The marketing industry continues to adapt to new technologies, and although social media is hardly a new phenomenon, many businesses have not fully embraced it.
Exactly What Is Social Media Marketing?
In social media marketing, any marketing activity that occurs on social media platforms is considered social media marketing. It should not be surprising that this category includes a tremendous range of activities that are simply social media-related. A social media marketing campaign is one in which social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, are used to promote a blog post or run a recruitment drive.
Ultimately, most of the tactics you will use are not unique to social media – it’s just a matter of adapting them to the format of the new medium.
Is Social Media Marketing Something You Should Consider?
In today’s world, social media marketing is pretty much a given for businesses and organizations. In addition, social media platforms provide you with access to large audiences that you are able to grow and build yourself, whether they are free or with paid ads.
The “free” option does not exist technically. In order to post on social media platforms, someone’s time must be invested, but even a low-effort approach can be extremely effective if it is done correctly.
Social media marketing is not suitable for all individuals, and no one should view it as a way to earn money that is easy and low-effort. Developing the most effective strategy requires careful planning and integration with a company’s overall business strategy. There are different approaches that are effective for different types of businesses, but we will discuss that further.
How Can Social Media Marketing Benefit Me?
It has already been noted that there are a variety of different strategies and that your results will be dependent upon which one you choose. However, here is a very brief overview of social media marketing’s main advantages:
- Ensure that customers receive prompt customer service wherever they are
- Increase the number of avenues through which your products are sold and promoted
- Your customers will become loyal to your brand if you build brand recognition and loyalty
- By promoting your own content, you can reach a larger audience without spending a lot of money on advertising
- Recruiting can be made easier by displaying your company’s culture
- As you can see, all of these strategies can help your company become profitable. However, they do not all lead to a one-step sales process. As a business, you should consider social media as a platform on which many aspects of your operation can be implemented.
What Should I Do First?
The first step is to develop a list of goals for your social media marketing strategy. Our previous point has already been made: how you approach social media marketing depends entirely on your business.
There are different approaches depending on whether you sell a product or if you’re a charity. These are some very general ideas about the thought processes of for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Auditing The Social Environment
The first thing you should do is assess your current position. In the case of zero social channels, this isn’t a big deal – your audit has been completed and you can now begin building your website.
As a general rule, no matter what position you’re employed in, consider the following:
- Where are you active on social media?
- Do any channels perform better or worse than others?
- How posts have worked in the past and how they haven’t
- Are you targeting the right audience for your business?
- Is there anything that needs to be cleared up on any channels? It might be a good idea to remove irrelevant or out-of-date content (this is a particular issue with YouTube)
Conclusion
The use of social media marketing is an effective means of reaching out to prospects and customers for businesses of all sizes. You will be missing out on a lot of business if you do not use platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn for discovering, learning about, following, and shopping for brands. You can achieve remarkable success through social media marketing for your business, earning devoted brand advocates and even generating leads and sales.
