Social media is a crucial tool to establish a solid online presence for modern businesses. Out of 5.19 billion people on the internet, roughly 4.88 billion use social media. The numbers underscore the importance of an effective digital marketing strategy to brands.
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However, the best entrepreneurs rely on these platforms not only for boosting their online presence and establishing brand awareness. They also use it to promote social good. This short article will outline how social media can help your brand change the world for the better. But first, let us take a look at their potential for helping the largest number of people in the most significant ways possible.
Social Media for Businesses: What Entrepreneurs Need To Know
Consumers turn to these platforms to see what their friends and favorite influencers say about a specific product or service. In a recent survey about the social media activities of users, 62.7 percent of respondents said they use Instagram to follow or research businesses.
The numbers prove that mastering social media marketing can set your business apart from your competitors, especially now that consumer attention is scarce.
Establishing brand identity and a strong sense of community through these platforms can be the key to standing out and attracting engaged customers.
If done correctly, social media advertising can mean positive results for your brand. Today, countless brands have gained popularity from the ground up through the effective use of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Let us look at why investing in social media can be worth it for your business.
The importance of social media for modern brands
If you want your businesses to succeed, you should establish a solid online presence for your brand. With more than four billion people worldwide using social media and contributing to the ongoing digital transformation process, you must take advantage of these platforms sooner rather than later.
- Boosts brand awareness
Now that you can use social media freely, increasing brand visibility should not be a challenging task. You can broadcast a message to thousands, even millions, of potential customers by sharing a single post.
You only need to spend a little time posting on your accounts to boost brand visibility and interact with your target audience. Remember that by engaging with your audience, you are expanding your reach.
- Engages customers
Social media is now a playground for engaging and interacting with potential customers and brand ambassadors. Through these platforms, your brand’s conversations with followers, ads, and posts can go viral, which can do wonders for your business.
When creating a post, remember that it is about providing value to people: tips, hints, tricks, news, and crucial information about the latest trends. This tactic can help establish your brand as an industry expert, boost your reach, and attract new people to your online presence.
- Promotes brand loyalty
Nothing is better than a loyal customer for your business, especially for entrepreneurs who are only starting. If you want to keep your business afloat, you need a list of loyal customers you can rely on to make the same purchase every year. Your business needs someone who picks your brand over your competitors.
Loyal customers are the beating heart of a flourishing business. They are also more likely to engage with what you post on social media, thereby extending your reach on these platforms.
- Increases customer satisfaction
Social media gives customers the platforms they need to make their voices heard if they have a negative experience with a particular product or brand. These platforms also allow you to address negative reviews about your offerings.
Your interaction with customers on social media can quickly turn their negative experience into a positive one. You can give a personalized apology or an update through a private message, which can make the customer feel valued.
The potential of social media for encouraging social good
The evolution of new technologies and applications allowed audiences to opt out of ads. This change made it much harder for businesses to pay for fame, requiring them to compete directly with high-value content and real entertainment.
Before social media, big companies, like car manufacturer BMW, started publishing short films as ads on the internet. This step encouraged corporations to hire top film directors like Wes Anderson and Xavier Dolan to create film-like advertisements.
Businesses pushed for more spectacular special effects and production values in their ads to boost awareness for their brand. These early digital efforts led companies to believe that if they published Hollywood-level ads at internet speed, they could get more audience engagement.
However, the rise of social media changed everything. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram brought together communities that were once isolated. This change upped the pace and boosted the intensity of collaboration from audiences worldwide.
Social media advanced crowd culture, which refers to the distinctive online and in-person communities sharing a specific set of collective values. It encouraged the formation of communities around almost any topic under the sun, including Victorian novels, rare artworks, and the most obscure musicians.
Before social media, these subculturalists had to meet up in person. They had limited ways to interact and communicate collectively. Digital social platforms expanded and democratized subcultures, allowing anyone on the internet to jump into the center of any subculture.
Together, members can push forward new products, ideas, practices, and aesthetics regardless of where they are in the world. This change highlights the potential of social media as a platform for promoting social good.
Promoting Social Good Online: Effective Tips for Your Brand
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Brands can use social media platforms to show their audience they care about social issues. Sharing relevant information, giving expert advice, and telling stories can be simple ways to promote social good. Let us take a closer look at other effective ways below:
Create a safe online community
One of the most significant benefits of social media is it allows users to connect with like-minded people from anywhere in the world. By creating relevant hashtags and communities on Facebook, you can start global communities where you can give advice to your audience, discuss current events, and encourage members to support each other.
