The Reach Efficiency of Social Media

According to a recent study, social networks deliver the highest-quality users, i.e. those most likely to lead to conversions. Media intelligence company Aggregate Knowledge analyzed billions of ad impressions to determine what drives efficiency the best for brands. Reach efficiency, which is a channel’s efficiency in reaching new users, affects spend, impressions generated and more. While some businesses may be focused on how they can increase their base, the follower number isn’t the only to pay attention to. The ability to reach users your business actually cares about and the cost associated are crucial things to consider in your social media strategy. Here are key takeaways from the study and tips on how your business can better boost its reach efficiency.

Top Study Takeaways

Reaching users that can be marketed to consistently is one thing many business and marketers are looking to achieve through the different media forms they can advertise on. Marketers also want to be able to find new pockets of users that aren’t aware of their brand, business, or a new product/service. In doing this, marketers are able to drive new customer sales. Reaching the right customer, at the right time, and with the right content is key. Aggregate Knowledge found that:

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• Portals and social continue to drive reach efficiency, with portals improving 5x quarter-over-quarter.

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• Social continues to deliver the highest-quality users, performing 65% better than the industry overall and 33% better than the next best channel.

Boost Your Social Media Reach Efficiency

Social media networks are where businesses can connect with their customers in order to build a relationship and deepen engagement. Customers feel closer to the businesses they buy from and businesses gain deeper insight into who their ideal customer is and what that customer is looking for. In a social media nurturing post on Business.com, we share tips on connecting with prospective customers on social networks, engaging with them and then converting them. The first two steps in this process are how your business can boost its reach. Other ways you can use social media to become more efficient with increasing your reach are:

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• Get creative with user-generated content. Holding a content or sweepstakes where you ask customers to submit a type of content and then share it with their friends will bring new impressions, an influx of content, and potential close-to-purchase leads.

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• Tidy up your targeting. Reaching the right people on the right networks, without breaking the bank, is how your business will be successful with its ad campaigns. Focus on maximizing many, smaller, and more targeted social media campaigns.

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• Analyze your insights. Even if you aren’t investing in a social listening or monitoring platform, you can analyze each post’s reach. Using tools such as Facebook Insights, Hootsuite (the free version), and Pinterest Analytics, you’ll gain insight into the type of content that is being shared, and therefore reaching new customers.

Social media has one of the greatest reach efficiencies because these platforms are more about engagement than they are advertising. Customers are using social media to engage with the businesses, brands, and people they find interesting. If you’re looking to reach a new database of customers, make sure you’re on social media platforms and engaging with your audience. This can be done through status updates, tweets, photos and targeted campaigns. Use the tools you have available to gain insight into what is being shared socially with respect to your business and you’ll have a better understanding of what will help your business reach customers.

Author Bio: Erica, Social Media Specialist at SME purchase site Business.com, writes on topics such as social media recruiting and local search optimization. Connect with Business.com on Facebook!