Social Media: Word of Mouth Marketing for the Digital Age

We can all agree that the best referrals come by word of mouth. When you understand that Social Media is exactly that -- word of mouth marketing for the digital age -- you realize how essential an effective Social Media Strategy is for your business.

Social Media works differently than SEO, but in a supportive and complementary fashion. We use elements of your SEO strategy to optimize your social media profiles and this provides additional weight to your ranking. Additionally, like SEO, social media can drive traffic to your site and also can generate leads directly on its own.

Social Media: Critical Statistics - Social Media & Customer Service

An increasing number of people expect to be able to communicate with business on social media and if your page isn't actively managed, you could miss leads and important customer service opportunities. Consider these statistics:

• 1 in 3 customers prefer social media for customer care vs. telephone and email.
• 67% of customers have engaged a brand's social media for customer service requests.
• Answering customer questions on social media prompts 49% of consumers to purchase.
• 80% of customers use social to engage with brands.

Social Media: Critical Statistics - Social Media & Purchase Behavior

Social media is an integral part of developing brand loyalty and word of mouth referrals and recommendations.

• 43% of customers are more likely to buy something if they learned about it on social media.
• 92% of customers trust word-of-mouth or recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising. Social media is word-of-mouth for the digital age.
• 86% of consumers say loyalty is primarily driven by likability and 83% of consumers say trust. Social media gives you the means to be known, liked, and trusted.
• 53% of Americans are more loyal to brands they follow on social media.

SOURCES: 

• https://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/social-media-customer-service-statistics-and-trends-infographic 
• https://www.adweek.com/digital/3-ways-social-media-customer-service-impacts-the-bottom-line/ 
• https://blog.sprinklr.com/5-stats-social-media-customer-care/ 
• https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2013/a-multi-mix-media-approach-drives-new-product-awareness.html
• https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2012/global-trust-in-advertising-and-brand-messages.html 
• https://rare.consulting/rare-research/loyalty 
• https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-research/53-percent-of-americans-who-follow-brands-in-social-are-more-loyal-to-those-brands/ 

Social Setup & Optimization

Getting the most out of social media starts with an optimized foundation consisting of:

• Hashtag strategy - research hashtags for targeted marketing and increased engagement (15)
• Content strategy - SEO-optimized and full-length. Business, people, services and products described.
• Graphic optimization - brand-focused, engaging and/or compelling, and beautiful on every device. Background images, profile images, and product/service images.
• Integration - Linked to website, blog, citations, etc.

Social Media Management

Social Media Management - Basic

This strategy is based on social media marketing intelligence and best practices while fashioned to be both affordable and flexible. As months pass and we accumulate actionable data from post engagement, CTA success, and more, we can implement and recommend improvements to your strategy for even greater effectiveness. For example, the days and times we post or the frequency per channel can all be modified once we have at least three months of analytics to review.

Social Media Management - Lite

This is appropriate for Clients who understand that while this strategy isn’t very competitive on its own, it will help with maintaining customer loyalty through regular communication and an engaging, active social presence. An active and appropriate social media presence also contributes to SEO effectiveness.

This is also a good choice for clients who have some time to add to the post scheduling queue to increase the available content to prospects and loyal customers. Wherever possible, CTAs will be incorporated (such as the “Call Now” button on Facebook).

Add-Ons

Additional social media management is available.  Call for details.

Social Media Training & Support

This social media plan is a cost-effective approach for businesses and organizations that prefer to do the bulk of social media posting on their own. We provide strategy, training, success collateral, a platform for easy scheduling, reporting, and support.

Every year after you renew your Social Media Training & Support, we'll produce Annual Updates & Refresher Training for you and/or your team so you are kept updated on changes that effect the way social media needs to be managed for the greatest success.