“Everyone is online”
This is the motto of many marketers and businesses, that’s why many companies are investing all their efforts in expanding their reach to the online market. From web development initiatives to strategic search engine optimization, many businesses are aiming to dominate the World Wide Web through various techniques and strategies. Especially when the highest form of online communication has emerged – the social media.
In Singapore alone, 72% of online users have active accounts on top social networks. Because of this, a simple website aiming to connect a person to his friends and family has become another tool for advertisers and marketers to show-off their products and services – a concept that social media developers have soon embraced.
And just like any other marketing method, campaigning through social media has become more complex than other means of modern advertising. Social media marketing has an additional element that changes the game of marketing: human behavior. Since all social media websites are meant for social interactions, it is no doubt that psychology and user experience is a big factor.
There are a lot of techniques and methods that can help you reach your target market. You can start by creating a social media account and gaining followers. Through that, you can build an organic market reach from Followers and Likers.
Another method is by boosting your content. Creating original and engaging contents to entertain your audience and to promote your services at the same time. Sharing links are also a way of enticing your audience. You can also gain greater traction by being interactive in the comments section.
And, of course, the fastest way to promote your brand online is through the paid ads that social media networks are offering. Through paid advertisements, you are sure to reach more than just the organic market and it’s sure to be faster than the traditional way of marketing.
But aside from these, there’s still another method that you can utilize that is already proven to be effective. It’s called the magic of tagging.
Yeah, we know, it’s not something new. It’s very common and it doesn’t sound like an extraordinary idea. It’s something that an individual would do if he wants to share his post with any of his friends. Tagging is a basic element of social media; but little did most businessmen know, tagging is one of the most beneficial features of social media marketing.
Why Tagging Works?
Basically, it’s the new “word of mouth” but with a more personal approach. It’s the new way of transferring information and cascading it to a larger audience. Ok, given that a user tagged his friend on one of your brand’s post. How does it become beneficial for you?
In social media, each individual has their own ‘audience’ or ‘market reach’. Let’s take Facebook as an example since it’s the widely-used social media website. Facebook has 2 billion monthly active users and each user has an average of 155 friends. So, let’s do that math. A single follower can organically reach his average of 155 friends when sharing a post. But, if a person tags one of his friends on that post, he can double that exposure (considering that they have a unique active friends list).
Another factor is the interaction. According to research, , the average engagement rate on Facebook is declining by 20% in 2017, meaning less people are actually interacting with posts; tagging a friend can remedy that. When another person is tagged in a post, the chances of gaining interactions can be doubled – which can make a post engaging. And come to think of it, it’s like having the benefits of fast exposure like in a paid advertising and a natural and unforced publicity like an organic reach.
Simple Strategies That Indirectly Promotes Tagging
Almost all corporate social media accounts have their fair share of obvious strategies that indirectly promotes tagging to attract additional audiences.
#tagyourfriend
It started with relatable memes. Some pages are encouraging their followers to repost their posts and tag the user’s friend who can relate to it. Pretty simple, right? And it doesn’t end there.
As most people know, social media websites arrange their feed according to the most recent active post. Which means that even old posts can still be visible on the timeline as long as there is an activity on it. So, brands often invite their followers to tag and engage with friends to make the post active and it’ll stay on top. Genius, right?
The Power Of Tagging
Of all the social media marketing techniques, tagging is the most excellent way to make a post viral. It’s free and produces results. If you want to increase the publicity of your post, utilize tagging. If you want to be seen more, tag your people. If you want to reach a wider audience, tagging is your answer.
Tagging is effective, but you have to do it really carefully. You can’t just ask people to tag their friends. You have to develop engaging contents that relate to your target audience. Studying your target market’s behavior and preference is still important. Knowing what makes your audience cringe or laugh or cry or mad is the key to a more engaging social media presence.
