It is imperative that business owners in 2024 use Social Media as a platform to grow their business by utilizing marketing, and growth tools to boost overall product engagement. The likes of Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, WhatsApp and Twitter, have displayed indisputable positive impacts on brand growth since their introduction to society in the early 2000’s. Social Media has proven to be an optimal tool for marketing products online, with a larger reach easily accessible. It increases consumer engagement, by enabling companies to communicate with customers. First-hand feedback is readily available, which allows business owners to review, and make educated decisions to bettering their brand. Providing companies with an opportunity for growth, and business development. It increases brand loyalty and consumer trust, which is vital nowadays considering the recent rise of online scammers. It has defied geographical boundaries by facilitating a connection between buyer and seller. Considering majority of businesses are active on Social Media, a business that isn’t active, is already disadvantaging itself.

 

Optimal Consumer Reach & Engagement

Companies thrive off high levels of reach and engagement from social media interactions. Social Media enables companies to reach consumers from the other side of the world with just one click of a button. The media “transcends the traditional Geographical boundaries [1]. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter provide instantaneous reach to billions of people. Facebook alone recorded 1.65 billion monthly active users in the first quarter of 2016[2]. Instagram recorded 400 million monthly active users in April 2016[3], whilst Twitter reached 310 million monthly active users in its first quarter of 2016[4]. If a company were to showcase their product on all of these platforms, they would be reaching over 2.1 billion consumers. Not only does Social Media capacitate a wide reach of consumers, it also allows brands to communicate with customers through various channels. A study by Economist Intelligence Unit, displayed that companies who are available through various communications channels are more likely to create good strong relationships with their customers[5]. Business also rely on word of mouth as a free marketing tool for optimal growth. Social media has been proven to increase word of mouth numbers, and influence consumers. Word of mouth is more powerful on influencing people’s decisions on whether to buy a product or use a service, in comparison to the enterprise themselves[6] . Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp connect people by allowing them to easily communicate through online messaging, therefor allowing them to share products that they recommend by clicking send on their devices. Social Media also provides companies with the option to track their levels of engagement and reach. Google Analytics and Google AdWords can measure engagement which allows the company to review, and make educated decisions on what works best for their brand. Google facilitates the analysis of engagement to be measured by displaying click-through rates, visit durations, and the percentage of repeated visits by consumers. This enables companies to adapt to different ways of contact to the customers, their approach with the customer and enlarging the methods that they use to contact their customer. In a study conducted by Verint, 46% of respondents answered that companies who dealt with their requests quickly, delivered a better experience than others5. Companies all over the world are using Social Media as a platform to increase overall reach and engagement for their brands, it would be ignorant not to.

 

A Playground for Marketing

It is vital that companies utilize social media platforms to augment, and promote their brand. Social Media is a free and cost-effective way to promote branding. In comparison to paying for billboards, Television advertisements etc. Social Media provides superior marketing tools to amplify consumer engagement, at less of a cost. For example, a company can purchase a Facebook advertisement for $1.00 – $500 a month with 63% response rate, on a platform that generates 3.07 billion active users[7]. In comparison to Television advertisements which can cost up to $55,000 and as little as $150 (for a midnight timeslot). If a company wanted to advertise by using the lowest primetime television advertisement timeslot, it would cost them approximately $4,200. For many companies, finding the most cost effective yet productive advertising strategy is desirable, which is exactly what Social Media is. Social Media is a crucial component to effectively promoting a brand. Marketing in Social media is agreed to be a contributing reason to increases in sales[8]. With new SEO tools for websites, marketers are now able to target consumers using specific words or phrases in their websites to increase engagement. Thus, acquiring a large quantity of consumers with just a few words or phrases added to their website. Using the SEO tool, companies can target their consumers by putting words that have been searched in google that relate to their product. For example, a Financial Planning company might generate their SEO tool with words such as “Financial Advice” or “Financial Help” because they are words that have been searched by consumers who are looking for a Financial Planning company. It is no doubt that consumer engagement has risen since the introduction of Facebook. Making Facebook the most used Social Media platform used by marketers8. Facebook reports that 70% of its marketing campaigns deliver a return on investment of 3x or better8. Whilst Facebook Ads report the FBX (Facebook Exchange Service, a service to retarget ads), created a 10x return on investment[9]. Companies have now slowly started to increase their visibility on Social Media since learning the numerous positive impacts it has on promoting their brands. It would be uneducated for a business to go against utilizing Social Media. Since 93% of marketers already use Social Media for their businesses, and 75% plan to increase their usage8. Why would you not engage with Social Media? The irrefutable influence that Social Media has on effectively marketing a company’s brand, makes the decision of utilizing Social Media to promote the brand, an easy decision.

