want the brand to be as active and up to date as possible, and feel as though they are part of the story, keeping up with current events at the same time.
From a business perspective, having a presence across multiple social media platforms can grow more revenue streams and help gain new audiences. When considering your social media management strategy, it’s important to be able to adapt to current social media trends, and depending on the type of brand you have, to understand which platforms would be best to post your content.
Long Term Benefits
In the long run, using social media for your brand can help with gaining authority with your users and leading to better interactions with them. Social media is incredibly useful when doing research and engaging with your stakeholders, as well as gaining insights on competitor analysis.
In this digital age it is without a doubt that social media management is key to improving your brand’s online presence. Make sure that the content you create is in line with your brand’s voice, identity, and goals. If you stay consistent with the tone across all platforms, you will get the most out of your social media strategy.
