Why Social Media Is Crucial for Businesses
December 29th, 2021
Social media has become very important for businesses because it can help to build a brand, increase engagement numbers, and provide analytics on company growth. Fashion companies are using social media in their marketing strategies more than ever before.
This is because while fashion is about style, trends, and beauty- it's also about communication. Today's world focuses on the instant; fashion brands need to be able to communicate instantly as well. When people think of social media, they often think of Facebook and Twitter- but there are many other platforms that companies use to utilize the marketing opportunities available through social media. Many fashion businesses use Pinterest , Instagram, Tumblr, Vine, Snapchat, Google+, YouTube, WhatsApp, WeChat , Line (a popular messaging app), RenRen (similar to Facebook or VK in Russia), Douban (popular book site) and others depending on their customer demographic base. Different types of customers interact with different sites so it's important to know where your target demographics are spending time online.
Social Media Marketing can be used across not only multiple platforms but also various mediums including:
1. Mobile Apps
2. Websites
3. Social Media Channels (All leading social media channels offer their own management tools and APIs that provide a wide range of options for integrating content, functionality and analytics into a website or app.)
4. Search Engine Optimization Tools (Including marketing across Google search, Bing, Baidu)
5. Email Marketing
6. SMS- Messaging
There are four main reasons why fashion companies should utilize social media to generate brand awareness:
1) It is cost efficient
2) Provides 24/7 access to your followers
3) You can quantify the effectiveness of your social media efforts
4) Helps build customer loyalty and relationships through storytelling at every touchpoint in a customer's lifecycle.
Over the past decade, social media has transformed the business landscape and the way we communicate as a society. Facebook now has over 1 billion users and Twitter has 500 million. According to Business Insider Intelligence , "social networks will account for 85% of total consumer internet minutes by 2018." What this means is that major opportunities exist for fashion companies to expand their reach, connect with new customers and generate sales- all through social media marketing.
Though most fashion brands use traditional advertising such as print ads or TV commercials (recent examples include Rebecca Minkoff advertises their Spring 2015 collection on 'The Voice' TV show and Dior used British model Jourdan Dunn in an Instagram campaign ), it is important to realize they can also make use of social media to increase brand awareness. Social media can help with:
1. Brand exposure
2. Bringing talent and creatives together
3. Building and engaging with communities (users)
4. Generating feedback and insights about products, services or content before launch
5. Gauging consumer demand/interest for new collections, initiatives, events etc .
6. Increasing repeat purchase rates
7. Customer service - after the sale
8. Reaching new customers- word of mouth recommendations are still influential and can be amplified through social media platforms
Here are some tips on how to make the most out of your business' social media efforts:
1) Build a Strategy: Know your objectives and demographics before you start planning what you'll do on each platform/channel you use as well as when and where you plan to post it. This will keep all those involved in the project on the same page. For example, if your target demographic is young men between the ages of 18 and 35 then maybe Snapchat and Vine would be most effective for reaching them (Snapchat is very popular with Millennials and has an average user age of 18).
2) Know Your Audience: Who do you want to reach? What interests them? What are their pain points? What platform will best connect you with this customer base? Different platforms work differently so it's important to keep up-to-date on changes in each platform or with any updates that may effect how your content is seen by users. As mentioned above, brands always need to know where their customers are shopping online; Pinterest , Instagram, Tumblr, Vine and Snapchat can all provide access to these audiences.
3) Make it Visual: You can increase your brand awareness by posting user-generated content (UGC). Having followers upload photos of themselves wearing/using your products raises brand exposure and engagement at no extra cost to you. Invite fans to share their own photos on your website, Facebook Page or Instagram profile. This will be more effective than you uploading official product photography since people are engaging with other users, not just the company account.
4) Engage Interactively: It's important for brands to interact with their customers in order to build loyalty and trust among consumers because social media is all about sharing personal stories which typically include emotions . Customers feel more connected when there are real people behind the brand messaging instead of a faceless brand. Social media is also a great place for dialogue as you can use it as a platform to answer questions, address concerns and encourage feedback about your products or services.
5) Monitor Analytics: It's essential that brands monitor analytics to track how well their social media efforts are working; this includes checking who is engaging/liking/sharing and the number of followers and fans you have gained. If there's no clear evidence to show why social media marketing works for your brand then maybe it doesn't! Using an analytic tool such as Hootsuite will provide insights into what type of content gets liked and shared, by whom, at what time of day etc . This way you'll be able to see patterns in behavior so your business can continue to meet the needs of your targeted user base as well as improve upon what you're already doing.
