After the days of shuffling around your “top friends,” adding music to your profile, and seeing Tom’s face consistently popping up across the platform, it’s hard not to laugh a little as we now watch TikToks, monitor political news on Facebook, and plaster our pet photos across Instagram.
That is to say, social media has grown, hasn’t it? And, in that case, shouldn’t your marketing strategy, too?
Saying “Hello” to Social Media
With the advent of the internet came the inherent opportunity for marketers to embark upon the newest advertising frontier. And as the total amount spent on online advertising grew exponentially by the early 2000s, it was only a matter of time before social media platforms began to dip their toes into the waters of online revenue generation, too.
Today? Social media advertising is expected to amass a total of $39.6 billion by the end of 2020, which is approximately 9.4% higher than that of 2019.
Of course, many entrepreneurs today seeking social media glory (or attention, at the very least) may not necessarily find that surprising, seeing as internet users are reported to spend a daily average of 2 hours and 22 minutes per day on social platforms.
Thus, as social media continues to flourish, so, too, will the opportunities for businesses to attract and advertise to new audiences.
It Pays to be Social
While we may have started by discussing the advertising-specific avenues of social media, it goes without saying that these platforms act as more than mere digital billboards for brands. Rather, they act as the venue by which businesses can attract new individuals, thereby increasing their overall rate of exposure.
In fact, according to a 2020 analysis conducted by Hootsuite, “52% of all online brand discovery still happens in public social feeds,” meaning that, on a year-over-year basis, more and more consumers are turning to social media to feed their spending habits.
In fact, this trend is likely to increase in the near future, judging by the current breakdown of active social media usage by generation:
Baby Boomers — 48.2%
Gen X — 77.5%
Millennials — 90.4%
And that’s before we take Gen Z into account. In short, social media isn’t just another avenue for advertising your particular brand or product (though it is that, too)! It also allows you to interact with your audience, rather than interrupting them, thereby increasing your ability to strengthen your brand identity, monitor and track leads, place yourself at the center of the conversation, and more.
Social Innovation and Integration
By integrating social media into your overall marketing strategy, you’re providing yourself with the opportunity to innovate and explore new methods of audience engagement that you might not otherwise have with other forms of traditional media advertising.
After all, social media may be just one cog in the proverbial marketing machine, but it’s also one that continues to grow and thrive as technology and communities develop.
That’s why, here at Mad Men Marketing, our social media team comes equipped with an arsenal of services, including the ability to help you generate effective paid social media and strategize your organic social media!
We understand that your attention should be rooted in the day-to-day responsibilities of running your business, not reading every little social media comment or message that lights up your push notifications. Thus, we don’t just offer social innovation and management, but we also provide you with monthly analytics to clarify your brand’s return on investment, as well as strategize the effectiveness of future social media campaigns.
If you’re ready to interact with your customers (as opposed to interrupting them), contact Mad Men Marketing today by calling 904-355-1766!