Since their inception, social media and social networking websites have surged in popularity, continually gaining users and now, they have more impact and influence on our lives than ever. Whether social media’s impact on society is a good thing or not is an argument that could go on forever but one thing’s for sure, social media has been incredible for digital marketers.

With social network users estimated to reach over 2.4 billion by the end of the year, the power of effective social media marketing cannot be understated. You have approximately a third of the world’s population at your fingertips through this very new and focused medium, so businesses and marketers would be silly to ignore its influence.

To illustrate this point, we will work through the key advantages you can gain through an effective social media campaign.

Brand Recognition

Our first big value point that comes as a result of social media marketing is increased brand recognition. The voice, tone and values of your business embody who you are and what you do. It’s the subtle details of how you say things and how your company operates that makes your name stick in people’s heads. Social media is an incredible way of engaging with your audience, making the creation of your company image easier to control and simpler to implement.

This is particularly powerful on Twitter, where the power of ‘viral’ content comes into its own and trending topics can supercharge your exposure, putting your business in front of millions of people. After deciding on and perfecting your business’ voice, use social media to share this with your audience and you’ll see much greater recognition across the board.

Brand Loyalty

In a similar way to how brand recognition is boosted by social media, so is brand loyalty. Brand loyalty is built through creating a company image that your audience both trusts and likes. With social media enabling direct business-to-audience interaction, it’s significantly easier to shape your business’ voice based on what your audience responds well to. By doing this, those following your social media account will hold your business in high regard, increasing their likelihood to convert and if you supply a good product or service, it will further solidify their positive view of you.

Increased Traffic

As previously mentioned, social media enables you to engage directly with your audience. Depending on the tone of your business and what you offer, the content that your social media accounts shares will differ. However, regardless of your approach, if you execute your strategy correctly you will increase the traffic to your social media page and website.

For example, if your business has a fun and sarcastic voice, targeting 18-24-year-old men, then you might fill your social media page with comedic value. Fun, engaging posts that make your audience laugh. This content is very share-worthy and because you have tailored it to your audience, they will share it with their own followers or friends, who will click through to find out more about you. This is where your traffic increases, as your audience markets you to the people they know, driving their followers to find out who you are via your social media page or website.

Similarly, if you have a more serious or educational brand, you may choose to focus on high value, informative content on your social media page. If the content is helpful and tailored to your audience, they will share it with their own followers or recommend it to friends, leading to the same effect as the previous example – more brand awareness with new individuals, who go to your website or social media page to find out more.

Considering these advantages, social media marketing simply can’t be ignored. Marketing agencies like i3Media regularly specialise in offering social media marketing on top of their usual services. Be sure to do some research and you’re bound to see the difference that a quality social media campaign makes.