Social media marketing has become a vital component to the market mix of many businesses–large and small. After all, there are 4.9 billion people who use social media platforms worldwide and so having a presence on social is a good way to connect with both current and potential customers alike. No matter your industry, social media is an effective way to reach your target audience, strengthen your brand, establish a loyal customer base and increase your revenue. In this guide, we detail everything you need to know about social media marketing, including what it is, how it works, the best strategies and how to implement it.
What Is Social Media Marketing?Social media marketing is a type of digital marketing that uses social media platforms to promote your brand and offerings to your ideal customers. Contrary to popular belief, it involves much more than random posts on your business accounts. An effective social media marketing campaign requires sound strategy and planning.
Once you create your business profiles, you’ll need to maintain and optimize them. Then, you’ll want to develop a content calendar that describes what you’ll post, when you’ll post it and where you’ll post it. Your posts will likely include a combination of text, images, videos and stories that position your brand in a positive light and capture a relevant audience.
In addition to unique, regular posts, you’ll respond to comments, likes and shares to monitor your reputation and hopefully build a community. Depending on your budget and particular goals, social media marketing might also include paid social ads that allow your brand to appear in front of the right people at the right times.
Benefits of Social Media MarketingDue to its popularity and versatility, social media is a powerful tool for marketing your business. It’s also highly measurable, unlike other types of traditional marketing such as billboards, print ads and radio spots. The most noteworthy benefits of social media marketing include the following.
Add a Human Element to Your Business: Social media platforms allow you to interact with your current and prospective customers. As long as you use them correctly, you’ll be able to “humanize your brand” and form a deeper connection with your audience.
Drive Traffic: By adding links to your website throughout your social media posts, you’ll bring relevant traffic to it. This type of traffic can do wonders for your search engine optimization and convert visitors into customers. Another key way to drive traffic is through search engine optimization (SEO). Learn more about SEO and the best SEO services.
Generate Leads: Thanks to features such as appointment booking and call-to-action buttons, Facebook and Instagram shops, and direct messaging, you can generate leads and conversions through social media. Leads and conversions are a sure way to increase your revenue.
Increase Brand Awareness: If you’re a startup or smaller business, social media marketing will give you the chance to show off your brand. You can use it to explain how you’re different (and hopefully better) than your competitors.
Build Relationships: Forming relationships with your customers is important if you’d like to retain them for the long haul. Since social media opens the doors to easy lines of communication with your followers, it’s a powerful relationship-building tool.
7 Top Social Media Marketing Platforms for Business
There are a number of social media marketing platforms you might want to take advantage of when you develop a social strategy. As you explore your options, you’ll find that some platforms are a better fit for your brand and target audience than others. Here’s a brief overview of several platforms that can help you leverage the power of social media marketing.
1. FacebookFacebook is the most popular social media platform, making it a smart choice for almost any business. You can use it to boost brand awareness, gain followers, generate leads and increase sales. It also offers the chance to display highly customizable, targeted ads. Keep in mind that while Facebook is an effective platform for social media marketing, it also comes with a lot of competition.
2. InstagramInstagram began as a basic platform to share images. Over time, it’s evolved into a place where brands can engage their audience with attractive photos and videos. Instagram also offers stories, reels, live streams and shops that can take your marketing efforts to the next level. If your business relies on visuals to sell your products or services, you can’t go wrong with Instagram.
3. TwitterTwitter uses short posts called “tweets” with text, images, animated GIFs, videos and links. You can use Twitter to connect with your audience through short yet valuable messages. Depending on the nature of your business, it may allow you to provide customer service, build brand awareness and look for topics and information related to your industry and target audience. A tweet can usually contain up to 280 characters.
4. YouTubeYouTube is a streaming social media platform and the second-largest search engine next to Google. If your brand has the desire and ability to produce meaningful video content, YouTube should definitely be on your radar. With YouTube, you can explain complex topics, showcase interesting processes, promote the unique features of your offerings and so much more. It’s a great way to include videos in your marketing strategy.
5. PinterestPinterest is known as a “visual discovery engine” that inspires users. Users often search the platform for ideas that help them renovate their homes, take dream vacations, plan weddings and fulfill other dreams in their lives. If your brand provides products or services that can allow users to discover their dreams and achieve them, Pinterest is the way to go.
6. LinkedInLinkedIn is a business networking platform that’s particularly useful if you’re a B2B business. It’s geared toward professionals and can give you the opportunity to share your industry expertise. You might also use it to promote job openings within your company, connect to your employees and even generate leads through paid ads.
7. TikTokTikTok is a newer social media platform that revolves around short-form videos. It tends to target younger females so it may make sense if you’re trying to reach that particular demographic. As a business on TikTok, you can use hashtags that relate to your posts, brand and offerings. When users search for these hashtags, they may come across your content.
Key Components of a Good Social Media Marketing StrategyWhile it may be tempting to post on a few social media platforms whenever you feel like it, doing so isn’t recommended. To truly make the most out of social media marketing and increase its chances of success, you need a solid social media strategy.
Put simply, a social media strategy is a game plan that lays out your social media goals, the tactics you’ll use to achieve them and the metrics you’ll track to measure performance. Here are the key components of an effective social media strategy.
Audience Research: Before you post anything, you should have a strong understanding of your particular target audience. Answer questions such as, what platforms do they use, what type of content do they prefer, and who else do they follow.
Brand Identity: Determine how you’d like to position your brand when you post on social media and interact with your followers. Think about the messages you hope to convey.
Content Strategy: Content strategy describes how you’ll use content to grow your brand and attract your audience on social media platforms. The more specific your plan is, the more likely it will succeed.
Analytics: Social media analytics is a process where you collect and analyze data from your social media platforms so you can measure performance and determine how to improve your strategy. Without it, you won’t know whether or not what you’re doing is working.
