There are 3.69 billion social media users today, but is Social Media being used correctly? Marketers usually use ads to showcase their products and services while increasing brand awareness when it comes to social media. However, many companies struggle to create engaging content that reaches their target audiences. Since social media plays such a vital role at the top of the sales funnel, marketers need to understand these channels’ purposes and benefits to strategize meaningful social media marketing campaigns that work for their unique businesses.
Here, we’ll break down how to properly use social media for your marketing – organically and paid. Learn why social media marketing is imperative in this day and age!
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing uses social channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat to post content that showcases your products and services. These platforms help you build relationships with your target audiences while building your brand awareness. Of course, new features and platforms are rolling out each day, making it difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to keep up with all the changes.
These constant evolutions in the social media marketing space are why it’s often best to work with a digital marketing agency whose job is to keep updated on new players in the social space.
Social media marketing lets you advertise, connect, and engage with your target audiences on social platforms. This type of marketing is valuable and beneficial for growing your business. However, every company’s strategy will be different, depending on which social platforms its customers spend their time on.
Benefits Of Social Media Marketing
Unlike old-school forms of marketing, social media marketing enables you to encourage interaction between your brand and its followers. You can use specific hashtags to encourage people to get even more connected with your company – and you can easily post photos and create posts that bring awareness to your organization. The key is to create attractive, distinct, and engaging content that promotes your products or services.
Here are a few benefits of social media marketing you should be aware of:
- Builds brand awareness. You’re truly missing out on huge opportunities to get your brand in front of new audiences if you’re not utilizing social media. Likes, shares, reposts, and saves help bolster brand awareness and drive engagement (as well as site traffic).
- Generates leads and increases conversions. Social media enables you to showcase your brand to people who are already interested in the products and services you offer because they’re following your account or share similar interests with those who do. To further enhance your lead generation efforts consider creating contests, hosting live videos, or selling your products directly through your social profiles.
- Fosters relationships with your customers. It’s easy to connect and engage with your social followers. Answer their questions or respond to their comments – in doing so, you’ll build lasting relationships that can improve your brand’s reputation. Social platforms are also great channels to ask your own questions to gain valuable feedback and better understand customers’ pain points.
How To Create A Social Media Marketing Strategy
Sure, social media is ever-changing, but the fundamental steps to success are the same. You need to follow the same steps you’d take if you were creating a marketing strategy for a specific channel.
1. Put Time Into Researching Your Buyer Personas and Audiences
Before you can delve too deep into your social media marketing strategy, you first need to figure out who your buyer personas are and which audience you’re targeting to meet your customers’ needs appropriately.
To accomplish this, consider who you’re trying to talk to and why. How would you classify these people as a group? When you consider your buyer personas and audience, you can then figure out what kind of content will be attractive to those followers and the consumers you hope will follow you in the future. While you’re at it, you’ll be learning how to create engaging and exciting content for your followers.
2. Determine Which Social Platforms Your Audience Uses
All social media platforms are different, and they each have a pull for certain demographics. Depending on who you’re marketing to, some popular platforms might be better than others. That’s why it’s important to be mindful of your audience and understand their demographic and interests.
Instagram, for instance, is primarily used by Millennials, whereas TikTok has been geared towards Generation Z – making up 60% of users. LinkedIn is a professional networking site, whereas Facebook is mainly for social interactions.
Don’t waste time on platforms where your target audience doesn’t hang out!
3. Establish Your Most Important Metrics and KPIs
Data is vital, no matter what your company does or who your audience is. It would be best to focus on the social media metrics that make the most sense for your goals rather than vanity metrics that don’t deliver results.
Here are a few social media metrics to keep your eyes on:
- Reach
- Clicks
- Engagement
- Hashtag performance
- Organic and paid likes
- Sentiment
4. Understand Your Competitors
Perform competitive analyses to get to know your competitors and see what they’re doing well (and where they’re lacking). You’ll have a better understanding of what your consumers expect, which will help you set your own targets on social media. It’ll also help you spot opportunities.
For example, suppose you have a competitor not utilizing a particular social media platform where your target audience is. In that case, you can focus on that network rather than trying to compete where they’re already dominant.
5. Create Unique and Engaging Content
It’s undeniable that at least some of your followers have checked into your competitors’ social profiles, too. That’s why you must create content that stands out and provides your audience with reasons to click that “follow” button.
Perform market research, so you understand what your audience finds engaging. Get creative by checking out what the other guys are doing. Also, be sure to take advantage of the frills offered on your platforms of choice. For instance, you can make live videos on Instagram to share the latest and greatest about your products and services.
Socialize!
In the end, social media marketing is all about using the platforms to do one main thing – socialize. Put these tips to use, and soon, you’ll be on your way to building a social media following that loves your brand (and boosts your sales!).
[Recommended reading: 6 Ways To Upgrade Your Social Media Marketing Strategy]
[Image credits – Main Photo by Alexandre Zanin; Man with flower by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels]; Twitter banner: Social Media Revolver Twitter account]
Daniel Hamilton is the Senior SEO Strategist at Zero Gravity Marketing (ZGM), a digital marketing agency in Madison, CT. ZGM is known for developing overarching marketing strategies and specializes in Pay-Per-Click, SEO, content marketing, social media, development, design, and eCommerce services.