What is Social Media Marketing?

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is one of the best ways to connect with your audience, build a brand, increase sales and boost site traffic.

It’s easy to implement but also highly competitive. You need to have the right tools at your disposal to build authority.

Let’s start by understanding what is social media marketing all about.

Understanding Social Media Marketing

It first started with publishing where publishers shared their latest content on social media to generate website traffic. However, it matured a lot during the last few years.

Today, businesses are using social media in a lot of different ways.

Simply put, social media marketing refers to the use of social networks and social media to market an organization’s products or services.

It provides businesses with a way to communicate and engage with their customers and hopefully reach out to new ones. It’s also an excellent way to promote their vision, values, culture, and tone.

Marketers can track the success of their campaigns with the help of built-in data analytics tools.

Here are some SMM stats that prove why it’s so important today:

  • Facebook has more than 2.7 billion active users every month.
  • 48.2% of Baby Boomers, 77.5% of Generation X, and 90.4% of Millennials actively use social media.
  • 71% of people who have had a positive experience with a business on social media recommend the business to their family and friends.

How Social Media Marketing Works

Social media has completely changed the way we function as a society, especially the way we connect with other people.

When platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook took off, businesses started taking notice. They began using these sites to further their interests.

Today, almost all types of businesses use social media to promote their products or services. From beauty salons to grocery stores, everyone is harnessing the power of social media to accomplish their goals.

The goals of businesses might differ from one another. For instance, a brand might want to increase its website traffic and earn advertising revenue. On the other hand, another brand might want to promote its products to increase sales. In some cases, individuals might also be a part of an affiliate marketing program trying to maximize earnings.

To achieve these goals, social media marketers use a vast variety of strategies and tactics to promote content and increase engagement.

A lot of social networks allow users to provide detailed demographic, geographical, and personal information. This data helps marketers tailor their strategies to what resonates with users.

 

The Pillars of Social Media Marketing

There are five major pillars of social media marketing:

  1. Strategy. It involves determining clear goals, the social media channels to be used, and the kind of content that will be posted/shared.
  2. Planning and Publishing. Organizations should draft plans of what their content would look like. For instance, are they going to use photos, videos, or a mix of both? It’s also important to decide the frequency and time of when content will be shared.
  3. Listening and Engagement. Marketers need to monitor what their customers and users are saying about them, their content, and business assets.
  4. Analytics and Reporting. Marketers need to be aware of how customers are engaging with their content. They can use analytics and tracking tools to monitor these metrics.
  5. Advertising. Marketers use ads on social media to further promote their content to attract new customers.

 

The use of social media allows marketers to better segment the audience than traditional marketing channels.

Businesses are able to focus their resources on what their audience wants. Here are a few metrics that are used to measure the success of a campaign:

 

The campaign’s reach or how many people have shared it.

  • The number of times users post about the organization.
  • Return on investment.
  • Website reports such as Google Analytics.

 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing

They appeal to a large audience. They’re cost-effective and linked with analytics that helps businesses determine what’s working and what’s not.

On the other hand, a campaign may create obstacles that a business may not have to deal with otherwise. Social media marketing has the capacity to tarnish a business’s reputation.

For instance, a viral video showing the organization’s products make become ill can cause huge losses, regardless of whether the claim is true or not.

 

In Conclusion

There’s no better growth strategy for your brand than social media marketing that’s incorporated with a killer strategy.

To summarize, here are 5 reasons why you should start with SMM:

  • It’s cost-effective
  • Gives you an edge over the competitors
  • Helps generate more leads and conversions
  • Helps build a stronger relationship with customers
  • Continuously warms up a new audience for your business.

Which social media platforms do you use to promote your products or services and why?

Social Media Marketing


Featured Image Credits: Unsplash

About the Author

Shristi Patni

Shristi Patni

Content Writer

Shristi is a content writer and owner of F and B Recipes and Snazzy Women. When not writing, she can be found reading or trying new recipes.

More From This Category

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

Pin It on Pinterest