If you read or listen to the news, you've probably heard about the financial troubles of LinkedIn, Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram), and Twitter. For example, LinkedIn fired his 716 employees in May 2023. The previous month, Meta announced it would cut about 10,000 employees. Since Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022, the company has laid off more than 6,000 employees.
Does this spell the end of the social media era? What does it mean for how you should allocate your digital marketing budget? Don't panic; keep reading to find out how effective social media marketing is today Please make sure it is correct.
Current state of social media marketing
The 2023 Social Media Marketing Industry Report found that 86 percent of marketers say social media marketing has increased their business' exposure, 76 percent said it has increased traffic, and 64 percent have increased the number of leads. 56% said they had developed a loyal following, and 55% said they had improved sales. In other words, social media marketing is still producing good results overall. But like anything technology-related, things are changing, so it's important to stay up to date.
Which social media platform gives you the best results?
When choosing which social media platform to spend your time and money on, you want to choose the one that will give your company the best results. Every business has its own target market and goals, so you'll need to do some experimentation to see what works best for you. However, there are some broader consequences that can influence these decisions.
Below is a table showing the percentage of marketers who say they are seeing positive results on each platform, by marketing objective, according to the Social Media Marketing report.
|
goal |
|
|
|
YouTube |
|
tick tock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
increase in sales |
34% |
twenty five% |
20% |
19% |
Ten% |
15% |
|
increase exposure |
69% |
76% |
67% |
73% |
71% |
73% |
|
lead generation |
43% |
32% |
42% |
28% |
19% |
18% |
|
increase traffic |
52% |
45% |
37% |
42% |
34% |
34% |
|
Develop loyal fans |
37% |
37% |
27% |
26% |
twenty two% |
26% |
Overall, Facebook was the best performing network in increasing traffic, generating leads, cultivating loyal fans, and increasing sales, while Instagram was the winner in increasing brand exposure.
This effectiveness ranks Facebook (89 percent) and Instagram (80 percent) compared to other social networks, LinkedIn (64 percent), YouTube (54 percent), Twitter (44 percent), and TikTok (26 percent). It's reflected in the number of marketers using it. ).
B2B vs. B2C
Your social media strategy is also influenced by whether you sell to consumers or other businesses. Here are the usage numbers for each social network based on this criteria.
|
|
|
|
YouTube |
|
tick tock |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Business-to-consumer (B2C) |
94% |
84% |
57% |
55% |
43% |
28% |
|
Business-to-business (B2B) |
82% |
74% |
84% |
55% |
49% |
twenty two% |
As you might expect, LinkedIn is the social network of choice for B2B marketing, while Facebook is almost universally used for B2C marketing. Facebook and Instagram have declined in importance in B2B marketing over the past year, with their combined share of B2B marketing funding dropping from 51% in 2022 to 43% in 2023.
trend
It's important to understand trends over time so you can adjust your social strategy as needed. Overall, the number of Facebook users is decreasing. When asked what platform they think is the most important social platform, marketers have lost trust in Facebook over time, with responses ranging from 61 percent in 2019 to 2023. In 2012, it decreased to only 45%. LinkedIn visibility increased from 14 percent to 21 percent. Instagram similarly increased from 14 percent to 22 percent. Twitter started at 4% and has remained steady at 2% since 2021, while YouTube has increased from 5% to 8%.
Nearly 6 in 10 (59%) marketers say they will increase their organic activity on YouTube, and more than half (56%) will increase their activity on Instagram in the next 12 months It says. A similar percentage (55 percent) will enhance his LinkedIn activity.
social advertising
Facebook reigns supreme when it comes to the value marketers place on paid advertising, with 46% saying it's their first choice for social advertising. This is down from her 51 percent of those who said so as of 2022. Instagram came in second place with 13% saying it was the best place to advertise, followed by LinkedIn with 9%.
Benefits of social media marketing
Now that we know that social media marketing still works, let’s take a closer look at what it can do for your brand.
Expanding awareness
Social media is a relatively low-cost way to increase brand awareness in the marketplace because users are interconnected. In addition to the exposure your products get through paid advertising, you can also benefit from shares and reposts by your followers, and even benefit from posts about your company on social media by customers you don't follow. I can. Social contests and shareable content can further expose you to new potential customers.
Build an online community
Many social media marketers believe that building an online community is essential to success. Consumers can learn about a company's mission and stance through social media. More and more people are searching for brands on social media rather than search engines.
Increase website traffic
If your customers need more information about your company or products, your website is the best resource. This is also where you have everything to generate leads and make online sales. He's probably invested in SEO or paid search, but social media is also a great way to drive people to her website. The traffic you get from social also tends to be more qualified, as social followers are already familiar with your brand and more likely to buy.
lead generation
Because social media allows you to post content in many different formats, it's a great way to inform and educate potential customers about your product's features and benefits, as well as generate leads. For example, you can easily prompt them to take immediate action by filling out a web form to get more information. Prospects have the opportunity to view social proof provided by other users and learn about their (hopefully positive) experiences with your brand, so they feel comfortable reaching out to you.
increase in sales
Social media is the evolution of e-commerce. Social media allows you to see products in action, support user-generated content, and leverage influencers. According to the State of Social Media Report, 80% of social media marketers say their customers buy more products on social platforms than on brand websites or third-party platforms like Amazon. Instagram is the top site for in-app sales and offers the highest return on investment (ROI).
>> Click here for details: Why use Instagram for your business?
Providing faster customer service
Social media provides additional and often faster ways to address customer questions and issues. The Marketing Charts survey found that three in five respondents already use social media for customer service in their companies, and two-thirds intend to increase these efforts in the coming years. I answered yes. In a study by Fusion Connect and Gartner Peer Insights, 91% of respondents said they would pay more for a positive customer experience, and better customer service leads to more business.
How to know if social media marketing is effective for you
To know if your efforts are successful, you need to measure ROI. You need to know where your time, including your money, is being spent, and you can use analytics to help you achieve that goal.
One of the easiest ways to see the correlation between social engagement and sales is to use Google Analytics. Popular web analytics tools let you see which social networks are driving the most traffic, what content on your site is attracting the most social media traffic, and what types of traffic at what times of day. Find out which posts are driving the most conversions.
First, set up the advanced segment. This allows you to set filters to track data from your chosen social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Once configured, you'll be able to view all your referral traffic from social sources in one place. You can categorize them any way you like, including tracking individual social sites or collections of sites. For example, you can group all your image-based social networks like Pinterest and Instagram together to see how your visual strategy is working.
You can also use Google Analytics UTM parameters to track the performance of individual links you share on social networks. This method is especially useful if you're advertising on Facebook, for example, and want to see how many clicks you get and how many of those clicks convert. UTM parameters are tags added to the end of certain URLs to enable tracking and source attribution. You can build it using the Google Campaign URL Builder.
When you get results from your social media marketing, you'll know what's working and where you need to improve. Reallocating effort and funds to areas that yield good results will increase his ROI over time.
Jayson DeMers contributed to this article.
