Why social media marketing is good for your business

Communication nowadays takes effect in many forms for businesses that are looking to connect with the target market. Incorporating social media into the communications and marketing strategy of a company is seen as one of the effective ways to engage with customers in more a personal way (Cleary et al., 2023). This article will outline the reasons why businesses should invest in social media marketing.

Social media goals

Social media is an effective way to reach new audiences with engaging content, however, to realise this success there needs to be clear goals when embarking on this journey. Zuhdi, Daud, Hanif, Nguyen, and Shankar, (2019) stipulates social media marketing goals as (i) to increase brand awareness, (ii) to acquire leads and convert them into sales, or (iii) website traffic.

Deciding what is important for your business will determine the direction to take and to effectively evaluate the success of social media marketing. Setting key performance indicators will aid in measuring the success rate.

If the goal is to enhance brand awareness; when it comes to evaluating the success of social media marketing – the focus should be on the number of impressions, likes, how many people are resharing the content, and how many new followers have been gained. Likewise, if the goal is on lead generation, then effectiveness should be measured through analytics tools that indicate website traffic and new email subscribers.

Finding an audience

After establishing the goals that an organisation aims to realise by adopting social media, the next step will be finding an audience to communicate to. How can a social media manager find a relevant audience? The following approaches can be implemented:

• Speak like your ideal customer.
• Use the same language, phrases, insider terminology, etc.
• Think of social media as an ongoing engagement, keeping and creating repeat customers.

Once an audience has been acquired, it is important to grow that audience. Ways to do that is to consistently post content. As an organisation, you should also consider coming up with a few company-specific hashtags and include them regularly in your posts to help establish branding technique. (Chambers, Morehead & Sallee, 2020).

It is important to remember that the content being shared does not always have to be about the organisation. Chambers et al. (2020) highlights that sometimes one will realise that the best-performing posts are not always company-related updates. Therefore, is it crucial to mix up the content by sharing content from other people.

Social media channels and the buying process

There are four stages involved in the sales funnel and they are awareness, interest, decision, and action. For each stage, there are recommended channels to use.

Awareness – Twitter and Instagram are ideal. When using these platforms, one needs to create a need for the audience to want to buy a product or use their service. The content needs to be inspirational.

Interest and trust – Facebook and YouTube are the best platforms to obtain interest and gain trust. These platforms help with growing brand loyalty as well as drive website traffic. On these platforms one has more space to post blog links, videos, etc.

Decision and action – Pinterest and LinkedIn. It is reported that these platforms have a high success rate in driving website traffic and sales. Only on these platforms the audience expect to be advertised to as opposed to Instagram or YouTube.

Image credit: Freepik

Content guidelines per platform

Twitter	LinkedIn	YouTube	Instagram
Videos, GIFs, and images.	Corporate updates.	Customer testimonial.	Square photography and short videos.
Make use of #hashtags.	Educational videos.	Tips and how to.
Any content type is recommended.	Blog posts and statuses with an image attached.	FAQs.
		Trends and industry news.

Social media listening

While it is important to be constantly pushing out content on social media, it is equally important to listen to what your audience has to say or pay attention to how they are consuming the content. Social listening can be achieved in the following ways:

• Responding to comments or complaints.
• Ask questions in your posts.
• Polls and other engagement-based features.

Image credit: Freepik

There are several benefits of social listening including:

• Keeping on top of mentions of the brand.
• Get to know your target market.
• Good customer service.
• Higher repeat buys extend lifetime value or customer lifetime value.
• Keep up to date with industry news.
• Monitor your competitors.

Measuring success

Considering the effort that went into investing time and resources to establish the presence of the organisation on social media, measuring success is key. Success can be evaluated by generating two types of reports depending on the earlier identified goal.

To be able to generate these reports, Google Analytics (analytics.google.com) should be plugged into the back end of the business website. This way it will be easier for the social media manager to pull the report by following the below steps.

Type A report – increase traffic, leads, and sales	Type B report – improve branding and exposure
When creating a report, the first step is to go to REAL TIME, AUDIENCE, OVERVIEW, then set a timeframe (1-30 September 2023). Next step – go to ACQUISITION OVERVIEW, SOCIAL, then select a timeframe.	Step one – go to AUDIENCE, DEMOGRAPHICS OVERVIEW, this will show you the type of audience that has been engaging with the content. Next step – go to ACQUISITION OVERVIEW, SOCIAL, then select a timeframe.

Book review

WE ARE ALL ZIMBABWEANS NOW- a novel. 271 pages

James Kilgore

A young American historian, Ben Dabney arrives in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1981 when the country is still newly born from the apartheid regime. Ben is excited to write about the history of Zimbabwe and to finally meet the man he idolises, the Prime Minister Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

Ben came prepared with a ready list of whom he plans to interview before writing the historical book on reconciliation.

For a few months in a foreign country everything goes according to plan for this young man, he is learning the culture and he even falls in love with a former “guerrilla” Florence Matshaka who was his first interviewee.

