# 1 reason: The majority of consumers research on social, are influenced on social and BUY on social. A huge chunk of your target audience is there and if you're not, you can bet your competitor is.
Our Top 5 Reasons to incorporate social in your overall Digital Marketing Strategy are:
Online Shoppers are a Majority
Extreme Cost Effectiveness
Global Audience Impact
Incredible Business Intelligence
Customer Experience Focus
We will break down each of these reasons in this article, but first, let's take a look at some recent statistical data on consumer behavior from various reputable sources. You can't deny numbers people!
In an ODM Group study they found that, 74% of consumers rely on social media to make purchasing decisions. According to a Hubspot report, 71% of consumers are more likely to purchase a product or service because of a referral shown on social.
70% of YouTubers use the platform to do some kind of product review, refer or to inform their subscribers of their purchase decisions. On Twitter, 53% of consumers recommend companies or products in their tweets. A report from Aimia shows, 31% of consumers have admitted to using social to browse items they are interested in. Finally Forbes reported, 78% of consumer purchases are impacted by a company's social media content.
If these stats are not enough to show you how critical social media marketing is to your business, how about some that show just how irrelevant outbound marketing has become?
Over 200 million Americans are now on the FTC's, 'Do Not Call' list and 86% admit to muting their TVs, changing the channel or just skipping ads in general.
Okay, okay so we have lots of numbers and fancy stats here, but what does that mean for YOU and YOUR business?? Let's break it down:
Top 5 Reasons to incorporate Social into your overall digital strategy:
Online Shoppers are the Majority
According to eCommerce gurus at Oberlo, an estimated 1.8 billion consumers worldwide purchase goods and services online.
Recent projections show that global e-retail sales are going to grow to up to $4.8 trillion by 2021.
63% of shopping occasions begin online. (Thinkwithgoogle, 2018) So, whether consumers are buying online or an actual brick-and-mortar store, the customer journey is almost always starting online.
Extreme Cost Effectiveness
In our Traditional versus Digital Marketing article, we discussed the difference between the two mediums and how digital can reach a global audience for a fraction of the cost of most traditional marketing mediums.
Advertising on social media platforms averages a cost of around $2.50 per 1000 viewers or cost per 1000 impressions (CPM) and are typically more precise in targeting demographics.
Whereas, average traditional advertising costs are: Billboards – $5 CPM, Radio – $10 CPM, Newspaper – $16 CPM, Magazine – $16 CPM, Local/Broadcast Television – $28 CPM, Direct Mailers – $57 CPM and you are pushing information about your products or services to whoever happens to be exposed to them.
Global Audience Impact
3.2 billion social media users and counting and that includes all generations. You just have to know which users and platforms to target.
Access to over 1.8 billion consumers with previous online purchasing behaviors.
More traditional forms of marketing are typically limited to local audiences. Less limitations, means more ad impressions and potential customers.
Incredible Business Intelligence
Ability to engage with users in more meaningful two-way interactions.
Opportunity to see what is and is not working for the competition.
Gather your audience insights and feedback about products, services, campaigns and promotions, in real time and the agility to fine-tune them with more meaningful insights.
Quickly and easily measure your social media KPIs (key performance indicators) in order to see what efforts, posts, campaigns and spend are worth continuing.
Customer Experience Focus
Empirical content (social media stories) and postings with imagery have 96% more engagement.
This empirical content incorporating images, video and often times interactive content, creates a unique customer experience that evokes emotion and creates life-time subscribers and customers.
Ability to be in the places, conversations and platforms that your customers are in and generate more impactful synergy with them.
User generated content (think YouTube tutorials), Brand Ambassadors and Influencers have 28% more user engagement and customer loyalty.
"Social Media is here. It's not going away; not a passing fad. Be where your customers are: in social media."- Lori Ruff
About the Author
Julia Maldonado is the Lead Designer & Founder for InTandem Digital Consulting. She has over 20 years of experience in Marketing, Advertising and Customer Experience spanning across different industries. 10+ years in website design, content writing and social media influencing.
To learn more about Julia, visit her on LinkedIn.
InTandem Digital Consulting provides various digital solutions to small and mid-size businesses. Our portfolio includes: Website Design, Social Media Management and Customer Experience Strategy. Our CX workshops are offered both in-person and virtually.
To learn more about how InTandem Digital Consulting can help you and your business, click HERE
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