Growing a business isn’t a game of chances – it’s a strategic move. In a world where approximately 63.7% of the global population scrolls, likes, and shares daily, social media marketing isn’t an option for businesses wanting to grow. It’s necessary.
Unfortunately, many businesses treat social media marketing like a checkbox – post, promote, repeat. And when the results unsurprisingly don’t skyrocket overnight, they stop posting. Some businesses don’t even consider leveraging the power of social media marketing.
So, what’s the problem?
Many businesses are missing the point. Social Media marketing isn’t a magic wand – it’s a consistent strategy that fuels scalable growth. Let’s fix the disconnect and see why your business needs social media marketing to grow at scale.
Understanding Social Media Marketing
According to the GAS, social media marketing is a marketing accelerator that helps a business connect with customers. It’s about using social media platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook to reinforce the key points of connection:
- Price
- Familiarity
- Need
- Functionality
- Reputation
Social media marketing helps you reinforce these key points through the following core elements:
1. Content Creation
Social media posts, reels, and carousels designed to reflect your brand’s voice, mission, and values.
2. Engagement
Connecting with your target audience by responding to comments, DMs, and sharing relevant content to humanize your brand.
3. Analytics:
Tracking important metrics like reach, engagement, and conversions. These metrics help you see the level of engagement you’re receiving from your target audience and how you can refine it to guarantee a stronger response.
4. Utilizing Trends
Engaging with the audiences based on the viral trends without giving away the core values of your brand.
The Importance of Social Media Marketing In Helping Your Business Grow At Scale
Growing your business is a step-by-step process. After strong branding helps customers remember your brand, marketing addresses the next step in the process: How your business connects with the customers.
Seeing that more than half of the world’s population uses social media platforms, it stands out as one of the best mediums to establish brand recognition and familiarity due to:
- Frequency
Social media marketing offers daily or hourly touchpoints.
- Example
A bakery posts morning reels of fresh croissants. By lunchtime, they go live with a poll post about new flavors. And by evening, they showcase happy customers through stories.
- Cost Efficiency
The high user volume on social media platforms makes it one of the most cost-effective ways for a business to gain visibility. In fact, it is one of the most effective ways to implement the “7-12 Rule”.
- Understanding the 7-12 Rule
This rule states that customers need 7+ exposures to notice a brand and 12+ interactions to trust it. By this rule, paid ads alone can’t afford that repetition. However, leveraging organic social media marketing is the ideal alternative, especially for small business owners looking for growth at scale.
- Customer Feedback
Social media platforms offer a quick way to test your business strategies. Utilizing user actions like comments, shares, and reactions to your post, you can figure out the customer sentiment about your brand.
A Deeper Dive into The 7-12 Rule
It’s human psychology to always trust and prefer those that they know. This is why, at After Branding, we quantify marketing as the art of “getting customers to connect with your brand”.
Because when customers recognize, trust, and connect from a brand, they buy from it and consider promoting it.
The Math Behind The 7-12 Rule
- 7 Touchpoints
A prospect sees your LinkedIn post, then your website, then your flyer. Now you’re on their radar. They are at a stage where they will remember your business when they need a product that your business sells.
- 12 Touchpoints
After 12 touchpoints, the prospect starts engaging with content like your Instagram stories, reading your blogs, and attending your webinar. At this stage, the customer has reached a higher position on the marketing funnel and is ready to become a customer.
How Social Media Marketing Reinforces the 7-12 Rule
Social media marketing is one of the easiest ways to boost these touchpoints without blowing your budget.
Example
A fitness coach shares free workout tips daily. After seeing and interacting with 10 helpful posts, a follower trusts you and believes that he’s good.
How To Use Social Media Marketing As A Marketing Accelerator
Growing at scale with social media marketing isn’t about becoming viral – it’s about developing consistency. Here are a few strategies that can help use social media marketing as a marketing accelerator:
1. Post Consistently, But Strategically
- Frequency:
3-5 posts/week on at least three platforms. Choose these platforms depending on where your target audience is the most active.
- Themes
Repeat the core benefit behind your services. For example, (“we help you save time, costs, stress”) across various formats like carousels, testimonials, videos.
2. Use Platform Specific Features
- Stories
Share behind-the-scenes snippets. Customers love seeing the effort you put into making products for them.
- Polls/Quizzes
Boost engagement while getting an idea about the content type that your target audience prefers.
- Reels
Use trending concepts to approach your scope of work in a simpler way. (ie. A lawyer explaining contracts via analogies).
3. Encourage Shares
- Promote User-Generated Content
Promoting user-generated content bolsters customer loyalty. It also gives you a chance to turn your customers into ambassadors.
For example, a skincare brand reposting a customer’s selfies with hashtags relevant to their business.
Conquer Social Media Marketing With After Branding
While effective, social media marketing requires significant knowledge and skills to prove effective. With over two decades of experience in helping businesses grow at scale, our experts at After Branding have the expertise to leverage social media marketing to your advantage.
At After Branding, we:
- Build Systems, not posts
We align your social strategy with your brand’s levels of returns. This guarantees that your messaging stays consistent with your customer’s needs.
- Maintain Consistency
Our experts design content calendars designed to hit the 7-12 Rule without overwhelming your team.
- Be Everywhere, Anywhere:
Social media marketing isn’t about just proving your brand’s “existence” – it’s about powering email lists, building website traffic, and sales opportunities.
With After Branding, you brand doesn’t ride on trends – it builds on strategic opportunities for growth. Schedule your free consultation today and unlock holistic growth today!
Final Words
If you’re a business looking to grow, social media marketing isn’t a “nice-to-have”. It’s the most cost-effective and one of the quickest ways to scale trust.
Stop posting blindly and start developing a system.
Ready to make your social media marketing work harder than you do?
