Social media icons are like interactive stickers you attach to your content for your readers' use and convenience. If they like what they read, then these icons are immediately available for them to use and thus share your content with their own networks. There are various advantages you can enjoy when you make use of social media icons effectively.
Exposure
Simply put, social media is extremely effective in getting the word out there about your products or just your business itself. If your business is newly established online then social media is definitely one of the best ways to get people to know that your website exists. Social media also offers better opportunities for you to connect not just with other people in general but with your target market specifically since their networks tend to be easy to categorise or segregate for marketing purposes.
Sales
Naturally, social media can be used effectively for increasing sales. Numerous popular companies today have successfully used social media as part of their marketing campaign. Some require people to retweet their tweets for a minimum number of times in order to enjoy special discounts and other incentives. Others require customers to document their experiences on Facebook or other social media platforms and offer prizes for those with the most creative output.
Credibility
Social media is also a way of establishing and repairing your business' credibility. In one instance, McDonald's was targeted by a hoax that implied the fast food giant as being racially discriminating against African-Americans. The video that served as basis of the hoax spread like wildfire in Twittersphere but ironically it was also through the same method that McDonald's was able to re-establish its credibility. After issuing an official press release in which it categorically denied the allegations created by the hoax, the company then worked nonstop in contacting the most popular bloggers to continue enlightening their readers about the matter.
Competition
You can certainly use social media for beating the competition as well. If you can't match them in terms of paid advertising then you can at least be at par with their efforts through social media. You can use social media to draw attention to the key differences between your products and those of the competition. Of course, do make sure that those differences are in your favour.
Customer Engagement
Last but not the least, social media is one of the best ways to strengthen the connection between you and your market. Unlike with other marketing platforms, social media makes it incredibly easy for both you and your customers to interact with each other but without incurring major costs.
- You can show your support for your customers by quoting or retweeting their tweets and sharing or liking their Facebook posts.
- You can exchange your thoughts with them about matters you both consider relevant or interesting through any number of social media channels.
- You can get direct and honest feedback as well as have the chance to respond to what they have to say. The feedback you get may also be used to effectively improve your products and services.
Of course, remember that with so many social media sites available today, it's important that you choose only the best ones to accompany your content. Literally dumping a whole load of icons on your readers won't be a good idea because it will just seem like you haven't given this a lot of thought – and you probably didn't if you stick all the social media shortcuts you can find online to your posts.
At present, you should concentrate on using the following icons as they are likely to be the most successful for increasing not just your site traffic but conversion rates as well.
- YouTube
- Blogger
Finally, since social media is cheap – or free even – to use, the lack of rules or entry barriers make it more likely for conflicts to arise. It's never a good idea for a business to be involved in an altercation with another party – regardless as to whether they're your customer or the competition. When posting content or responding to another party's content, always keep in mind that every action you take is easily documented online through social media. Be very careful about what you do or say so that you won't end up with anything that would backfire on you.