 

First-Hand Customer Feedback

Social Media facilitates direct feedback from consumers to a company, which enables the business to make educated decisions based off of the feedback provided. As a business owner you are always seeking ways to improve your product for the consumer. Social Media plays a pivotal role in connecting buyers to sellers. It provides a platform for consumers to present feedback directly to the company A company that has direct feedback given to them is gifted with the opportunity to make amends with the consumer, and state a case of why they should repurchase from the company if any failures arise. Previous studies conclude that the failure from the company’s product doesn’t necessarily lead to customer dissatisfaction, since customers accept that things can go wrong, but it is the lack of response from the service provider[10]. For example, a customer receives a faulty product from your company and lashes out on Social Media. Businesses can now message/contact the consumer to defuse the situation by making amends with the customer. A company that is able to respond quickly to failures through Social Media has a higher rate of not deterring consumers from purchasing through the business again. Companies have an opportunity for further growth when they are presented with constructive criticism from consumers. For example, a customer buys a fruit smoothie but says that the taste is ‘too sour’. The company has a responsibility to investigate the consumers criticism, they might find that the smoothie does in fact need more sweetness added. By adding the extra sweetness to the smoothie, the business then generates more sales. An opportunity for growth in the business is always beneficial and a crucial part of expanding the brand to be better. Direct feedback from consumer to brand is the most ideal way to develop the company for the better.

 

Quintessential Brand Loyalty

Social Media integrates brand and consumer connections to form relationships that build trust, and loyalty towards the company. Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok and WhatsApp permit consumers to easily access brands through messaging them, and brands to also do the same. Consumers use these media outlets to network, build, and deepen their relationships[11]. Brands are gifted the opportunity to form faithful and honest relationships with customers by interacting with them online, whether it’s a simple message, emoji or livestream, where they are virtually interacting with consumers in real time. In a world full of scammers, it is essential that brands build trust with their consumers. The power of Social Media platforms such as Instagram, Tik Tok and Facebook, companies can hold interactive conversations with customers. Considering 88% of consumers use Social Media to communicate with companies[12], it would be a missed opportunity for brands to not be readily available online. Through interactive messaging, brands can reply to consumer questions, queries or concerns about the product, and influence customers to buy their products. Prior studies have demonstrated that consumer communication via social media can apply an influential attitude and purchase behaviour[13]. This is due to a communication pathway that is enabled between customer and seller. The seller has the power to reassure the buyer of any concerns on purchasing the product. For example, imagine you were a woman wanting to purchase an aesthetic looking pair of  leather boots for winter, but had concerns on the quality of the product. A consumer can reach out to the company and confirm the quality (if they are in fact leather) via Instagram DM (direct message), which reassures the buyer that the quality is what they are looking for. Alternatively, they can look on the website under the description. To validate this proposition, the media was confirmed as the most useful lead generation, for monitoring consumer communications about their brand, and for fostering relationships[14]. Social media amalgamates the ability to nurture relationships previously built with their consumers. Instagram DM’s allow brands to reach out to their consumers, and create ‘Channels’ which invites their (already) followers to be involved in a conversation with the company. For example, Studio B Colourists Hair Studio invited all their followers to join a broadcast/channel where they put last minute deals on hair appointments to showcase their gratitude and recognition of their followers. A simple yet effective way of fostering a relationship with their Instagram followers. This enables brands to build a relational, recreational and transformational interaction with their consumers12.

