Why is social media marketing in Singapore one of the smartest marketing strategies for start-ups and SMEs? Most start-up businesses and small and medium enterprises are careful in choosing the right marketing platform they will use. Because the business is still in its earlier stages, owners are cautious of the budget and resources it takes to increase brand awareness about their venture.
Social media is quickly becoming one of the most essential tools in digital marketing. Social media marketing is used by businesses of all sizes to reach millions of prospective customers all over the world. Marketing through social media is a recommended method for small scale enterprises because it is one of the most versatile and cost-effective strategies for them to reach their target audience and boost sales. In fact, 97% of marketers utilize social media to reach their customers. If you are not using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in your marketing, you are missing out on its benefits for improving your business.
So, what specifically is social media marketing in Singapore? How does it help start-ups and SMEs boost brand awareness and sales?
SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN SINGAPORE
Social Media Marketing, or often called SMM, is an online marketing strategy that involves creating and sharing content on social media platforms, to promote your product or service. It includes posting texts, images, videos, and other content that engages potential customers in knowing your brand.
With the growing number of users around the world, social media marketing in Singapore is a good platform to increase and build awareness about your business. Most social media platforms have built-in tools that help you track the progress, success, and engagement of your marketing campaigns.
BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN SINGAPORE
Like mentioned earlier, many marketers are now turning to social media to reach their target audience. However, only 59% of marketers are actively using the platform to improve their business. Here are some reasons why you need to start utilizing social media marketing in Singapore for your business:
SMM Improves Brand Awareness Among Customers
Social media is one of the most profitable digital marketing platforms that can increase brand awareness about your business. By creating a social media profile, you can create and share content that shows off your brand’s voice and personality. Posting content that presents what you are all about will help potential customers in recognizing your brand; it makes your business accessible for potential and current customers.
Let’s say that a customer, that has no prior knowledge about your brand, stumbled upon your profile on social media. Through your content, they will be able to learn more about the product or service you provide. If they are compelled by your posts, they can turn into a paying customer. This is also true for your current customers. If they consistently see you on various platforms, they will be more familiar with your business, which can translate to repeat purchase.
To increase brand recognition on social media, it is not only important to post consistently but also make sure that all of your content stays true to your brand’s voice. This will help customers associate with your brand more.
SMM is Cost-Effective
Budget is something that small businesses are always keen on; they look for ways to cut costs without sacrificing great results. Not all businesses can invest a great amount of money and resources toward marketing. Social media marketing in Singapore is a cost-effective method that can bring significant results to your business as compared to other methods such as “Search Engine Marketing” which despite yielding good results, can be costly to maintain or “Search Engine Optimization” which is free but takes 3-6months for you to start to get results.
It is free to sign up and create a profile on most social media platforms. All you need to invest in this type of marketing is time in creating and publishing content, as well as interacting with your followers. Despite not shelling out a huge load of money, SMM can produce immediate results. Dedicating even just a few hours a week to monitoring your social media activities can lead to significant improvement for your brand.
Even if you decide to use paid advertisements on social media, you will find that SMM is still cost-effective compared to other marketing strategies. Depending on the scope and goal of your campaign, it is relatively inexpensive to run advertisements on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. If you plan to start using paid ads, remember to start small to get a grasp of how your campaign will perform online. By investing little to no money and time, you can see a greater return of investment.
SMM Builds Brand Loyalty & Customer Satisfaction
Social media is an effective marketing tool because your customers are using these platforms. Users are active in social media because it gives them a way to keep in touch with friends and family and keep up-to-date with what’s happening around them. Unlike other forms of marketing, social media gives your business an opportunity to engage and interact with your customers.
These platforms allow you to have a personal conversation with potential and current customers, showcasing your brand’s voice and personality. This approach makes customers more receptive to your business because you are establishing a genuine connection with them, rather than delivering a general marketing message.
Gaining loyal customers is a goal for any business and by engaging with your customers through social media, you are building a stronger customer relationship. Customers appreciate when they receive a personalized reply to their comments rather than a computerized message. It shows that they can communicate with your business directly. Satisfied customers can easily translate to repeat purchases and consistent sales.
SMM Improves Your Awareness of Your Market
As established, a huge number of your potential customers can be found actively in social media. With this in mind, your competitors are most likely trying to reach the same audience as you are. However, this is not much of a threat to your brand.
One way of getting ahead of your competitors is understanding your customers’ needs and wants. Social media marketing in Singapore allows you to gain insight into your customers and the industry that you may not know about. Through online engagements, you can have a stronger grasp of what motivates a person to buy your product. You can also know their concerns and challenges through messages or the comment section of your post.
Social media can also show you what works and what doesn’t with regards to your ad campaigns. You can see the ads that resonated with your target customers and create more similar content. It also shows you the campaigns that did not get as many engagements and work on those. Through SMM, you can get feedback and make changes to improve customer satisfaction.
SMM Increases Online Traffic to Your Website
Social media marketing in Singapore is extremely helpful to smaller businesses, especially those who have a website. Sharing content in your social media account can help in redirecting your customer to your website. Let us say your webpage contains articles that can help your customers. By sharing it to your Facebook profile, you are giving your user a reason to visit your site. It allows you to reach a wider target audience across multiple platforms.
It is essential to consistently publish content that suits your customers’ needs on your social media account. The more quality content you post, the more credible your brand becomes. This will engage your customer to visit your website. From there, you have the opportunity to persuade them to purchase your product.
SMM Enhances Search Engine Ranking
Many start-ups and SMEs are using SEO to improve their online presence. However, it will take quite a while before you can attract customers online if you depend on SEO alone. It is no longer enough to regularly update your blog; by sharing the content of your website to your social media account, you can reach more potential customers and increase online traffic to your page.
Having a strong social media presence can help in your search ranking because it establishes that your brand is valuable, credible, and trustworthy. So, it is important to always create and share quality content. Also, consistently check your social media profile and update it if needed. Always make sure your social media is engaging for your customers to keep them coming back to your page.
Social Media Marketing in Singapore is becoming one of the most viable and effective online marketing practices for start-up businesses and small and medium enterprises. It is cost-effective and allows your business to reach a wide audience.
However, even if it does not require that much money, SMM needs time and effort. Every social media platform requires a different way of marketing. Twitter only allows you a few characters to promote your product. Instagram and Pinterest heavily depend on images to catch your customers’ attention. Facebook allows you to do marketing in both text and image format, which makes it the most competitive platform for online marketing. So, you have to make sure that your ads stand out amongst your competitors.
In Conclusion
Though, do not let this amount of work overwhelm you. It is okay for your business to take it one step at a time. Make sure to know your target audience and decide on one social media platform where you can reach them effectively. Aside from that, you can easily outsource marketers that can do online advertising work for you. Considering its benefits, taking the time to manage your SMM is a great investment for your business.
So, if you are planning or already in the early stages of your business, make sure to incorporate SMM into your marketing strategy. To know more about Social Media Marketing in Singapore, you can visit the Sevenwolves website.