6) Cross Promote: Find the right balance between the information you share on social media and what's shared by others about your brand through their posts about your business. The more content you post, the less room there is for customer posts so it's a good idea to check out other pages that are relevant to yours and connect with them using social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter . This way, both parties benefit from each other's reach.
7) Keep it Consistent: Your online community should be able to recognize your brand even when they visit at different times throughout the day since consistency is key to building up a loyal following. Your business should have a similar tone of voice as well as visual presence. Keep your logo, color scheme and graphics consistent across platforms so customers know what to expect from your brand when they log on to their chosen platform.
8) Listen Up: Social media monitoring is all about staying connected to what's being said about your brand online, which includes customers' experiences with your products/services or any problems that need to be addressed immediately . This can be done easily by setting up alerts using Hootsuite , creating a Google Alerts account or using IFTT (If This Then That) which will send you push notifications for keywords related to your business.
9) Celebrate Successes: It's important for brands to celebrate their successes so there needs to be a particular time dedicated for this. You could have an "Employee of the Month" award or announce milestones such as reaching 100,000 Likes on Facebook . These are great incentives that will encourage employees to work hard while increasing brand awareness among potential customers.
10) Always be Learning: You can never know too much about your audience or how they use social media platforms, which is why it's vital for businesses to conduct research and stay updated on trends in order to make educated decisions when planning future marketing strategies. The more knowledgeable you are about your target market , the easier it will be to convert them into loyal followers!
While yes there are some YouTube stars out there, for every one of them there are thousands who never get anywhere near "star" status or even getting the opportunity to achieve the opportunities they dreamed about. A combination of lack of time/effort/resources can cause this especially if you are putting together your own channel rather than working with an existing one (which has its advantages too). And most people wonder, "Can I make money on YouTube?"
The answer is yes. If you establish yourself as a market leader and build your platform (and as long as you follow the YouTube rules) there is no reason why not. It's certainly one of the best ways to engage an audience both in terms of numbers and loyalty. You can be sure that they will return to your videos again and again because you are providing them with content that is compelling, interesting, entertaining or all three! And this makes it easier to monetize your channel further by increasing exposure for sponsors who may wish to advertise their products/services through YOUR content – so gaining exposure for both parties.
To achieve success on YouTube takes time – years not months – and also hard work. And while some stars may have been born through luck and others through pure talent, there's no doubt that having a great idea and providing valuable content is the best way to get started on YouTube.
Here are five elements of valuable content:
* Be different – stand out from the crowd. Many people think they need to copy other successful YouTubers but it's better if you remain unique and just be yourself (but do keep an eye on what trends/styles seem to be working well).
* Give your audience something valuable – either teach them something, help them solve a problem or provide entertaining distractions for when they're bored. Remember that many of your viewers will be spending time on YouTube when they should be working or studying so make sure your content is worthy of their time. If you produce high quality videos and provide a lot of value, they will reciprocate by watching more often and also sharing with friends/family.
* Be consistent – your channel needs to have a steady stream of great content that your fans can rely on week in week out. The best way to achieve this is to create an editorial calendar where you schedule uploads for the whole year ahead (and beyond) with everything from weekly vlogs, interesting blog posts, interesting questions for your audience and guests, challenges and awards among other things.
* Be personable – "bonding" is one of the most powerful tools in the social media toolbox and live video streaming has made this much easier to achieve. You can chat with viewers, share your day-to-day experiences, have fun with them and ask for their input/opinions on topics you discuss.
* Have conviction – it's important to be passionate about what you do in all aspects of life but especially when creating YouTube videos that is going to provide value for others. If you don't believe 100% that a product or service is absolutely necessary then your audience certainly won't either.
Whether you're looking to complement your income, build a new career online or launch a business entirely from scratch there are many ways to make money from YouTube. Not only will an engaged audience provide you with more opportunities to promote products and services but it will also help you generate income through things like advertising revenue, sponsorships and affiliate links.
Earnings per view on YouTube are notoriously low (around a third of a cent) so while some famous YouTubers may make millions from ad revenue alone there is no guarantee that this will happen for anyone else especially if they don't have an engaged audience. But by taking a multi-faceted approach to monetizing your channel can greatly increase your chances of success. And if you're serious about making money online then it's essential that you provide your audience with value otherwise they'll simply go elsewhere.
And remember to focus on the long term – it takes time to build a consistent loyal following and for this reason, you need to develop content that will attract people back week after week; so use short-term thinking at your own peril.
While there are hundreds of thousands of people who have found success on YouTube, many others have failed to build a sustainable audience or find ways to monetize their content. And while some have stopped producing videos altogether, others are still struggling along with minuscule audiences that provide almost no value to the people who watch. So before you get started on your YouTube journey, make sure you know what you're getting in to and how exactly you plan to make money from it.