 

To conclude, Social Media is the driving force, and contributing factor to a successful business. It provides tools to boost audience engagement through showcasing their product to billions of people. Since the introduction of Google Analytics companies can now monitor their engagement levels and act accordingly, whilst word of mouth is also easily accessible through messaging platforms. Social Media is a marketing playground which has proven to promote product better than any previous platforms created. The tools of SEO for websites captures consumers who are searching for similar products. Not to mention, Social Media is the most cost-effective way to promote a brand. Companies on Social Media are gifted with firsthand feedback which builds a relationship between consumer and brand. Allowing for any failures to be amended. Social Media nurtures and deepens consumer and brand bonds by integrating interactive tools like messenger, livestreams etc. In addition, loyalty and trust is crucial to any successful business which is why Social Media is important, as it allows companies to reach out and maintain relationships with consumers. It is indisputable that Social Media adds numerous positive benefits to business development, which is why it would be a disadvantage to a brand to be inactive on Social Media.

 

Reference List

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Bombardier, K. (2022). Top 10 Impacts of Social Media on Business. [online] Emeritus Online Courses. Available at: https://emeritus.org/blog/impact-of-social-media-on-businesses/.

Cuillierier, A. (2016). Customer Engagement through Social Media. [online] Available at: https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/115812/Thesis%20-%20Audrey%20Cuillierier%20-%20European%20and%20Business%20Administration.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) (2007b), Beyond loyalty: meeting the challenge of customer engagement, part 2, available at: www.adobe.com/engagement/pdfs/partII.pdf

Edwards, J. (2012), This deck shows whether the billions pouring into LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter are worth it”, available at: www.businessinsider.com/social-media-roi-slideshow-2012-9?op=1 (accessed June 2013).

Gu, B. and Ye, Q. (2013). First Step in Social Media: Measuring the Influence of Online Management Responses on Customer Satisfaction. Production and Operations Management, [online] 23(4), pp.570–582. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/poms.12043.

Hyllegard, K.H., Ogle, J.P., Yan, R.N., Reitz, A.R. (2011), An exploratory study of college students’ fanning behaviour on Facebook. College Student Journal, 45(3), 601.

Instagram (2016), FAQ • Instagram. [online] Instagram.com. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/about/faq/#

Invespcro.com. (2016), Customer Acquisition Vs.Retention Costs [Infographic] | The Invesp Blog. [online] Available at: http://www.invespcro.com/blog/customer-acquisition-retention/

Jones, N., Borgman, R. and Ulusoy, E. (2015), “Impact of social media on small businesses”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 611-632. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-09-2013-0133

Miller, C. C. (2010), Why Twitter’s C.E.O. Demoted Himself, The New York Times

Mokhtar, N.F., Abu Hasan, Z. rosafila, Halim, M.H.M.A.S.M. and Halim, A. (2017). The Social Media and Marketing Strategies: How it impacts the small-medium-sized Enterprises’ business performance? Research Gate. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Masa-Halim-Masa-Halim/publication/322488201_The_Social_Media_and_Marketing_Strategies_How_it_Impacts_the_Small-and_Medium-sized_Enterprises’_Business_Performance/links/5a5b78ba0f7e9b5fb38ca329/The-Social-Media-and-Marketing-Strategies-How-it-Impacts-the-Small-and-Medium-sized-Enterprises-Business-Performance.pdf.

Shewale, R. (2024). Facebook Users Statistics 2024 (Worldwide Data). [online] DemandSage. Available at: https://www.demandsage.com/facebook-statistics/#:~:text=Facebook%20has%203.07%20billion%20monthly%20active%20users%20in%20December%202024 [Accessed 7 Apr. 2024].

Smith, N. and Wollan, R. (2011), “The power and business risks of social media”, The Social Media Management Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Get Social Media Working in Your Business , John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, pp. 3-15.

Smith, N. , Wollan, R. and Zhou, C. (2011), “Introduction”, in Smith, N. , Wollan, R. and Zhou, C. (Eds), The Social Media Management Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Get Social Media Working in Your Business , John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, pp. ix-xv.

Statista, (2016b), Twitter: number of monthly active users 2016 | Statistic. [online] Statista. Available at: http://www.statista.com/statistics/282087/number-of-monthly-active-twitter-users/

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[1] Smith and Wollan 2011, p4

[2] Miller, 2010

[3] Statista, 2016

[4] Statista, 2016b

[5] Cuillar, A. 2016

[6] Hyellgard et al. 2011

[7] Shewhale, 2024

[8] Jones, N 2015

[9] Edwards, 2012

[10] Bin Gu, Qiang, Ye. 2014

[11] Chung and Buhalis, 2015

[12] Jones, N. 2015

[13] Wong et al, 2012

[14] Nordmeyer, 2012