Unless you have been living under a rock the past few years, you know about the popularity of social media websites and mobile apps. More time is spent on mobile phones reading and posting to social media channels than playing games, or texting and making phone calls.
Social media is a part of most consumers’ daily lives, and from the looks of it, that isn’t changing any time soon. With 79% of online adults using social media, it has become an increasingly important part of any business comprehensive marketing plan. These days it is no longer an option. Facebook and other social profiles are as essential to businesses in 2016 as much as a website was in 2006. As a marketer, that means that utilizing it as a tool is not really optional anymore – it’s absolutely necessary.
And so you do the right thing…
You’ve set up a Facebook business page…
…and several Pinterest boards…
…and maybe even a Twitter handle…
…and you’re probably on LinkedIn, too…
…maybe even Instagram if you are uber-trendy.
But, social media marketing creates 2 major problems!
1. To be successful marketing on social media channels you must be posting at least once a day, 7 days a week. This requires constant content creation. Creating new content every day is labor intensive and costly. Unless you are using a marketing program from an agency (such as Internet 4 Jeweler’s Facebook Page Management) your ROI can be very small or non-existent. With an agency, they can spread the cost of content creation across multiple clients making it affordable for everyone.
2. Social media pages and profiles are by design places to share, inform, entertain and educate. They are not meant to be places to promote and sell. As such, your social page and profile is not always the best place to promote an upcoming sale or to present a special offer to come into your store.
Social Media to the Rescue!
All 5 of the top Social Media channels have set aside space in their Newsfeeds exclusively for businesses to advertise their store, sale, offer or event. Paid social advertising is now the fastest growing strategy for marketing campaigns. And for good reason. Just consider these facts:
• Large Audience – 79% of online adults in the United States have at least one social media account on which they are active, and 52% use two or more. This means that your current and potential customers not only use some form of social media, but it’s also pretty likely that they are on multiple channels.
• Precise Targeting – All social media channels require users to provide their profile information. In addition, they monitor user activity recording their likes, interests and behaviors. This treasure trove of consumer information allows marketers to precisely target their ideal customer and not waste advertising dollars on people who have no interest in their products and services.
• Expanded Reach – With paid ads you can extend offers to all consumers even if they are not following your page. At some point your organic reach will be maximized. Paid social ads allow you to target and capture new audiences that fit your ideal customer profile.
• Continual Exposure – Your paid ads are always available 24/7. They are inserted into your ideal customers’ newsfeeds whenever they happen to log-on, whether or not you are actively posting to your page. No longer do you have to be concerned about timing your post to coincide with the time your Fans are most active.
• Strong Consumers Acceptance – The initial results of paid ads on social media channels (such as Facebook) was met by consumers with skepticism. However, the social media sites took a proactive stance and provide consumers a way to opt out of ad types in which they are uninterested. They also limited the amount of space given to ads and closely monitor the activity on the paid ads placed in the newsfeeds. As a result, consumer acceptance has skyrocketed.
• Highly Effective – Surveys show that paid social ads are perceived by social media users to be equal to, or more effective than TV commercials, and far exceeded banner ads, search result ads and traditional print/radio ads in terms of effectiveness. Social ads are now considered by consumers to provide great influence on purchase decisions.
• Low Cost – Social media provides businesses the lowest cost among advertising media. Whether you compare cost per impression, reach or response you will find a well-designed social ad campaign delivers a better response for your advertising dollars.
• Little Competition – Despite the clear advantages of social media advertising campaigns, it is often an afterthought for companies who do not take it seriously as a marketing tool. In fact, only a quarter of all companies took advantage of all the benefits of social paid ads during 2015.
This is great news for those stores who commit to invest in social advertising. Simply integrating it into your business’s overall marketing strategy could put you ahead of 74% of your competitors.
Over the next few months we will take an in-depth look at each of the top 5 social media channels and the advantages each has to offer. For more information on paid social media advertising campaigns, step-by-step directions and templates for your ads please visit www.FeetThruTheDoorMarketing.com.
Brad Simon is co-owner of Internet 4 Jewelers and Feet Thru The Door Marketing. They provide affordable full-service social media management and social/mobile ad campaign management exclusively for retail jewelry stores as well as online educational programs for local retail stores. For more information contact Brad at 864-680-4416 or Brad@Internet4Jewelers.com.
