Social media has emerged as a game-changer for businesses looking to expand their reach and strengthen their brand presence. In 2023, there are estimated to be 4.89 billion total social media users worldwide. With billions of active users on various social media platforms, these digital channels offer an unparalleled opportunity to connect with the target audience on a global scale.
In this blog, we'll explore the significance of enhancing brand awareness through social media and back it up with some compelling statistics.
Contents
1. Why use social media to increase brand awareness
1.1. The Ubiquity of Social Media
With the rise of smartphones and improved internet accessibility, social media platforms have become an integral part of people's lives. Statista reported that there were approximately 3.96 billion social media users worldwide as of July 2021, and this number is projected to grow steadily. (Source: Statista)
1.2. The Power of Engagement
Social media allows brands to engage directly with their audience through likes, comments, shares, and direct messages. According to a survey by HubSpot, 71% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand to others if they have a positive experience with it on social media. (Source: HubSpot)
1.3. Visual Content Dominance
Visual content reigns supreme on social media, with images and videos generating higher engagement rates than plain text. Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than those without. (Source: Buffer)
1.4. The Influencer Impact
Influencer marketing has become a prominent strategy for brand awareness. A survey conducted by Mediakix found that 89% of marketers believe influencer marketing ROI is comparable to or better than other marketing channels. (Source: Mediakix)
1.5. Social Media Advertising
Paid social media advertising can significantly boost brand visibility. Facebook, for instance, reported over 10 million active advertisers on its platform, emphasizing its efficacy for businesses. (Source: Statista)
1.6. Storytelling and Brand Narrative
Social media enables brands to tell their story and build a compelling brand narrative. According to a study by Ipsos, 62% of people feel more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories. (Source: Ipsos)
1.7. Expanding Reach Beyond Borders
Social media transcends geographical boundaries, allowing brands to reach global audiences. As of 2021, 90.4% of Millenials, 77.5% of Gen X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers were active social media users. (Source: Statista)
1.8. Leveraging User-Generated Content (UGC)
UGC can be a potent tool for brand awareness, as it builds authenticity and trust. According to a survey by Stackla, 86% of consumers believe UGC is a good indicator of the brand's quality. (Source: Stackla)
2. Strategies used to increase brand awareness through social media
2.1. Consistent branding:
Maintain a consistent brand image across all social media platforms. Use the same logos, colors, and brand messaging to create a cohesive identity that users can easily recognize.
2.2 Engaging content:
Create high-quality, relevant, and engaging content that resonates with your target audience. This can include posts, images, videos, infographics, and interactive content like polls and quizzes.
2.3 Hashtags and trends:
Utilize popular and relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your content and participate in trending discussions to reach a broader audience. Use these Free Hashtag Generating tools to compare the tags that are trending in your industry or that best fits your content category.
2.4 Influencer marketing:
Collaborate with influencers or micro-influencers in your industry or niche to leverage their following and tap into a new audience.
2.5 User-generated content (UGC):
UGC has become an essential part of marketing and brand-building efforts, as it helps to increase engagement, trust, and brand loyalty. A mix of user generated content and brand content improves engagement rates by 28%. That statistic isn’t so surprising when you consider that 56% of consumers prefer to view UGC images and video. Encourage your followers to create and share content related to your brand.
Some of the strongest UGC strategies are community building, user-generated reviews and recommendations and collaborative content. Chose and collaborate with creators that fits your brand personality with these User Generated Content tools.
2.6 Social media contests and giveaways:
Organize contests and giveaways that require users to engage with your brand, follow your account, or share your content to enter. This increases brand exposure and attracts new followers.
2.7 Social media advertising:
Invest in paid social media ads to target specific demographics, interests, or behaviors. This can significantly increase the visibility of your brand and content.
2.8 Cross-promotion and partnerships:
Collaborate with complementary brands or businesses to cross-promote each other's content. This can introduce your brand to a new audience and vice versa.
2.9 Respond to followers:
Engage with your followers by responding to their comments, messages, and mentions. Building a positive rapport with your audience can lead to higher brand loyalty and word-of-mouth promotion.
2.10 Social media analytics:
Regularly analyze your social media data to understand what type of content performs best, when your audience is most active, and which platforms yield the highest engagement. Use this information to refine your strategy.
