In the era of connectivity and web 2.0 social networks such as Facebook and Instagram turn out to grow constantly, resulting in a real goldmine for advertisers, even to the detriment of the recent scandals like the one of Cambridge Analytica, in which they played a primary role.
In order to get an idea of the social network phenomenon, Facebook this year reached a 500 billion value, with 2,2 billion active users in a month and 1,4 billion in a day. Moreover, 5 Facebook accounts are created every second and around 30% of Facebook users has an age between 25 and 34. In particular, in Italy 34 million active profiles are now registered with a 10% increase from last year and 88% of them access the platform from mobile devices.
In a parallel way, Instagram reached a market value of above 100 billion dollars and a billion of active users in a month, attracting new users and an increasing number of young people with a higher speed than Facebook. More specifically, it is forecasted that its Italian community will grow by 36%, reaching 19 million active users per month.
In any case, the most used social network in Italy remains Facebook.
Nowadays the potential client is “always on”, expressing his or her preferences every day with likes, content sharing and post publishing: these are all precious data thanks to which companies can profile users, thus increasing their chances to efficiently intercept their target on the web.
As a matter of fact, the customer journey has been revolutionized in the digital era. In this sense, Philip Kotler explains how the customer goes through five fundamental steps: discovery, attraction, research, purchase and finally digital word of mouth (the so called five as: aware, appeal, ask, act and advocate).
Considering that these steps experienced by the customer become social and not only individually, in all their entire duration, more value is given to the information intercepted online and the opinions expressed in social networks: “markets are conversations” states one thesis of the Cluetrain Manifesto. Now it is truer than ever.
In all these phases experienced by the customer it is clear that today social media play a key role: it is necessary to develop a focused social media strategy in order to exploit the full potential of these platforms.
Visibility, word of mouth, creation of communities, fidelity programs and client acquisition, engagement, direct interaction with the users are only few of the relevant objectives social media marketing can help you reach.
E-Business Consulting is a digital marketing agency. We are active in the business since 2003 and offer the adequate support to operate in this field, defining digital strategies to promote your business online. Contact us now for a free quote.