More than a decade or so ago, the thought and concept of utilising social media in running a business was foreign. In today’s fast-paced world, small businesses are in a constant search for ways to gain market exposure and ways to improve their marketing plans.
In the past, businesses resolved this issue by traditional print and broadcast advertising, which was undeniably effective at that time. However, they were also undeniably expensive, often so much so that only large businesses could afford sizable campaigns.
It’s a fact that traditional marketing practices aren’t dead. However, the rise of technology and the internet gave birth to a new form of cost-effective digital-based marketing tactics. This placed both big and small businesses on equal footing in promoting themselves, their content, products, and/or services.
The Rise of Digital Marketing
With roots going back decades, the internet evolved as a medium that shifted users’ attention from stationary media to perpetual media on the go. As traditional advertising began losing its appeal, marketers pivoted their investments to digital channels, giving rise to digital marketing.
Digital marketing involves the use of the Internet and other digital mediums to introduce and promote businesses, including their products and services. It has evolved from basic banner ads to social outreach to utilising advanced SEO techniques to improve search engine rankings.
Today, digital marketing has become incredibly sophisticated, so much so that companies can now use cutting-edge technology such as artificial intelligence, analytics, and personalisation to constantly reach their audience.
Some of today’s most commonly used digital channels include:
And business growth via digital marketing is showing no signs of slowing down, a boon for many entrepreneurs and small businesses who began seizing the opportunity to gain a competitive edge in the market at par with big businesses.
From social media to SEO, the continuous evolution of digital marketing positively impacts billions of people the world over.
Importance of Social Media for Small Business
While there are small business owners who are still resistant to the idea of using social media to promote their businesses, the fact can’t be dispelled that users and consumers are on social media. This makes it a great avenue to increase brand awareness, promote content, and offer their products and/or services.
According to Statista, one of the most popular activities done on the internet is social media usage, with over 4.26 billion users worldwide on social media, as of 2021. This number is projected only to rise further to six billion users by 2027.
The rise of social media giants like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram made many businesses realise the opportunity and marketing value these platforms can offer. For small businesses in particular, there is a global opportunity in the realm of building communities, hashtags, comments, and likes.
Social media transcended from just connecting and socialising with family and friends, to being used by small businesses to build brand awareness, facilitate customer service, and ultimately increase revenues.
To cite an example, Meta has shown that 83% of Instagram users discover new products or services on the platform. They also found that 81% of Instagram users research products or services, with 80% using the platform to decide whether to purchase a product or engage in a service.
Mind you, that’s just one social media platform alone. Think about if your small business is exposed or present on more social media platforms. Your presence on these various platforms can potentially drive traffic to your website and give those who click through to know more about your brand, a taste of what your business has to offer.
If you’re still not sold on the idea of why your business needs to be on social media, consider these benefits:
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- Social Media helps in increasing brand awareness.
- It helps in driving traffic to your website.
- Social media helps in content promotion.
- Sell your products and services.
- It still is a valuable communication avenue.
- It can potentially keep you a step ahead of your competitors.
- It can allow you to directly connect and engage with your customers.
Incorporating social media into your marketing strategy for your small business or startup can generate huge returns that help boost your business and scale faster and more efficiently. More so if you consistently post quality and valuable content on these platforms.
Advertising on Social Media can Benefit Your Business
As of 2022, users worldwide spend an average of 147 minutes per day on social media, with a social network penetration rate of almost 54%.
Regardless of your company’s size, advertising is an essential investment for any business. If you are still small, you’re probably losing out to your competitors if you’re not casting your net by advertising on social media.
Advertising on social media, unlike traditional advertising, is a cost-efficient way to build awareness, generate leads, and increase online sales for your business. Social media advertising is still a rapidly growing field that has more potential than traditional advertising in growing a company’s revenue.
According to GWI, 26% of social media users tend to buy from brands they see advertised. Considering that over half of the global population has at least one social media account, it’s a big deal.
Placing ads where your target audience congregates, such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, are excellent way for your business to reach them. Notably, social ads are more valuable since they are more than likely to be seen by people who matter most to your product or service. Additionally, the ability to directly target and segment the right audience led to an increase in the demand for these ads.
To top it off, the hyper-targeted nature of social media ads means you can direct your ad spend to groups that have already shown interest in your product, service or industry. More so if you’ve crafted your ads that are personalised and relevant to the user.
PRO TIP: Social Media Management is a specialised field of digital marketing. It has to be thoughtfully planned out and executed by professionals who know what they are doing. There are several tactics that experts know to help them craft and optimise effective social media ads.
Why You Should Work with Experts for Social Media Advertising
If you’ve come this far, you might have already surmised, as a business owner, the power of social media to reach customers and grow your brand. But what you might not have yet realised is that running an effective social media ads campaign is a different ball game altogether, involving a lot of work and time. Time that you can use in running other areas in growing your business.
A social media advertising expert will take into consideration your budget, keeping your target audience in mind in creating ads that are designed to achieve your objectives. In addition, they will also monitor your campaigns closely to ensure that they are performing well. Their experience and knowledge include knowing the latest trends, among these are:
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- Interpreting data
- Creating ad graphics
- Optimising ad campaign
- Copywriting
- Reporting
- Utilising the latest trends and features of the platforms
Even before convincing yourself you can probably take on these tasks yourself, do keep in mind that social media platforms are changing and evolving all the time. Staying abreast on what’s the best graphics, copy, and optimisations is a job in and of itself.
Presented with the demands of social media management above, when trying to manage this all yourself, you might risk:
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- Not knowing or not sure where to begin with your social media campaign.
- Not having the time to dedicate to managing your social media accounts and running ads on them.
- Getting undesired results from running your ads.
- Wasting a lot of money on unsuccessful campaigns
- Getting your account banned for not following strict advertising guidelines
A social media ads expert can most certainly handle all of these – and more. So if you’re considering running a successful social media campaign, you’ll do yourself and your business a huge favour by hiring a social media advertising expert.
To sum it up for you, if you’re still not convinced, do take note of the following:
1. An expert knows what works.
An expert will know what’s working now and what’s not in terms of creating and running ad campaigns. They also have the know-how to utilise tools that will optimise performance and guide you with strategies that will most likely succeed for your business. And in the process, saving you from incurring costly mistakes.
2. They will save you time.
You might have a general idea of what you want to achieve with your ads, but if you’re not familiar with the intricacies of each social media platform, you’ll need to spend time learning them. Add to that, figuring out which platforms to utilise, how to target your ideal customers, and creating an effective ad copy to garner a favourable impact for your DIY efforts.
3. Their breadth of knowledge will help you grow your business.
Any business owner’s ultimate goal is to grow their business. A social media ads expert can help you do just that with ads through social media. By targeting your ideal clients or customers, they can help bring in new leads and convert them into paying customers.
Keep these benefits in mind while doing what you do best, running your business.
Final Thoughts
Hiring a social media ads expert may seem like an unnecessary expense, but if you look at it in the long term, it can save you time and money. In time, you’ll see your investment return in the form of conversions and sales and greater customer engagement and brand awareness.
When it comes to social media advertising, it would be beneficial for your business to engage the services of an expert to take your business to the next level.
Our Social Media Marketing Experts at Accentuate can help you stay one step ahead and amass the benefits of running a Social Media Campaign for your business. Get started with our expert team by getting in touch with us, today.
