Marketers try to increase brand awareness; users value engagement on brands’ social pages
Most marketers use social media to increase brand awareness. At the same time, they underestimate social some networks popular with users, reports Sprout Social that surveyed 1000 social media marketers and 1000 consumers, and revealed what their views on social media usage are.
What do brands do on social media?
Almost 70% of marketers say they use social media to increase brand awareness, which is a shift from past practices, reports Social Media Today. Earlier, marketers considered social media ads a fast and direct way to boost sales. Although it’s still one of the priority areas, now marketers are trying to achieve this by branding, reads the article.
Also, almost half of the surveyed are growing their audience and promoting their content on social media. 43% of social media marketing specialists aim to increase their community engagement.
What are users looking for on social media?
According to Sprout Social, users pay the most attention to engagement on brands’ social pages. 59% of them told likes, comments, or views are important to them.
Also, 44% of the users want strong customer service, 45% seek transparency on brands’ social pages, 40% look for memorable content.
Pop-culture references, compelling storytelling, or setting trends are not that important for social media users. Only one-fifth of them mentioned those factors are important for social media accounts.
Almost half of the users follow accounts suggested by a social network itself or by a discovery tool, 40% subscribe to profiles they heard from their friends or family about, and 39% follow brands they appreciate.
Issues Social Media Specialists Face
Most marketers find it hard to identify and reach their target audience, though there are lots of platforms that can help with that, reports Social Media Today. The author of the article blames it on algorithm limitations and usage shifts.
Measuring ROI is also problematic for marketers. That’s because defining the effectiveness of brand campaigns is much more difficult than measuring results of performance marketing.
Also, marketers underestimate Youtube, Messenger, and Pinterest possibilities. The audience uses these media more often than brands think. Instead, brands use most of their resources on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