But things get complicated as Ben researches the mystery death of one of the guerrillas; he receives treats and even possible deportation if he doesn’t stop investigating.

In this book the author paints a picture of how ordinary citizens that were involved in the struggle are being overlooked. The book also points out that not everything is always black and white in the world of politics.

Restaurant Review

FOURNOS BAKERY

Shop G40-G46

Benmore Shopping Centre

Tel 011 883 7194

	OPEN Monday to Fridays	07h00 to 18h00
	Saturdays	07h00 to 16h00
	Sundays	07h00 to 14h00

AVERAGE MAIN COURSE R38.90

FOOD TYPE bakery, light meals

FOOD this award winning bakery and deli lets you be the master in preparing your own meal with the help of their professionally trained waiters. The variety of freshly baked cakes and breads that is arranged in a form of a buffet- with their aroma you will be spoiled for choice. Try their divine chocolate bagel. Mornings are the busiest with students flocking in for a dose of an affordable breakfast. The shop is positioned adjacent to the underground Entrance 1 for convenient parking and outdoor seating.

SERVICE great, waiters are quick on their feet.

AMBIENCE Warm and very welcoming with a trendy décor that is eco-friendly.

AND… for their mouth-watering light meals try Thai fish cakes (seasoned potato, salmon and hake fish cakes served with a rocket and stir fried vegetable salad).

Johannesburg’s vibrant hang out spot

The Middle class who left central Johannesburg in fear of crime in the early 90’s are back thanks to the Neighbourhoods market in down town Braamfontein.

At the open air market, the atmosphere is colourful and reminiscent of Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation. This is where fashion setters can draw their inspiration from.

It’s no surprise that David Tlale once held a fashion parade at the Nelson Mandela Bridge which is the one thing the market has in common with him.

Beer pours, homemade cheeses will burst flavour your taste buds with different bands entertaining the mixed crowds every weekend.

The market’s cuisine will take you to China for some sushi, the Caribbean Islands for some coconut drinks, Mexico for some shots of chilli tequila and when you open your eyes you will realise you are in the in the once shunned CBD of Johannesburg.

Crowds are made up of university students, the working middles class and the old cliché goes, it’s a place for “people with a taste for life”.

So for that relaxed Saturday afternoon with friends make sure to arrive early and take a tour before it gets crowded.

Additional content by Irvine V Makuyana @makirvine

Gratitude

Last weekend I watched a movie called Flight starring Denzel Washington as a pilot. Flight is gripping but takes longer getting to the point –which was alcohol addiction that Whip (Washington) was struggling with.  

The interesting part for me was at the end when Whip’s son had an essay to write. The title was “The most fascinating people you have ever met”. He chose to write about his father. The title got me thinking about the most fascinating people I have ever met. My friends are very fascinating but Irvine Makuyana stood out the most.

Makuyana is a political journalist at The New Age. This man has an opinion about everything but it’s no surprise because he is a product of Political Sciences.

When I wrote an essay on Youth Leagues, Agencies and Subsidies, I just had to get his thoughts on the subject. The essay was an assignment for graduates who had an interest in applying for an internship at Avusa Media. When my lecturer read the essay she couldn't stop complimenting Makuyana’s opinions.

The essay got me an interview at Avusa Media. Although I didn't get the job, now I’m clear about what I’m about. I discovered that I like writing about politics.

Let’s celebrate Steenkamp

On Saturday at 6:30 pm I was watching Tropika Island of treasurer where Reeva Steenkamp is featured as one of the contestants. It was sad to think she won’t get to watch the show.

Steenkamp seems to have been such an amazing free spirited person. It must be unbelievable to the Steenkamp family that she is really gone. To make the pain even more unbearable the tragedy makes headlines for every news source.

The family is still in shock and they need time to mourn their loved one. But how can they? When Steenkamp’s name is all over the news. And what gets to me the most is that the news is more about her alleged killer Oscar Pistorious than it is about her.

Steenkamp was dating Pistorious at the time of the incident.

When Steenkamp died, somebody lost a daughter, a friend, a sister and a colleague but that doesn’t seem to be the priority right now. All I hear, is Pistorious this, Pistorious that. And how many sponsors he is going to lose and that he broke down in court during his first appearance in court.

For one day, just one day. I wish the news could be about Steenkamp. Celebrating her life and sympathizing with her family during this difficult time. Maybe the family could see that she had an impact in other people’s lives and she will be solely missed. May her soul rest in peace.

About me

I am the voice for the voiceless, the link between the public and their leaders. I’m the communicator and compassionate listener.

 I believe in communicating which occurs in various ways and writing happens to be one of them.

 I chose a career in Journalism because I believe it gives the public a platform to engage, share knowledge as well as their opinions.

I believe I make a great journalist because I’m inquisitive and I strive to enlighten the society to the best of my ability.

My goal is to be a senior journalist working for an independent publication, specializing in politics and being a radio news anchor.

 In my view radio is still the easily accessible form of media that reaches a mass number of the population.