Does Social Media Marketing Work?
With all the buzz around social media, especially how to use it to generate leads and then paying customers, many people ask questions like “Is social media marketing real” and “does marketing on social media deliver results”. I get these questions a lot as someone who works in one of the leading Digital Marketing Agencies in Nigeria, Epower, I am dedicating this blog post to answer these and many more questions on social media marketing.
Is social media marketing real?
Absolutely, it is real, and in fact, it is the new big deal. The first thing you would most likely do in the morning when you wake up is to pick up your phone and check social media before you brush your teeth, wash your face or say good morning to anyone. This is a huge goldmine for business savvy individuals who can tap into this addiction and place their business right before their target audience. Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms or websites to promote a product or service. It is an essential part of digital advertising and what makes it unique is the fact that you can advertise your products or services to your preferred targeted audience, you can reach those who need your product or service 24/7. There are different social media platforms and each of them have their peculiarities and support different type of business according to the demography they serve. Social media Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Nairaland & Twitter are very popular with Nigerians with millions of users.
Does marketing on social media deliver results?
Only targeted social media marketing delivers tangible results. Wrong targeting, poor visuals, boring content and a lack of in-depth platform knowledge cause many to waste money. Today, social media is the number one platform to showcase yourself. Over 8.7 million Nigerians are on Facebook with 97% using the social media platform daily and 8.5million accessing from their smartphone. This is huge! There is a potential market for any business. With social media marketing, you can be extremely specific with targeting potential customers using information such as where they live, what they like, their demography, the TV they watch, the sites they visit and so on. Social media advertising can be measured. You know when your marketing campaign is working unlike traditional digital advertising. To use social media marketing to your advantage, ask yourself?
1. What’s my story? (We live in an age when storytelling is the best form of advertising)
2. What are my business objectives?
3. Who is my audience?”
4. What makes my business unique?”
These questions help you develop a formidable social media strategy that works. This is also where the work of a compelling digital marketing agency like Epower comes in. The work of a digital agency is to help you craft and implement an amazing social media marketing plan to achieve tangible results.
Does online followership really translate to real life customers?
Social media marketing is an art. First, it starts by building confidence in the right followers. Once a brand is established as an authority in what they do, the followers trust in the brand and subsequently become paying and repeated customers. Content is king they say, and consistency is key to that kingdom. With the right content served to the right audience consistently, online followership translates to real life customers.
The big Question: should social media be the strategy?
Yes. For every serious brand, social media must be a key part of their strategy. You want to be where your current and prospective customers are, and that place is social media. It is trackable, data driven, targeted and can be measured unlike a bill board by the road side, radio and television jingles or a flyer. Social media is the new battleground for brands, and you need superior insight and social media savvy consultants on your side to win.
Why should I take this seriously?
This is what we do at Epower.
Every day, we help brands showcase their products and services to potential customers, giving them more visibility and sales using online tools such as graphics, web, video & of course, social media. From startups with no office space to big brands, social media marketing has proven to be the most effective form of advertising for most businesses we have worked with, helping them reach their target audience and significantly improving their bottom-lines. Just recently, we ran a Facebook campaign for a startup with roughly $50 and our client realized over $1,000 in sales. That’s a 20-fold return! Our customers literally gave us a new slogan “Digital marketing that works”
Guess what, your business deserves a testimony like this. Social media should be a strategic part of your advertising plan. Whether you want to win an election, grow your business or improve sales, Social media works if you work it.
Have a question for me? Drop a comment and I’ll respond.
Rasheed Ridwan is the Chief Operating Officer at Epower, a digital marketing agency based in Nigeria. He is a web developer, digital marketing consultant and digital skill trainer. If he is not working out strategy, he is developing some amazing web technologies or creating the next set of innovators and technologists in Africa.
