You’ve probably heard that Facebook has dramatically reduced the organic (unpaid) reach of Facebook pages, so that no matter how many followers you have, only a very small proportion of those will be shown your Facebook posts.
That is true, although it is still possible for many Facebook pages to enjoy remarkable viral success.
For example, the Humane Society of New Zealand‘s Facebook page scored many tens of thousands of engagements thanks to plenty of posts of animals needing TLC and the occasional meme like this:
On a more commercial basis, Wanaka wedding photographer Andy Brown Photography is achieving excellent results in social media, with hundreds of likes for many of the company’s stunning photos:
Even if yours is one of the businesses impacted by Facebook’s actions however, that does not mean that you should abandon social media. Here are 7 reasons why social media is more important than ever for your business:
1 Your customers and prospects are there
It’s more challenging than ever to market to Kiwis. They simply don’t hang out in the usual places anymore. Newspaper circulation continues to dwindle; television viewing remains high but audiences in 2018 are spread across the free-to-air networks, tens of Sky channels and the commercial-free streaming services such as Neon, Lightbox, Amazon Prime and of course Netflix.
They can however be found in large numbers on the social networks:
- Facebook has more than 3 million New Zealand members and Nielsen tells us (Nielsen Online Ratings December 2017) that 2.5 million visit that social network in a typical month (a great many of them on at least a daily basis). Average time spent on Facebook per month: 9 hours and 55 minutes.
- YouTube takes second place, reaching a unique Kiwi audience of 2.3 million, who average 4 hours and 31 minutes watching videos on the site.
- Instagram has 1.1 million Kiwi members, around two thirds of whom are under 35.
Collectively, social network numbers are huge. That doesn’t mean it’s easy to reach out to their audiences, especially with commercial messages; but the least the numbers are there.
2 Your competitors are there
Around the world, 2 million businesses use social media marketing to promote their products and services. No, you shouldn’t just use social media because other businesses do — but if your competitors are active and successful on social media, you owe it to yourself to at least check out your options.
3 Social Media often leads to sales
Studies reveal that 70% of business-to-consumer marketers have acquired customers through social media. And that isn’t just sales that the businesses would have required anyway: according to ignite social media, 41% of people who discovered an item through social media and then went on to purchase it said they’d just happened upon it and hadn’t previously thought of buying it.
4 Social Media drives awareness
According to AdWeek, at least once a month, 83 per cent of survey respondents heard about a brand or product on social media before they heard about it from any other source. And yes, awareness matters: it takes time to make sales and first they have to hear about you.
5 Social Media is an ideal place to engage with your fans
As your business grows, you’ll find it’s impossible to just invite your customers over for drinkies. Even if they really, really, really like you, your customers can’t just drop in to your business and find out what’s new and what’s happening. But they can stop by your establishment on social media and get all the goss — new products, special offers, behind the scenes exclusives.
If you stop thinking of your social media properties as a place to sell to people and think instead of the networks as a way to share stories, interact and engage, then you’ll really start to tap into the potential of social media.
6 Social Media is good for SEO
Search engine algorithms do seem to smile fondly on social media links as a positive signal, to boost the authority of your website and its pages. Sure, we don’t really know how fondly — like the Colonel’s secret herbs and spices, algorithmic factors are a closely held secret. But every little helps, especially if it’s your followers who are socially sharing the links rather than just you.
7 Advertising often costs less in Social Media
Chances are, you will have to pay to boost your posts in social media and ensure that your carefully chosen words, pictures and videos are seen by as many people as possible. But, at least for now, you will probably pay less than if you advertised elsewhere (online or off-line).
If you choose your posts carefully, and primarily promote those posts that are already showing signs of success, you can also benefit by having recipients share your posts (without you paying any more). Why would they do that? Because your promoted posts were (a) relevant; (b) interesting; and (c) worth sharing. So choose carefully — the budget you save may be your own.
