It’s 2022 and in this day and age, we see social media pages dedicated to all kinds of subject materials- from toddlers to pets, everyone seems to have their own social media presence. And as the history of digital advertisements has seen, it was only a matter of time before businesses of all sizes started to capitalize on it and for good reason too.
According to the 2022 global census, more than half of the world’s population, 59.3% of it to be precise are on some kind of social media, that is 4.7 billion people for scale. Hence given the attention, the subject of social media marketing has made its space in the daily content consumption of the ordinary man.
If you’re a business owner or a marketer who is looking to leverage the power of social media for your business but didn’t know where to start, then you’re in the right place. In this social media marketing guide, we are going to read and understand concepts starting from- what is social media marketing to what one would need to keep in mind while designing their own social media marketing strategy for their business. Let’s begin!
Note: Already familiar with the power of social media for your brand? head to iTMunch to curate your own customized social media marketing strategy.
What is social media marketing?
By definition, social media marketing is a branch of digital marketing that uses social media platforms to educate, interact with potential customers and drive sales and traffic to the website/service.
Any business no matter if it is big or small, no matter if you’re selling a tangible product or selling a service, you can use social media platforms to pass on the message of the problem you’re trying to solve in the world with your product/service.
There are two ways to grow on social media, either through Organic Growth or through Paid marketing.
Organic growth is when you build your social media presence and reach the audience organically by putting out consistent and relevant content and over time building a community of your own.
Paid marketing is reaching the relevant audience and building your social media presence and making your presence known through paid ads or boosting your content to reach a wider audience.
Why is social media marketing important?
If what we have already discussed hasn’t sparked the endless possibilities for your business to soar already, here are some statistics from around the world that you might want to consider.
Here are some statistics from The Harris Poll, done on behalf of SproutSocial where they interviewed 1000 random customers and over 250 business executives to better understand the impact of social media on businesses that use social media as one of their outreach mediums:
-55%of consumers learn about new brands through social media platforms.
-68% of consumers use socials to communicate and interact with the brand or the company.
-43% of the consumers increased their social media usage to get updates on their favorite product from their brand of choice.
-78% of the consumers agreed that they would consider buying from a brand after having a positive experience with them on socials.
-80% of the business executives thought it was very important to invest resources to aid social media marketing.
What is social media marketing used for?
Now that we know what is social media marketing and the benefits of social media marketing let us connect the two by understanding how social media marketing is used to aid a business.
1. Product/service education
This is probably one of the best forms of communication. You get to give your side explanation or let’s say an elevator pitch of what your product is, its functionality, why consumers need to have it in their daily lives, and genuinely educate them about what good you’re trying to do in the world as many as times as you need.
2. Helps humanize the brand
Your product or service might be the best in the game but it won’t sell to its potential unless your customers can relate to your brand. Customers don’t buy from brands just because of how fancy a product looks, they buy from them because they see more than their company name in neon lights, they see a human touch, they think about you and it evokes a certain emotion in them. And it’s this kind of pitch backed by human emotion which makes them a customer and more importantly retains them as regular and loyal customer.
3. Reach the relevant audience
With literally billions of people using socials, it makes it more possible for you to find your niche market on multiple platforms. And even a niche platform from a market of billions will still result in a relatively large audience. And with the setting of a business account on social platforms, you can customize your content to reach the exact demographic of the audience you want to reach.
4. Customer communication
Socials are also an excellent place to open up communication with your audience. It can work both ways where a brand puts out a prompt from their side to understand the point of view of the customer either as feedback or to open up communication. Else it is also a great destination for a user to go to gain any kind of information that they need to further understand the product or the company.
5. Drive traffic
Social media platforms are a really good way to redirect traffic to your web page. Most of them have links mentioned in their bios, and descriptions or have clickable CTA’s to further a user’s journey into using their service or buying their product. Additionally, social signals can really benefit your SEO factor and even aid in visibility in your search results.
Tips to make your own social media marketing strategy
Now that we know the what? and the why? now it’s time to explore the how?
Let us look at some quick tips to keep in mind while making a successful social media marketing strategy for your business:
1. Select your platforms
Select which social media platforms you want your brand to be active on and use all your energy to build only on those selected platforms. It might be seducing to have your presence on all socials but select the platforms where your target audience lurks and maybe a couple of additional platforms just to have a good brand profile in case of a potential business partnership.
2. Consistent content
For you to be relevant in the daily conversation of your customers your content needs to show up on their feed on the regular. This doesn’t mean you compromise on quality to pump out content, find the sweet spot where you get to be consistent and also have the time to make quality content.
3. Know your audience
Find out what demographic, location, and age your niche market lies in and find out their parallel interests so you have a better idea while you’re selecting what kind of audience you’re going after. The content delivery can also be altered based on the same.
4. Keep tabs on your competitor
Sometimes the best way to know what to do is to learn from the mistakes of others. Hence it’s important to know what your most fierce competitors are doing so you have a better idea of what not to do and more importantly what to double down on and do better.
5. Interact with your audience
Building a community around your brand has to be one of the most rewarding challenges. Remember, even the smallest of actions go a long way. Leaving a thoughtful comment or even just a like on one of your fan messages will show that you care. And as any good strategy goes, showing that you care always wins.
Now that you know the what?why?and how? you’re now equipped with the knowledge to make the perfect strategy for your business. Have fun exploring, and see you at the top.
Keep reading iTMunch for more exciting information in the tech world.
Image source:
Image 1: Marvin Meyer from Unsplash
Image 2: Kaleidico from Unsplash
