By Blessing Afolabi

Social Media is everywhere and impacts all walks of life. Social networks have evolved from being a handy means for keeping in touch with friends and family to being used in ways that have a real impact on the society. The relationship between a brand and its consumer has changed dramatically thanks the impact of social media. It has given immense control and power to consumers and large corporations and well-known brands no longer have the so-called upper hand.  It is has being seen as something of a double-edged sword, at its best, social media offers unprecedented opportunities for marginalized people to speak and bring much needed attention to the issues they face. At its worse, social media has being seen to offer ‘everyone’ an unprecedented opportunity to share in collective outrage without reflection.

Due to the impact of social media, companies can create strategies after they analyse and understand the target of their consumer’s demands, likes and dislikes through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram to mention a few. These social networks allow businesses to use tactics to build and create brand profiles like fan pages, contest etc. Social media has had a major effect on the world and business, starting from an MNC or small start-up, everyone is adopting social media marketing to make their brand or services visible.

Social media has become a requirement for digital marketing because research shows that most consumers have a habit of spending a minimum of half an hour per day in various social media sites. Social marketing is integrated with search engine optimization strategies is effective in building a website organic traffic. Recent studies have showed that social networking is used by about 76% succeeding businesses in order to achieve their marketing objectives.

Among the benefits of using social media channels in promoting a brand includes: the immediate respond to customer grievances, concerns, questions, as well as interacting your business on a more personal level. According to Dan Gingiss, when you interact with customers on a one-to-one basis on social media, it makes them more loyal. Loyal customers spend more you, stay with you longer and tell their friends about you.  Furthermore, it helps to attract new customer to a company’s product or services.  Customers can be gotten through promotion or giveaways.

Without marketing on social media, your inbound traffic is limited to your usual customers. The people familiar with your brand are likely searching for the same keywords you already rank for. Without utilizing social media as part of your marketing strategy. You ‘ll have to move more difficulty reaching anyone outside of your customer circle.

Social media marketing is possibly the most cost-efficient part of an advertising strategy when running on a fixed marketing budget. Website like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc., allow business to share their content at no cost at all.  Also, with the help of social media, businesses can reach their target audience, from a stay at home mother to a professional to entrepreneur.

Measuring the impact of social media on business is crucial if you want to establish the true return you achieve on the money you’ve invested.

About the Author

Blessing Afolabi is a young social media specialist and writer who is passionate about media branding and marketing. Lagos, Nigeria