Should You Still Do Social Media Marketing?

Social media has been around for ages. It seems like an eternity for some. Did you know that Facebook started in 2004! Facebook and many other social media platforms are part of our daily lives.

Can you live without it? As an individual, it is unlikely. Are you a business owner? Do you do social media marketing?

I would say that you would be crazy if you did not leverage social media for your business and have a basic social media marketing plan.

Almost any target audience will tune into their most like social media platform and swipe through many social media posts.

And if you’re already turning a profit, why do you need to bother with the extra work? As a business, you must be aware that in this day and age the whole world is online.

You need to consider that more of your existing and potential customers use social media than you can imagine. This will help you with knowing social media trends, the need for paid or organic content, and if you should do social media advertising to increase brand awareness.

Creating, implementing, and nurturing an effective social media presence will reap your rewards. With a social media marketing strategy, you can convert more of your target market into paying customers. In this post, we will discuss the basics of why you need to integrate social media into your marketing strategy.

1. Can you afford to skip Social Media Marketing?

Hell no! Effective Social Media Marketing (sometimes called ‘Social Marketing’ or ‘SMM’) truly is essential. It is essential to making your brand shine in the modern-day marketplace.

There are many factors to consider. All these factors point in one direction. More Hongkongers and people globally are using social media and for longer every day. Most will use their mobile phones for social media access. These users often make purchases through their mobiles too as we previously discussed in our SEO 101 series.

Through Social Media Marketing, you can interact with your followers and customers. Additionally, you communicate your brand identity and news to the online world. It also helps you to stay on top of current trends and benefit from eCommerce features. It’s not just an opportunity but a necessity in the current marketplace.

2. Why you should care about SMM?

Hongkongers spend heaps of time online

Multiscreen behavior has been on the rise in HK. The population is spending more time than ever browsing the internet on smartphones, desktops, and tablets, according to Nielsen data.

Over 90% of Hongkongers are browsing the internet for more than 6 hours a day. Also, 97% do so on their phones, making it the highest percentage in Asia. These recent numbers indicate that currently, mobile matters most.

They love social media

Over half of the world’s population use social media and more than three-quarters (85%) of Hongkongers do so. Of the total HK population, 72% browse social media on their phones.

There are 6.4 million potential Hong Kong customers you can reach through Social Media Marketing. And if your business is web-based and global, who knows how widely you can cast your net?

On average, people in HK spend 1 hour and 47 minutes browsing social media every day, according to We Are Social/Hootsuite data. Can you imagine this much opportunity for your business to be seen?

Which platforms are important?

In terms of which app or website to target, Facebook remains the overriding most popular platform both globally and in Hong Kong, with WhatsApp an exciting close second.

Facebook attracts 75% of the total HK population (and 85% of its internet users), followed by WhatsApp (74%) and YouTube (73%). Meanwhile, Facebook Messenger and Instagram see 45% logging in and Twitter attracts almost one in 5 (19%).

New technology on many of these platforms such as Augmented Reality ads on Facebook makes them attractive eCommerce hubs for brands and users. Instagram is offering click-through item tagging while WhatsApp, traditionally just a chatting app, is launching shopping and payment features.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn has around 100 million Asia Pacific region members but only features 16% of Hongkongers. This doesn’t mean it’s worth dismissing! An effective LinkedIn profile and marketing strategy can be extremely useful in placing your brand as a professional industry leader.

We’ll talk about creating and promoting sparkling company profiles across all platforms. As well, as what engaging content looks like, plus ads and analytics, later on.

Every age group is now engaged

Everyone is using social media more than ever before, and millennials are using it more than anyone. Among Hongkongers, 25-34-year-olds make up the biggest social media audience profile and their numbers have been going steady for several years.

But it’s not just young people you need to consider as older social media users with more disposable income are sharply on the rise as they look to connect with the wider world. Specific Pew research into this area from the US found that:

More than three quarters (77%) of adults aged 30-49 were active social media users in 2015, up from only 8% in 2005.

Meanwhile, social media use for those aged 50-64 was more than half (51%) in 2015, up from 5% in 2005. Seniors aged 65+ using social media rose to 35% from just 2% 10 years earlier. This means you can now reach a wider range of potential customers than ever before.

Final thoughts on social media marketing

You better be convinced that social media marketing is important. Are you convinced? Good!

As you know now, social media marketing can benefit your business and impact brand exposure, lead generation, and sales. So consider how these five successful social media campaigns succeeded in preparation for your next campaign venture.

Now you have grasped the fundamentals for a great social media strategy! We suggest for all marketing teams leverage social platforms for their brand’s success. It is a lot of work to get right, so patience is key.

Getting it right on social has a steep learning curve that most businesses simply do not have time to understand. Instead, let the specialists at First Page Hong Kong handle your social media strategy. You can take advantage of the most up-to-date social media management advice and tools.