2.11 Live streaming and Stories:
Utilize live streaming on platforms like Instagram and Facebook to connect with your audience in real-time. Stories on various platforms can also be used to share behind-the-scenes content and create a sense of urgency around limited-time offers or events.
2.12 Social listening:
Monitor social media conversations about your brand, products, or industry. Respond to feedback, both positive and negative, and address any customer concerns promptly.
By implementing these methods, you can enhance your brand awareness, foster a loyal community of followers, and ultimately drive business growth through social media. Remember that social media strategies should be adaptable and continually optimized based on the changing dynamics of the platforms and your audience's preferences.
3. Best tools of 2023 brands use to increase awareness
3.1 Facebook:
Facebook is the most-used platform by marketers worldwide (90%). Instagram sits in second place (79%). You can create a Facebook Business Page, engage with your audience through posts, and use paid advertising to reach a broader audience. If you rather check if this suits your business, save your time by using creative mock ups for Facebook and Instagram ads on Creative Hub.
Instagram is the king of social selling. For consumers, it offers the best in-app shopping experience of any app. For marketers, it offers the highest ROI for selling products. As a highly visual platform, Reels take up 30% of the time people spend on Instagram with engagement rates are four times higher than Facebook (0.60% to 0.15%), but have been continuously decreasing.
Twitter is excellent for real-time engagement and staying connected with your audience. however, following essentially flat growth in 2022, amounting to 368.4 million monthly active users worldwide, Twitter's user base will drop 3.9% in 2023 to 353.9 million users (Insider Intelligence)
Whats in this for Marketers? According to Sprout Social, 71% of marketers plan to spend less time on Twitter in 2023.
There are more than 900 million members across 200 countries on LinkedIn. Particularly valuable for B2B businesses, LinkedIn allows you to establish your brand as an industry leader. LinkedIn demographics indicate that more than half of users have higher incomes. A December 2022 survey indicated that 53% of LinkedIn users in the United States had a high monthly household income. The year before, Pew research showed that 50% of LinkedIn users had a household income of more than $75,000.
As of January 2023, YouTube has over 2.5 billion users worldwide. However, the platform’s active users have decreased by 48 million over the past year. As video content engagement grows, YouTube Shorts get 30 billion views daily from users around the globe. 12% of YouTube users are males aged between 25-34, and 9% are females of the same age (based on available gender data.). People spend an average of 19 minutes per day watching videos on YouTube. Nearly 90% of all visits to YouTube come from a mobile device.
If you are a creator or building your channel for awareness, use You Tube Studio to manage your own content and have access to loads of insights and data about how your videos gain subscribers, views, likes and shares.
TikTok has over 1 billion active users worldwide and it's the most frequently used app worldwide, with users spending an average of 23.5 hours per month on the platform.
If your target audience is younger and you have the capacity for creative short-form videos, TikTok can be a great platform to build brand awareness as 54.1% of users are identifyied as women (based on available gender data.) and 38.9% of TikTok users are 18-24 years old accounting for the largest share of TikTok’s advertising audience. .
Simply be a creator or launch your business on Tiktok. Tiktok Business Accounts receive performance insights, creative tools, and exclusive account features you need to grow your business.
3.7 Pinterest:
450 million people use Pinterest every month. Ideal for businesses with visually appealing products or services, Pinterest can help drive traffic to your website and increase brand recognition.
Through the Pinterest Business Account, your Pins will have special Call to Action buttons and formats. They also have predictive trends which helps merchants such as WoodWick filter trends by gender, demographics and interests and search by growing trends to see where you can get ahead of the competition.
Remember, the key to successful brand awareness on social media is to understand your target audience, tailor your content to each platform's strengths, and maintain consistent branding across all channels. Additionally, keep an eye on emerging social media platforms and trends to stay ahead of the competition.
In Conclusion
Social media has revolutionized the way brands interact with their audience and establish brand awareness. The statistics clearly indicate the significance of incorporating social media strategies into the overall marketing plan. By leveraging the power of social media, businesses can connect with their target audience, tell their brand story, and create lasting impressions that lead to increased brand loyalty and, ultimately, business growth. Embrace the digital era and harness the potential of social media to take your brand to new heights!