It is clear that social media has changed almost every aspect of modern business; however, its impact has been most keenly felt in marketing, customer service, and public relations. It is now common for businesses of all sizes to manage a range of social media and instant messaging accounts. Each of these accounts enables businesses to connect with customers in ways that simply weren’t viable before.
It has also broken down obstacles to engagement, especially in conjunction with the explosion in smartphone ownership. Statistica estimates there are almost 7 billion people using smartphones. The vast majority of these are consistently connected to the internet via Wi-Fi or mobile data services.
This means customers are effectively “always on”, and using a variety of apps to consume content, connect with friends, and interact with their favorite brands and businesses.
Facebook shaped the industry
Social media started as we know it in the mid-2000s when an enterprising young college undergraduate, Mark Zuckerberg, founded Facebook. While MySpace was also popular at the time, it was Facebook that created the features that paved the way for the remarkable rise of social networking. The terms “follow”, “like”, “share” and “comment” became synonymous with a new form of communication. One which businesses soon realized offered the incredible potential to engage with customers online.
On hitting the one billion user milestone back in 2015, Zuckerberg said: “A more open and connected world is a better world. It brings stronger relationships with those you love, a stronger economy with more opportunities, and a stronger society that reflects all of our values.” Eight years later it’s hard to argue with that statement after Facebook announced it had doubled its active user base to two billion in early 2023.
Zuckerberg’s latest earnings call also highlighted another channel that social media has transformed — advertising. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, reported that ad impressions soared 23% year-over-year. In addition to organic posts, businesses also regularly use targeted ad campaigns to “hook” users with enticing sponsored content that features prominently in news feeds.
When used together, organic and paid marketing campaigns are incredibly effective for connecting with and engaging audiences. The two marketing activities complement each other and can help to increase the awareness and reach of a business. Analytics also enables marketers to target specific users based on demographics, which can be used to create ideal buyer “personas”.
The practice of marketing has matured in tandem with the ever-evolving social media landscape. Marketers now require an extensive and varied skill set to wield these platforms effectively. That’s why people looking to forge a career in the industry are earning a Communications Master’s degree online to gain the qualifications they need to get ahead. You can master the art of strategic storytelling by earning a Master of Arts in Communication through a reputable institution such as St. Bonaventure University Online.
You won’t even have to relocate to a campus to earn a degree as leading universities now offer 100% online courses and more affordable tuition. In less than two years, you will be an expert on conceptual and strategic thinking and a vast array of written and visual forms of communication. You will learn to craft compelling content and engage target audiences consistently.
Vast global reach
Data from Smart Insights highlights the incredible opportunity businesses of all sizes have to engage with a vast global audience. It found the number of active social media users jumped 137 million or 3% to a record 4.72 billion in early 2023. That means brands can now potentially connect with over half of the world’s population of 8 billion by implementing a targeted, effective marketing campaign.
That sort of reach was impossible just two decades ago before the advent of social media and the rise of mobile apps. In the early 2000s, businesses had to rely on outdated methods of communication and rudimentary emails to engage customers. Many of these methods were expensive too, especially TV and print campaigns, which limited their accessibility to only the biggest brands with the largest marketing and customer service budgets.
Fast forward to today and businesses can now leverage around a dozen major social media apps, each with hundreds of millions or billions of users. The vast majority of these platforms are also free to use. Brands can sign up for business accounts and start connecting with customers without having to invest in an expensive subscription or start-up fee. All businesses need to do is create and publish content, send messages, and respond to comments to reach people organically with ease.
There are arguably downsides though. The emergence of so many different social media and messaging apps has perhaps led to fragmented strategies. It’s now more difficult for in-house teams to manage a wide variety of different channels, each of which has its unique format and features. What works on Facebook, for example, might not be suitable for TikTok or WhatsApp. Strategies need to be tailored and updated to suit the feature set of each platform, which can be time-consuming.
What are the main marketing engagement strategies?
To connect with customers effectively, brands need to identify the social media platforms and messaging apps that are best for them. While it is possible to manage every single account out there, it can be a superfluous task if a target audience is not active, ready, and waiting to be engaged.
You can find the most relevant platforms by monitoring data, creating buyer personas, analyzing your sales funnel, and defining an ideal customer. How old are they, what are their aspirations and what are their lifestyle and buying preferences?
When you know who your target customers are and which social platforms they use, you can start creating marketing materials tailored for them. Content needs to be relevant. It needs to solve a specific pain point or provide value in some way. It could take the form of a case study, for example, which can be posted on social media to showcase the quality of your products and how they’ve resonated with previous customers and clients.
A utilitarian approach to content distribution can be effective. People want things that are useful and practical, but there are also times when storytelling can be more effective. If you can combine the two, then you are a winner. Storytelling on social media is important and powerful as it can trigger strong, positive emotions in customers.
Storytelling in this instance doesn’t mean penning a written novel. It involves the use of imagery such as photos and videos and short and succinct copy in posts to weave a narrative about your brand, its values, and the positive impact it can have on customers and the wider world.
“You can teach people data and concepts, but it’s the stories that people are going to remember”, social media expert and Carta manager, Mita Mallick says. “When you share a story and something hits a chord and resonates, people are more likely going to remember what you were trying to teach them or the point you were going to land.”
When you share a great story on social media, you will not only engage customers but enhance your brand image, build trust, and showcase your expertise and creativity. To tell these stories, Malik says it’s vital to “know your brand” and “understand your audience”. You can then start by shortlisting a few formats that will enable you to tell your story. This could be the “Stories” format on Instagram, or a series of tweets on Twitter.
