Everybody uses social media, there’s no avoiding it. It’s our number one place to stay connected to friends, family, colleagues, news, and, most importantly to marketers, companies, and brands. There are now more than 2.3 billion active social media users, which makes social media an unavoidable part of your marketing strategy. Unlike the past where marketers blindly advertised and hoped for the best, social media provides your company the opportunity to engage with customers in real-time. By setting goals before you begin, it’s easier to measure success or failure. These goals aren’t always focused on money or return on investment, and they shouldn’t be. Social media marketing is more about engagement and providing solutions to problems rather than selling.

1. Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is all about your brand becoming relevant to potential buyers. This means posting content regularly that answers the questions your customers are asking. That content includes links to blog posts, infographics, statistics, and relevant articles. But don’t forget to show the world who your brand is by posting photos of employees, the office, and company events. You can also post humorous, relevant memes that support your brand. This will help build a connection with customers.

2. Enhance Public Relations

By following your company’s mentions, you can find out what customers are saying about your brand and respond to complaints in a timely manner. In fact, according to Social Media Today, when companies engage and respond to customer service requests over social media, those customers end up spending 20% – 40% more with the company. Responding quickly and solving problems allows you to stay ahead of large-scale complaints and create brand loyalty.

3. Build Community Of Advocates

Brand loyalty has always been one of the most important factors in long-term growth. In the past, companies relied on word of mouth. Now, social media provides an entirely new platform where brand loyalty can be shared with thousands of people in real-time.

4. Research And Development

By constantly engaging with customers, your company can stay up to date on the problems they’re facing and develop solutions. Just as importantly, follow your competitors on social media to see how they engage their customers if they’re facing any complaints, and if they’re rolling out any promotions or new products.

5. Driving Sales And Leads

If you’re not leveraging social media to acquire leads and generate sales, you’re not using social media properly. This is what most companies strive for first, but fail to realize that without time spent on the first four goals, it’s unlikely that sales will grow. Social media provides the perfect opportunity to interact with potential customers, both on a personal level and an organizational level, to gauge their pain points, and to understand their basic corporate culture. This knowledge allows for a warm call when you first engage, as opposed to a cold call.