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“We often miss opportunity because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.” ― Thomas A. Edison
When you wake up to start your day, what’s the first thing that you reach for? Many people nowadays would answer that they go straight for their phones.
Because the world has transitioned into a digital domain in the past two decades, people are growing increasingly reliant on their tech to keep them caught up not only with current affairs, but just about everything: school, work, personal relationships, and even hobbies.
Children and adults alike are users of gadgets, apps, and websites that help make their everyday lives easier or more meaningful. These facts make it no surprise that more and more businesses across the globe are exclusively utilizing digital platforms to reach consumers.
Social media as a power tool for businesses
Although social media initially began as more of a way to connect with the people you care about or want to hear from, the way we use it has evolved significantly from its original roots. These days, websites and apps aren’t only for keeping in touch with your friends, but also a way to connect with your favorite brands, artists, and other people who are interested in the same things as you are. Some celebrities have even amassed millions of followers — making it the prime platform to get someone to endorse you, talk about your product, or just agree with the message that you’re delivering. You can even do all the talking yourself!
This holds HUGE potential for businesses, which many have maximized in recent years: now that it’s simpler to reach potential customers, it can be much easier to create meaningful relationships and promote offers with far less effort compared to more traditional methods of advertising. Ads in years gone by heavily relied on print, television and radio — now just about everything has migrated into the palm of the hand of your ideal customer.
As social media increased in popularity as a means to advertise, developers also improved the data analytics tools available to creators and entrepreneurs alike, giving them a far better understanding of their audiences’ needs and interests.
Organic vs paid reach
Reach is the metric that these online social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Tiktok use to tell users how their visitors are receiving and responding to their content. These insights let the user reading them know how many people saw and interacted with their posts, which marketing teams use to analyze which posts do well, which ones translate into sales, and if they’re meeting the demands of their audience.
When businesses go out of their way to create content and interact with their followers and others in their community, this is considered organic reach. Marketing teams put a lot of work into planning and creating content, and sharing it with their audience, as well as engaging with them after sharing their posts.
Paid reach, on the other hand, is when companies and individuals pay a platform to boost their content so that it can be shared with a greater number of people representing a specific demographic, whether via ads, or special “spotlight” features as seen in some apps. These can appear as sponsored posts, direct videos and images that share a certain product, and sometimes even in entirely separate applications. Learning how to use social media has helped creators and businesses become better attuned to what their audience wants and needs.
Now that millions of businesses around the world are using social media to promote their goods and services, things can get competitive and expensive — in the same way that brands pay big money for mere minutes on prime time television, companies often pay a hefty price financially and through time and effort to compete with each other on digital platforms.
Why it takes work to connect with customers
Some may feel that using social media for business can get complicated: different platforms have different guidelines, so it can really feel like a hit or miss for entrepreneurs who want to boost their organic reach. After all, it can take a lot of time to plan content and connect with the people who are relevant to your business. Here are some ideas to keep in mind to help you stay relevant and get within striking distance of your audience:
- Be aware of platform trends. Because rules vary for each social media app, entrepreneurs will need to become familiar with algorithms, best posting times, which posts people find entertaining or helpful, and how to maximize the features of each platform.
- Plan your content wisely. Strategize about what kind of image you want to portray of your business and how you plan to show it — do you want to do informative one-minute videos? Do you prefer doing shorter videos that will align with current trends? How often do you want to post and what kind of content will you release on certain days?
- Respond quickly and frequently. When people ask questions on your page or share feedback, always make sure to respond quickly, whether you’re answering a question or expressing your thanks for feedback.
- Listen to your audience. Don’t miss a single chance to engage! Comment on other people’s posts, like their photos, and make good use of the various features that allow you to hear back from your followers. Whether polls or story replies, there’s a lot of room to get creative and see how people are feeling through your own posts.
Paid reach may be accessible for a wider number of people now — but organic reach can create even more meaningful relationships with your customers, in exchange for a generous amount of time and effort.
Promote your business for FREE
If you’re new to the world of social media marketing, fret not: there are courses that can help you prepare to set your business on a course of trailblazing success. As the world changes and consumer needs evolve, be sure to stay on top of what your audience wants from you by connecting with them firsthand. Turn what’s going well for your business into something that has the potential to become truly great — all through the technology at your fingertips!