These stories don’t have to involve professional filming and editing either. That’s the beauty of social media. Many users, especially the younger Gen-Z cohort, prefer authentic and “real” posts that show the personality of an influencer or brand. Shiny and overly produced videos are no longer in vogue. Outdoor clothing brand Patagonia recently achieved success with a series of short videos about sustainable living and its mission to prolong the life of garments through repairs and recycling.
Another offshoot of storytelling is that it will humanize your brand. People often recoil at hard sales and overly promotional materials. They understand businesses are there to generate revenue, but they don’t want that message to be front and center. That’s why many digital marketing experts espouse the 80/20 rule. This is where 80% of posts on social media offer value to the audience while 20% promote the business.
Customer service
Social media and messaging have blurred the lines between marketing and customer service. Many of the actions that marketers take before and after a sale are key to delivering excellent user experiences, which can strengthen relationships and drive long-term loyalty. Customer service teams will now use Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other platforms to follow up with clients and customers to ensure they are happy with the products and services they have received.
Social media has changed customer expectations too. People are no longer content with 24-hour response times. They want assistance and support almost instantly. A study by Conversocial found that more than a third of customers expect brands to respond within 30 minutes, while 90%+ believe the time scale should top out at four hours.
The consequences of failing to meet these expectations can be dire for a brand. A majority (57%) of people say they would not buy from a brand again if they were subjected to a below-par customer service experience.
Contact hours have also changed as a result. Customers can contact and leave messages on social media around the clock, which has upended the traditional 9-5 window for customer service support. On the upside, brands are more open and accessible than ever before, which is excellent for lead generation opportunities.
A message in the middle of the night could eventually turn into a repeat customer. Fortunately, AI and automation features have enabled customer service teams to respond to queries in a quick and timely manner, even outside of normal office hours.
These queries are not always direct messages. Customers have a range of platforms and format types to choose from when getting in touch with a business. One customer might prefer to tweet a company’s Twitter profile to get a response, while another might opt for a direct message on Instagram.
Others could still want an initial social media message to lead to an email or call for customer support. Every customer is different and knowing how and when to communicate with customers based on their preferences is key.
What is an effective customer service strategy?
Businesses exchange a colossal 20 billion messages with people every month on Facebook Messenger alone. Since the pandemic, messaging on social media has soared in popularity.
Rather than having to dial a number and wait on hold for hours at a time, customers know they can load up their favorite apps and leave a message instantly. Brands now encourage this behavior as they have dedicated teams managing customer service-specific accounts on Facebook and other platforms.
Software company Hootsuite recommends starting the process by setting expectations for customers and outlining guidelines for support teams to adhere to. This should cover factors such as tone of voice, reply templates, answers to FAQs, and guidelines for escalating certain issues. When everyone is aware of the processes involved, teams can work smoothly and consistently to resolve problems.
Engaging with customers in the right way is great for repeat business. It will also boost digital word of mouth as satisfied customers will be more likely to leave positive reviews on Google, Trustpilot, and other platforms.
Perhaps the most important rule for engaging customers is to always respond. This is important, even if a message or review is negative. The latter is another format that is key to communicating with customers. People now use the digital tools they have at their disposal to be vocal about the experience they had with a brand. While attracting five-star reviews is the aim, marketing teams can set themselves apart by how they respond to average or poor reviews.
Customers understand that not everyone will have an excellent experience, so it’s important to respond to any one-star reviews or complaints. By showing that you understand the frustrations of a customer and that you are willing to make the effort to put it right, you can garner goodwill with others. Engaging with customers via reviews, comments, messages, and posts is fundamental to excellent social media customer service.
How have messaging apps changed engagement rules?
Instant messaging apps have also upended traditional forms of marketing and customer service engagement. Direct messages, or DMs, are a vital tool for connecting with new leads and nurturing them from the first point of contact to an eventual sale. Brands have several messaging apps at their disposal to achieve this aim, though the most popular are WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
Four in ten consumers say they want businesses to solve their problems via messaging apps. This is a preference that benefits the business too; data shows that the cost of customer interactions plummets by 60% when messaging apps are deployed. Again, expectations are high in terms of response times though, as 40% expect a response within 60 minutes.
Instant messaging can be used for more than customer service. As noted, new leads can be engaged via “push” communications, which can include discounts, offers, sales, and newsletters.
Many brands are now using AI chatbots to automate the process of reaching out to new leads. When a customer’s data is entered into a CRM system, the software can then send a series of messages over a certain period to keep the lead “warm”. These messages will also include links to social media and web pages to convert them.
To highlight just how disruptive messaging apps have been in this space, the latest Cinch Brave New World Report found nine in ten consumers actively seek out conversations with brands on platforms such as WhatsApp.
These “conversational” campaigns, a successor to traditional “direct” marketing methods, help to build stronger, lasting relationships with customers. This can be incredibly valuable for a business in the long term.
To conclude, social media and instant messaging have transformed every aspect of marketing and customer service strategies. It has created new paths to purchase, and conversations that need to be managed effectively to engage a new type of “always on”, demanding consumer. People no longer expect just to watch a new ad or video from a brand. They want to be part of the conversation. They want to feel like they are in a community of like-minded people and are part of something bigger.
Marketers can feed into these new expectations by publishing excellent content, responding to comments and messages, and using all of these incredible digital tools to strengthen relationships and create loyal, engaged customers. With a captive audience numbering in the billions, brands cannot overlook the power of social media and messaging apps.