Ongoing Activity: Along with most types of marketing, social media marketing is not a one-time deal. You’ll need to post on it, engage with your followers and optimize your profiles on a regular basis.
Keep in mind that in addition to your social media strategy, you also need a professional business website. This way, those who discover your business via social media can go to your website to learn more about what you offer. If you don’t already have a site, learn how to design a website. Or, if you want a very easy way to build a site quickly and affordably, consider using one of the best website builders.
How To Create a Social Media Marketing StrategyNow that you know what’s involved in a good social media marketing strategy, you may be wondering how to create it. If you follow these steps and utilize all of the resources at your disposal, you’re bound to set your business and brand up for social media success.
1. Set goals and objectives for your businessFirst and foremost, think about what you hope to achieve with your social media marketing efforts. Maybe your main priority is to build brand awareness. Or perhaps you’d like to generate more leads online. Once you establish your goals, set metrics for each channel you plan to use. Several examples of metrics you might consider include reach, impressions, audience growth rate and video completion rate.
2. Understand your audienceTo develop content that attracts and inspires your target audience, you need to find out who they are and what resonates with them. You can conduct focus groups, interviews and polls to dive deep into their likes and dislikes. It’s also a good idea to perform some social listening in which you analyze conversations and trends that pertain to your brand and the brands of your competitors.
3. Study your competitorsAt the end of the day, you want your target audience to choose you instead of your competitors. That’s why competitor research is essential. It can give you insight on what your competitors are doing on social media and give you ideas for your own social strategy. It may also empower you to think out of the box and come up with fresh content that allows your brand to stand out. As you study your competitors, focus on the content that generates the most interaction and engagement. Don’t forget to look for influencers in your industry for some inspiration.
4. Choose your platformsNot all social media platforms are created equal. The right platforms for you depend on factors including your target audience, industry and goals. If you’re a B2B business that would like to connect to other businesses, LinkedIn is invaluable. But if you’re a clothing boutique with apparel geared toward teenage girls, TikTok is a solid choice. Remember, you can choose multiple social media platforms, as long as you post unique, relevant content on all of them.
5. Develop your contentOnce you’ve done your research and chosen the social media platforms you’d like to use, it’s time to create a content strategy. Make sure all of the content you generate matches your brand voice or the personality you’d like to convey to your target audience. Also, develop a content calendar that outlines your posts for various platforms. In addition, you might want to schedule your content in advance to save time and hassle.
6. Report and adjust regularlyYour social media marketing strategy is not set in stone. It will likely change as you use analytics to identify what’s working and what’s not. Once you implement your initial social strategy, revisit on a regular basis. Make sure your content and engagement is helping you meet your business goals. If it’s not, tweak your original strategy.
Social Media Marketing Best PracticesTo ensure your social media marketing strategy works, there are several best practices you’ll want to follow. These tried-and-true best practices have been used by the leading brands and can help your startup or small business thrive on social.
Diversify Your ContentDiverse content is just as important as regular content. If you’d like to keep your audience engaged, provide them with a variety of posts that help sell your products or services and position yourself as a leader in your industry. Consider a combination of how-tos and quick tips, polls, questions, contests, announcements and industry news. Also, make sure your content is in a variety of formats, such as images, videos, live streams and online stores.
Be ConsistentEach social media platform comes with its own voice and environment. However, your brand and identity must remain the same, regardless of where you post. If your brand is fun and trendy, for example, convey that message through your posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and any other platforms you utilize.
Engage in ConversationsDon’t overlook the importance of conversing with your audience. Pay close attention to the type of users that engage with your content and engage back through likes, comments and shares. To try to spark conversations and set up polls, live streams and live questions. You can also host contests and giveaways.
Take Advantage of Content Creation ToolsTo hook your audience on social media and gain loyal followers, you’ll need to post photos, videos, infographics and other compelling visuals along with text. If you don’t have the luxury of an in-house graphic design team to create them, don’t worry. There are plenty of content creation tools, such as Canva and Freepik, with templates that make it a breeze to create visuals quickly and affordably.
Use HashtagsA hashtag is a word or keyword that precedes the hash symbol and is used within social media posts to help users find topics that interest them. By using hashtags in your posts, you can increase visibility for your brand. Let’s say you sell accounting services. Several examples of hashtags you might add to your posts include #CPA, #taxseason and #accounting.
Repurpose and Recycle ContentIf you already have some content that relates to your brand, there’s no need to start from scratch. You can and should repurpose content you already have. For example, take a customer review and highlight that customer on Facebook or Instagram. Another idea is to share articles from your website’s blog or press release section.
Use Analytics To Measure SuccessYou won’t be able to determine whether your social media strategy is successful unless you take advantage of analytics and track data. Each social media platform has its own analytics features but you may also invest in a social media analytics tool to track all platform data in one place. You’ll be able to track clicks, comments, reach, engagement rate, impressions, shares, saves, video views, follower growth over time, reactions and more.
Explore Paid SocialIf you have room in your marketing budget, it’s worth your time to try paid social ads. You’ll be able to position your ads in front of users who may be specifically interested in the types of products and services that you offer. You can start with Facebook ads, LinkedIn ads, Instagram ads and Pinterest ads.
Be PatientResults from social media marketing won’t happen overnight. But with patience and consistency, you’re bound to succeed. Just be sure to target the right audience, post intriguing content and converse with your followers on a regular basis.
Anna Baluch
Contributor
Anna Baluch is a freelance writer from Cleveland, Ohio. She enjoys writing about a variety of health and personal finance topics. When she's away from her laptop, she can be found working out, trying new restaurants, and spending time with her family. Connect to her on LinkedIn.
Source: Forbes-advisor
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