Before we get into why you need to spend more time thinking about Social Media Marketing, let’s start with the most important question which is, ‘What is Social Media Marketing?’
Social Media Marketing is a way for brands to interact with customers and potential customers socially. While people get onto social media to interact with their friends and family, brands use this opportunity to reach out and have conversations with their customers to find out their needs and concerns to serve them better. n
This happens a lot on the different social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to mention but a few where companies take advantage of the analytical data provided by these platforms and use it to gain insight into their customers.
Uganda currently has approximately 2.5 million active social media users according to a report by We Are Social which is quite a huge number one shouldn’t ignore. So, if you have a business and you aren’t online you are missing out on a sizeable audience.
A good marketing strategy involves meeting your customers where they spend most of their time at the right moment with the right message. Today, that place is our very own social media platforms which boast a high number of active users daily.
So, why should you invest in Social Media Marketing?
Here are a few key points as to why you should do so;
1. People want to engage with their brands
People today don’t like to be sold to. They don’t like to be handed a flyer with your product information. They want to engage and talk about things that are relevant and interesting to them.
Social Media is a great place for brands to have real conversations with their customers and talk about things that matter to them and serve them better in the long run. Customers who have been served will most likely become your brand advocates telling people about your business which will help with brand awareness.
2. It’s easier to measure the effectiveness and ROI (return on investment)
You can see real-time results of your marketing efforts such as tracking how many people are going to your website, seeing how your content is performing and how many people have seen it, liked it and shared it.
Best of all, you can track how your ads are performing online and if it is not working, you can just stop or pause it from running and re-strategize to ensure you get maximum ROI. All this isn’t possible if you are running an ad using different media such as a newspaper or on a billboard.
3. It’s affordable compared to traditional forms of marketing
Social Media Marketing is more affordable and accurately targeted than traditional media. On social media, you can run an ad for as low as $5 and you will reach a significant number of people. You can also target your ads directly to the people you want to reach with your message.
In conclusion, Social Media as a medium of marketing is hard to ignore today. Everything is going digital and more and more people are relying on it as their major source of information. If your business doesn’t have an online presence now is the time to step up
If you’re interested in learning more about digital marketing and want to take things further, sign up for this Social Media Marketing and Management course at DigiCon Academy that covers topics from Social Media Strategy, Content Creation, and Digital advertising to reporting and Analytics.
Also read: 7 Essential Trends for A Successful Digital Marketing Campaign
