If your business marketing roadmap includes ramping up your digital marketing strategy, social media is a fantastic place to start. Facebook and Instagram platforms are integral to digital and multichannel marketing, as they empower businesses to interact more fully with existing clients and broaden their reach to larger segments of their target audiences. When combined with other digital and print marketing strategies, social media marketing and advertising can have a powerful impact on a business’s growth and reputation. (In fact, 75 percent of marketing leaders vouch for social’s ROI.) Let’s take a look at how.
Build Brand Awareness
With Adobe reporting that social media is the most relevant advertising channel for 50 percent of Gen Z’ers and 42 percent of millennials, reaching them through these channels seems like a no-brainer. From creating frequent, optimized posts on your main social media channels to investing in paid advertising targeting people who fit the profile of your ideal customer, social media will allow your business to cast a wide net, leading more potential buyers to discover your brand than ever before.
(Here’s a multichannel marketing protip: one great way to make social media and direct mail marketing work well together is to use your social media ads as a “testing ground” for upcoming mailers. Create multiple variations of your ad, tweaking design and messaging a bit for each. Then see which one has the highest reach and engagement, and use that design for your next postcard!)
Boost Lead Generation
Research shows that 96 percent of visitors to your website won’t be ready to buy, but that’s okay. Once you start to see engagement on your brand-building efforts, you can continue to use social media to turn those browsers further down the marketing funnel into consideration and purchase territory. One big advantage social media offers in this effort is retargeting, which enables brands to create tailored advertisements based on consumers’ previous online behavior. For example, if a potential customer clicked a recent ad and spent time browsing your website, you can show them social media advertisements specifically for the products they looked at. Keep those products — or special deals or other offerings — top of mind, and eventually, those new followers are much more likely to click “add to cart.”
This idea of building familiarity to nurture leads applies to multichannel marketing strategies, too. If you’ve primed a follower to be on the lookout for your brand by engaging with them on social media, then they’re more likely to pay attention to the physical brochures, posters, or catalogs they find in their mailbox. In fact, studies show that campaigns that pair direct mail with digital ads see a 118 percent higher response rate than those that use direct mail alone.
Invite Existing Customers to Purchase Again
Social media is also a powerful channel through which to nurture existing customers into repeat buyers and life-loyal evangelists. Retargeting can be an effective strategy here, too, showing previous buyers special offers and products they might be interested in based on their last purchase. But social media is also a great avenue for more personalized engagement, from interactive posts that encourage customers to engage with your content (and create positive feelings about your brand) to localized details about in-store events and community involvement. These kinds of interactions go a long way in fostering trusted relationships between consumers and the brands they love — and, ultimately, keeping those consumers coming back for more.
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Marketing Basket
Social media is a powerful part of any brand’s marketing strategy, but remember that it shouldn’t be anyone’s entire marketing strategy. We’ve been preaching multichannel marketing for as long as we can remember, but for those who were unconvinced, the Great Facebook & Instagram Collapse of October 2021 was a powerful illustration of why it’s critical to invest in connecting with your audience on multiple channels. Brands that had their own email lists were still able to connect with their customers when social media was down and, in a situation where an outage lasted even longer, those with mature direct mail strategies would be in even better shape.
Even under the best of circumstances, though — when social media platforms are up and running as they should be — a robust multichannel marketing strategy is a serious competitive advantage at any stage in the customer journey.
As far as digital and multichannel marketing go, social media is just the tip of the iceberg. At OneTouchPoint, we’re obsessed with helping our clients leverage social media, direct mail, and so much more to create effective, dynamic multichannel marketing campaigns. We pride ourselves on powering brand engagement through on-demand marketing execution, supply chain management, and local digital marketing for brands and organizations. We invite you to contact us to learn more or request a quote on your next project. Our experts will provide insight and ideas to deliver phenomenal results at a great price.