Companies are constantly launching marketing campaigns in an effort to promote their brand and increase sales. Some of them are very successful – Carlsberg’s slogan and its advertisement of “probably the best beer in the world” generate excellent brand awareness and reputation. This then contributes to increased sales and ultimately increased profits. However, many of these companies have large marketing and advertising budgets. What if your company can’t afford these marketing initiatives? This is where social media marketing comes in. Most social media marketing “tools” are free to use and can provide the same amount of exposure to your marketing whether you’re just starting out or you’re a conglomerate. This article explains how you can use social media marketing to increase sales at a relatively low cost.

First, let’s dispel the myth that social media marketing does not lead to a direct increase in sales. Here are just a few examples to prove it: Sony announced in February that it generated an additional £1 million in sales through Twitter, and Dell announced in June last year that its Twitter presence contributed to an additional $3 million in sales. You might argue that these are two big companies and they already have a brand reputation. However, other smaller companies have also seen an increase in sales through this type of marketing. John Fluevog Boots & Shoes Ltd, a small shoemaker in Canada, reported a 40% increase in sales in 2009, the same year it started social media marketing, and it wasn’t by accident.

So how can social media marketing contribute to your company’s sales? Social media tools allow you to reach millions of people. A TV ad will reach the people watching at that time and no interaction with the consumer is allowed. One tweet can reach millions of people. For example, Sainsbury’s regularly tweets its latest offering. Anyone wishing to keep up to date on these matters can simply follow Sainsbury’s on Twitter. This gives a much larger potential customer base and allows for increased sales, while also creating brand awareness. Furthermore, people can reply to these tweets, providing a forum for customer interaction and thus customer visibility. Your business can emulate this. Twitter provides free advertising. Done creatively, it can really increase sales and get your company noticed.

Social media marketing works in a similar way to other forms of marketing; It’s viral. A small company initially operates on word of mouth, and people tell their friends. This type of marketing, especially Twitter and Facebook, works with the “friend” concept. People can give you positive reviews, recommend your product, and tweet about your company. This entire social community allows your company name and brand to be seen by a large number of people. Continuous use of social media over time increases brand awareness and thus helps to increase sales. One of our clients, PeachorLemon, a car review site, gained over a hundred Twitter followers in a week. That’s a hundred other people who know about promotions and offers, and may tell their friends, visit the site or use other social media to mention PeachorLemon. All of this creates brand awareness and increases site usage over time, thus increasing its value.

The impact that social media can have on brand awareness is critical to the future of small business marketing strategy. Brand awareness is only one way to increase sales, and there are many other important contributing factors. However, as this article has shown, creating brand awareness through this new marketing variance can have a significant impact on your business and revenue.

Anthony O’Flynn