Social media marketing is a way for companies of all sizes to reach prospective clients and new customers. Your potential customers are already interacting with competing brands through social channels and social media ads, so if you are not talking directly to those consumers via social networks, then you are missing out on a big slice of the revenue pie.
Social media platforms have become essential to improving the number of active users your business is connected to, how customer service is handled, and improving the conversion rate you get from incoming traffic. Your social media presence, paired with posting relevant content targeted at your ideal customer to your social media followers, is ultimately a recipe for success if you wield it correctly.
Marketing on social media can bring remarkable results to your growing business and create devoted brand advocates, all while driving revenue and increasing leads. But meeting your social media goals as a business can be difficult if you aren't sure where to start.
Social Media Marketing 101: What Exactly is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing, or SMM, is a specific kind of internet advertising that involves creating and sharing content across various social media networks, in an effort to achieve your long-term marketing and branding goals. Social media strategy includes activities like publishing different compelling types of content, image updates, and videos that are engaging to your audience demographic, in addition to paid advertising on social media channels as part of a social strategy.
There are also paid ads in the form of social media advertising - another method for boosting your social media presence with new followers and getting more attention on your original social content.
We've created this guide to offer you an introduction to social media marketing and some beginner tips for growing your business's social profiles and brand recognition by using social media campaigns. With this advice, you should able to start developing the basis of your very own social media marketing strategy.
Social Media and Marketing: You Need a Strategy and to Start With a Plan
Before you begin creating social media marketing strategies, you need to first consider the big picture goals of your business. Jumping the gun on a social media marketing campaign with no social media strategy in mind is like wandering around a forest with no map - you may have a good time, but you'll probably get lost. Social media networks are used by thousands of competing brands, and their social presence is defined by the customer base, business goals they have, and the original content being shared.
Here are some questions to ask yourself [or your marketing agency's social media strategist] when defining your social media marketing goals:
What exactly are you expecting to achieve through social media activity?
Who is your target audience and what are your marketing goals?
On which social medial networks would your target audience hang out online and how do they use social media?
What message do you want to send to your viewers with your social media profiles?
How many posts per month do you need to share across your social channels? Do you need content calendars for your social profiles?
Your business type should drive user engagement and inform your future customers through your social media marketing plan. By way of example, an eCommerce or travel company, being highly visual, can get a lot of value from an online presence on Instagram or Pinterest or other more visual social networks. Whereas a business-to-business or marketing agency might find more of their users on social media channels like LinkedIn or Twitter.
In essence, different major platforms will have an impact on the type of social media user you are going to attract.
Social media success is directly dependent on leveraging your social presence with active users and engaging them with a call to action such as joining your email list, interacting with your social media ads, or achieving the ultimate goal of audience engagement and conversion optimization.
Other potential things that can lead to more traffic include setting up a marketing blog post, creating video content, and making other social posts.
How Can Social Media Marketing Help You to Meet Your Marketing Goals?
A solid social media strategy can help your business grow in numerous ways:
Increasing website traffic and the number of monthly users
Building conversions from social media platforms
Raising brand recognition with target customers
Developing a new identity and positive brand association
Growing engagement and interaction with target audiences
Boosting engagement rates
Assisting with search engine optimization
Drawing more attention to business profiles
Creating organic content like user reviews or customer testimonials
The larger and more engaged your audience is about your social media content, the easier it'll be to achieve your social media content marketing goals. Strategizing and creating a fluid and engaging content strategy for social media, week after week, takes a lot of time, skill, and industry knowledge. This often leads business owners to contract social media services such as hiring a social media manager.
The key takeaway is that if your company does not have a built-in marketing team or department, you might consider utilizing a marketing agency to optimize and execute your social media marketing needs. The Hive Marketing Collective has a team of experts that can get your business growing faster and your brand recognized further - let's chat about your goals, and let's get growing!
Social Media For Business FAQ
How do businesses use social media for marketing?
Social media helps you get the word out about your business, no matter how big or small you are. It creates a direct line of contact between your brand and your customers and allows you to target your advertising to their online habits.
Which social media is best for business marketing?
The best social platform for your business will depend on the industry you are in, and who your target market is. Certain groups spend more time on Facebook and Instagram, while others are more active on TikTok or Pinterest.
The best thing to do is research your competitor's social profiles. Which platforms do they have and how big are their followings? Go where most people are.
How effective is social media marketing for companies?
It's estimated that over 90% of businesses use social media as part of their marketing strategy. On average, social media users spend close to 145 minutes a day on social platforms, a number that is steadily increasing year on year.