In the marketing industry, one of the most common concerns with business owners is leads. They want to ensure, matter of factly, that hiring an agency or firm to manage their social media content will result in viable leads.
Will consistently posting content on social media platforms result in leads? Likely, yes. However, this is not fully the point of upkeeping social media platforms, and it may take time for this result to occur. Your social media is almost entirely about creating awareness and trust with your audience. Consider applying these topics to your current perspective on the purpose of social media:
- Brand Awareness
One of the most paramount aspects of why your company should have social media is brand discovery. 60% of Instagram users say that they’ve discovered new products while using the platform. If a potential customer doesn’t know of your company’s existence, they’ll never become a customer. Being discovered on social media means that you are now on their radar.
An example of this would be a user scrolling through hashtags and stumbling on your plumbing company. Currently, they don’t need any plumbing services, so they may not follow or message your company, but now, they have seen it. Next time they have a plumbing problem, they may think back to that time they found your social account and search for your company again, potentially leading to a phone call or website click to inquire about your services.
- Make Your Company Relatable
Human beings are constantly seeking connection. When people see your company standing for something, sharing something, they start to form trust. This may happen consciously or unconsciously. 90% of people use social media to communicate directly with brands. This is largely due to this humanization of your company through these platforms. Many people are uncomfortable with calling a company and speaking to a stranger, so social media becomes that missing link between human connection and gaining information about a product or service.
Sharing photos of your product or service in action on an authentic level is something your potential customers typically would not get elsewhere. Seeing your staff and company culture forms the start of a basic human connection with your company. Testimonials from other people immediately increase that level of trust as well, which is something often found on your social media. Now, people know a real, living human being has interacted with your product, and that has more meaning than the number of followers or likes on your page.
- Growth
74% of consumers use social media to make a buying decision. One of the best ways to create actual, tangible numbers that you can notably say is making a difference for your company is advertising on social media. Advertisements are highly targeted, meaning that the algorithm on the social network is showing your product or service to a very specific group of people that are likely to be interested in it. However, showing this advertisement to a user isn’t usually enough. Depending on the price of your product, most people prefer to do research on the company before spending a large sum of money. Here’s where your social media page comes back into the narrative.
A common type of advertisement is a traffic ad, meaning that once an interested user clicks on your ad, they’ll be redirected to your website. Your website should have a lot of information on your product, who you are, your mission, etc. If they like what they see, they’ll continue their research. This will lead them down the road of searching for reviews and real photos of your product and service at work. They’ll search to see if they feel that they can trust you and will generally make this decision based on your social media, if that is where they first found you.
This is one of the reasons that your social media is essential. It cannot be simply regurgitating photos from your website. You need to be distinguished as a thought leader, as empathetic, as an expert. This is portrayed over a period of time, and will be seen in a matter of minutes as a user scrolls through the past several months or years of your company’s social media.
- Top of Mind Awareness
We’ve talked about brand awareness, but now we should consider a subsection of this, top of mind awareness or TOMA. TOMA brings all of these points together. If you’re the plumber that was discovered by a social media user, you want to be the absolute number one plumbing service that comes to their mind when they need these services. For example, if you get injured, you may say you need a Band-Aid. This is a brand that holds the spot in the top of your mind for the bandage industry.
Once your brand has been discovered by a social media user, this is where the process starts. Slowly, they’ll begin to recognize your brand and gain the trust that we’ve talked about before. Company growth is a large step on the path to top of mind awareness as well. The more your brand becomes recognized and tested by potential customers, the more they will consider you a leader in your industry, and this is where you will procure viable leads and successful sales.
The Ad Leaf Marketing Firm LLC has been in the industry for almost a decade and kept up with every trend on Social Media in Business with careful detail. We would love to have you as a client and start taking your brand’s presence on social media to the next level.