For example, instead of going to friends or family for advice, some people check online communities first, like Facebook groups, to resolve issues.
For example, National Geographic created a group called “Women of Impact,” where they celebrated women inspiring the next generation of decision-makers. Group members give career advice, share inspiring stories of women, and create connections to bring virtual relationships to the real world.
Modern brands can help raise awareness through Facebook groups and hashtags on Twitter and Instagram. By creating a safe community online, you can show your audience they are not alone in the desire to do something good.
Share news relevant to your audience
With the global social media usage at 59 percent, sharing news online reaches more people faster than traditional channels. News outlets today have also embraced these platforms, making it easy for their audience to share breaking stories, alerts, and other current events.
You can share news relevant to your brand to keep your followers informed and updated. When more are informed, relevant organizations, agencies, and authorities can perform their duties more efficiently.
Support a cause and connect with donors
Businesses today can use social media to promote a cause and look for donors. They do not have to set up a physical stall and ask passersby to donate or go door to door to inform people about their funding efforts.
Through social media, brands can create a sound and solid social presence. Businesses will also have access to a large international community.
Brands can fund socially relevant campaigns without having to knock on anyone’s door. Entrepreneurs need only to share their campaigns with the right audience who they think will be interested in supporting the cause.
Be informative
One of the main concerns of the growing social media use is its impact on teens and younger audiences. While it is true that there is a lot of harmful content online, activists, non-profits, and businesses can use the platforms to spread awareness on social issues. Brands can help address food waste problems, discuss climate change, and educate their audience.
For example, fintech startups can help improve their followers’ financial literacy. They can share tips on how clients can keep their checking account safe, save money, and get ready for tax time.
Tech companies can use social media to discuss sustainability in the digital world. Tech brands can discuss the importance of using environmentally friendly devices and give tips on keeping the environment safe.
Celebrate your audience
Your brand can promote social good by sharing user-generated content (UGC) from your timeline. Remember that a customer’s voice sometimes speaks louder than the seller’s. You can share stories of a customer supporting the exact cause as your business.
Not all the content you publish has to be your own. Promote something other social media users have created for the same purpose as yours. However, remember to ask for permission from the original creators before repurposing content to avoid potential ownership issues.
Work with organizations
One way to get valuable information is by talking to other organizations fighting the same battle as you. Social media has made it easier for brands to find groups and communities sharing the same sentiments regarding certain issues. They can discover organizations through hashtags, making the process easier and more convenient.
Regardless of the social channel you are investing in, you can join groups, communities, and organizations that support the causes you do. You can also follow a relevant hashtag and connect with friends and followers of similar organizations.
You can look at this process as researching your business competitors. However, instead of looking for information about your rival businesses, you will look up philanthropic organizations that aim to bring good to the community.
Inspire youth to create
Social media inspired young people to become content creators. These platforms thrive on active participation. They reward users who engage in discussions, encouraging creators to publish more photos, posts, and videos. This cycle fosters creativity and inspires lengthy and relevant conversations about content ownership.
Brands aiming to make a change can do so by holding events that inspire their younger followers to create. They can announce the events as part of their UGC marketing strategies, where they repurpose content from their followers.
However, instead of the usual product-focused UGC, brands can ask for content that helps spread awareness about social issues. This way, they build brand awareness while showing their audience they are taking an active role in making the world a better place.
Assist global natural disaster relief
When natural disasters cause devastating destruction, many people will consult social media on how to help. Brands can contribute to relief efforts by using social media sites to share messages asking for support.
Businesses can use hashtags to help people online find related stories and show their support for the people affected by the disaster. Sharing and retweeting content help stories gain global attention and, in turn, help relief efforts.
Show up when it matters
If you want your brand to promote social good online, you must be aware of key cultural moments. For example, share a post showing extra appreciation for moms, sisters, and daughters during Women’s Month in March. You can share “Love Is Love” posts from followers on social media during Pride Month in June.
While it is true that social media remains controversial, it is not all arguments, drama, and people being canceled left and right. The sites can be platforms for promoting good values, especially for brands that want to make a positive social impact.
Change the World for the Better Through Social Media
With effective social media strategies, decision-makers can work to create better brands and drive change around the social issues customers care about. Businesses unafraid to publicly speak up about social problems and use their influence to make a change will thrive in today’s divisive socio-political landscape.
The brands that aren’t ready are the ones that stay silent, a choice that could mean acceptance of the status quo and a risky one, especially now that there is blatant economic inequality.
