Why social media marketing is important for your business

If you’re like most business leaders, you probably sometimes wonder why social media marketing is considered so important. After all, digital marketing is constantly evolving. Trends come and go, making it hard to know exactly how to structure your marketing campaigns. So, you may wonder whether building a social media presence is worth the effort.



Indeed, some people may think that social media is just one more trend that will eventually lose steam. But as the years go by, it's become clear that social media is not just a passing trend — it's here to stay. We firmly believe that building a solid social media marketing strategy is one of the best things you can do to build brand awareness and grow your business. 

If you need clarification on what that means in practical terms, this article explores precisely why social media marketing is important for your business. We’ll also cover the nuts and bolts of developing content on social media platforms and reaching your target audiences.

What Is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is a digital marketing strategy that uses social media channels to build deep engagement with audiences. This can include various content types, including video advertisements, social media posts, and interactions with customers on social media platforms. 

Social media is constantly evolving. A few years ago, marketing on social media meant establishing a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Today, the social media sphere also includes TikTok and Snapchat. Successful marketing strategies typically include building a strong presence on all of the major social media platforms where your target audience is.

Done right, social marketing is a great way to connect with audiences, deepen your understanding of consumer preferences, and build lasting brand loyalty. Social media can help you build a data driven understanding of the market, forecast trends, and make smart decisions about budgeting and inventory.

How Does Social Media Marketing Work?

Social media marketing is a broad term encompassing many different forms. Briefly, social media marketing can look like:

• Using social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter/X to share news about your products and services
• Pro tip: you can also use social media to publicize your promotions and special deals or to remind audiences about upcoming events.
• Producing and sharing engaging content on social media platforms.
• Sharing content related to your field/area of expertise is always a good idea. If you run an ice cream parlor, share some fun content about ice cream flavors! If you’re a software developer, share some quick tips about coding. This can help you to build a larger following, make a name for yourself, and expand your customer base.
• Promoting customer reviews of your products and services 
• Customer reviews help you reach a broader group of potential customers while building long-lasting, deep relationships with your existing clients. 
• Answering customer queries, providing customer service, and interacting with the public over social media platforms
• This demonstrates your company’s values to the broader public, as every interaction on social media takes place in the public eye.
• Encouraging influencers to promote your brand
• Over time, you may notice that some of your customers are enthusiastic fans of your products and services. 
• Micro-influencers — ordinary people with a large social media following — can have an outsized impact on promoting your brand because their followers trust them. Even “nano-influencers,” or people with a following in the range of one to 10,000 people, can attract new customers to your brand. You can use social media to connect with influencers and encourage them to spread the word about your products or services.

Why Is Social Media Marketing Important?

The average working-age person spends more than two and a half hours on social media daily, according to findings by DataReportal. That’s about 38% of our total online time, meaning that social media is commanding a large share of our internet usage.

If businesses want to connect with customers, social media is the perfect place to go. Sharing content on social media platforms facilitates greater social engagement and may help grow your business. Social media marketing can even help you deliver better products and services to your customers.

Social media can:

• Help build brand awareness
• Increase customer loyalty
• Help businesses gather greater insights into their customers
• Reduce marketing costs

Let’s look more closely at how those benefits work.

Why Is Social Media Marketing Important for Building Brand Awareness?

Social media drives greater brand familiarity by regularly getting your brand in front of consumers. The average person spends 30% more time on social media than watching television (again, according to DataReportal). That means that if you want customers to remember your brand name, you need to have a strong social media presence.

Of course, posting on Facebook and other social media platforms is not enough. To be most effective, you need to create a consistent image, appearance, and message to use across multiple platforms. Establishing a consistent image helps build trust, boost brand recognition, and increase positive associations with your company.

Why Is Social Media Marketing Important for Increasing Customer Loyalty?

When it comes to the importance of social media, 94% of business leaders agree that it increases brand loyalty. Social media allows brands to connect with their audience more personally. At its best, it can create authentic, long-lasting connections that withstand the test of time.

By connecting with influencers on TikTok and Instagram, businesses can use human stories to forge deeper connections with their customers. But even without influencers, social media opens the way to a more egalitarian relationship between companies and customers. And that’s the kind of connection that creates long-term customer loyalty.

Why Is Social Media Marketing Important for Gathering Insights About Your Audience?

Social media can help businesses gauge consumer interest and understand customer preferences. In fact, more and more companies are using social media customer relationship management (CRM) software to gather and analyze social media insights.

Many social media platforms let users view the reach and insights of all your posts. See which posts users share, like, and interact with so you know what moves your customer base.

Businesses can also analyze how many customers post about their brand on social media. Customers often take to social media to ask questions, raise concerns, or complain. Businesses can use those posts to gather valuable insights into customer sentiment.

Why Is Social Media Marketing Important for Lowering Marketing Costs?

Social media can be more affordable than traditional marketing. Instead of hiring a whole marketing team to design advertisements, you can hire just one social media manager. Of course, you can also do it yourself, but that will be more time-consuming, time that could be spent on other areas of your business.

Opening accounts on social media platforms is free, as is posting on social media. You can explore social media advertising when you’re ready to invest further.

Social media also helps you segment your audience and create targeted messaging that reaches specific groups instead of just sending out a generic advertisement to everyone who happens to be watching the same TV channel. 

Using social media marketing means you can direct your spending in the most efficient way possible. Determine which social media platforms your audience is using and target those platforms. Use tags and interactive tools to connect to your target groups directly.

Final Thoughts: How To Optimize Your Social Media Presence

Ultimately, social media marketing allows companies to expand their reach, connect with their target audience, and increase sales. Successful social media marketing can even lower existing marketing costs.

Of course, developing a great social media marketing strategy takes time, experience, and technical skills. It’s helpful to work with experts in the field who can guide your business through the process. Our team at Optimize specializes in doing exactly that for our clients. 

Schedule a free consultation today if you'd like to learn more about how Optimize can help with your social media marketing.