The relevance of social media marketing: navigating digital marketing
Most people are scrolling on social media all day every day. It is an inevitable marketing tool that can get brands and businesses immediately in front of target audiences.
From increasing brand awareness to connecting with audiences on a local, national and worldwide scale, social media marketing is now a huge part of modern business activity.
While social media has benefits, there are some drawbacks as well if it is not used accurately. That’s why it is a good idea to have an effective social media strategy to utilise its power to the fullest potential.
Let's get into it, starting with social media marketing in a nutshell
What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing falls under the umbrella of digital marketing and it involves using social media platforms for example Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Pinterest (the list goes on) to promote a businesses products and services through connecting with audiences.
If used correctly, social media can be a powerful tool for creating a positive impact for a brand if used strategically. It can include a number of activities such as creating and posting content, engaging with an audience, running paid social media ads and more.
Now let’s look deeper into social media marketing
If you do social media marketing right, you can achieve so many of your business goals, including growing brand awareness. Make sure to include vital elements in your social media marketing strategy, including: content creation, paid advertising, and organic growth.
As with everything in life, social media marketing has its pros and cons
Pros:
Reach: Connect with an audience wider than your local area, even potentially on a national or global scale.
Cost effective: When compared to traditional advertising, social media marketing is usually a more budget friendly way of reaching target audiences.
Engagement: Build meaningful relationships with customers.
Real-time interaction: Respond to trends and customer feedback promptly.
Cons:
Time-consuming: Requires consistent effort for effective results, keeping up with trends is a role in itself.
Negative feedback: Negative comments can impact brand reputation and word can spread, quickly.
Algorithm changes: Platforms' algorithms can affect reach and visibility, and the algorithm changes. All. The. Time.
The importance of social media marketing
Social media marketing falls under online marketing, and it can be powerful in building brand awareness because of its ability to reach a large audience in a short space of time. Using social media is also a great way for businesses to connect with an audience whilst they are completing their everyday activities.
Social media marketing is more than promotion, it can build communities. It can also create connections between your audience, encouraging groups to engage with each other.
It also humanises your brand as it makes it more relatable, and it gives your brand or business the ability to have direct communication with consumers.
Social media marketing has a crucial role which involves attracting potential customers at the top of the marketing funnel in the earlier stages of the buying journey. If you connect with your customers early in their journey, it can mean you build a relationship which then increased the likelihood of them purchasing from you, not just now but also in the future.
To hook in your customers, you need to create engaging content that your customers can relate to. We will cover engagement later in this blog!
If done correctly, social media marketing can...
Build brand authenticity
Authenticity is absolutely key! You can show your brand’s personality, values, and behind the scenes footage through social media marketing and campaigns to build trust with your current and potential customers.
Paint your brand as an authoritative figure
By using social media as a marketing channel, you can establish your brand as an industry authority through sharing valuable insights, expertise and interesting content.
Boost website traffic
By placing links in your social media content, you can drive traffic to your website. This enhances your visibility online and increases the chances of a conversion from a customer.
Creating a social media strategy: the key questions
Define your social media marketing strategy by asking yourself and answering critical questions:
Who are your target audiences?
What are your goals?
How will you measure success?
How much are your marketing budgets?
Get our comprehensive guide to optimising your social media presence for free.
The key things to consider in a social media marketing strategy
A successful social media strategy is made up of creativity, consistency, and decision making driven by data. You have to ensure you tailor your approach to your businesses unique goals and audience.
You could organise your content strategy by developing a content calendar and implementing a process of approval to ensure quality and consistency across your social media platforms.
Its important to consider what you would like your audience to feel after seeing your brands social media marketing. Do you want them to feel inspired, educated or persuaded? These are your content pillars.
So you are probably thinking, how can I engage my audience?
Engagement with your audience is at the core of social media marketing. It is so important to keep a consistent flow of fresh, unique content to keep your audience engaged and wanting more, in order to build a loyal customer base.
You must ensure you respond to comments people leave on your posts, participate in conversations, and encourage user generated content on social media to generate a community of fans around your brand.
Sticky content is a type of content that captures and retains the audience's attention. It keeps the audience engaged and encourages them to spend longer interacting with your business.
Viral marketing is the rapid spread of content across social media, increasing brand visibility. Creating sharable and engaging content is crucial for increasing the chances of your posts going viral.
Engagement goes well beyond what we can fit in this blog! Some other top tips include using different formats, for example images and videos, or infographics across your social media marketing to encourage an instant interaction from your audience.
Selecting the best social media platforms for your brand
It is vital to choose social media platforms that are in line with with your audience and business goals.
Some popular choices are: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and TikTok.
If you don't know where to begin with these social platforms, download (link) our guide to optimising your social media profiles on these platforms now.
More social media marketing tips
Connect your social posts to opportunities
Use social media posts to create opportunities for conversions and generate leads, whether it's signing up for a newsletter, downloading quality content, or making a purchase the customer journey can begin when they see your social post.
You have to stay at the top of people’s minds
Regular and relevant social media posting and advertising keeps your name at the front of people’s minds, increasing the likelihood of customer loyalty.
Use content creation tools
Utilise tools for content creation to streamline the process and make your content visually appealing so that it fits the image of your brand.
The growth of influencer marketing
Leveraging influencer marketing on social media can highly increase your chances of reaching new audiences.
You can collaborate with influencers, other businesses and brands, or industry experts to extend your reach or build beneficial partnerships for all parties involved.
If you identify influencers that are relevant to your brand’s industry and collaborate with them on campaigns, you can tap into their follower base, increase your audience and therefore build credibility and generate high quality content.
Get our comprehensive guide to optimising your social media presence for free.
Social media is also a great customer relationship management tool
Social media marketing is useful for many things. One way to utilise it is using it as an effective customer relationship management (CRM) tool.
You can easily address your customers quieres, gather important feedback, resolve issues quickly, gather customer data and create a positive experience for both regular and new customers through social media.
Analytics are the bread and butter of social media marketing
Without looking at the analytics, what went well and what could be improved upon, how would we ever know if our marketing efforts were paying off?
Analyse your data and look at your performance metrics against your goals regularly to assess the success of your social media marketing. Use insights and refine your strategy and make sure to focus on what works best for your audience.
Analytics are there to provide valuable insights into how well your social media campaigns perform, so its vital to monitor your key metrics to assess the effectiveness of the strategy you created.
At JUMP Google Analytics is our best friend.
Social media is also a great customer relationship management tool
Social media marketing is useful for many things. One way to utilise it is using it as an effective customer relationship management (CRM) tool.
You can easily address customer queries, gather feedback, resolve issues promptly, gather customer data, and create a positive customer experience for regular and new customers.
Analytics are the bread and butter of social media marketing
Without analysing the analytics, how would we ever know if our marketing efforts were working?
Analyse data and look at your performance metrics regularly to assess the success of your social media marketing efforts. Use insights to refine your strategy and focus on what works best for your audience.
Analytics tools provide valuable insights into the performance of your social media campaigns so it's important to monitor key metrics to assess the effectiveness of your strategy.
At JUMP Google Analytics is our best friend.
Picking the right social media management tool for you
You can simplify your social media marketing efforts by using a social media managenet tool. These tools are designed to help you schedule posts, track analytics, and manage multiple platforms from one single page.
Choose a tool that’s right for you. At JUMP we love Social Champ.
A comprehensive guide to optimising your social media presence
Our guide is a great asset for you, whether you are a brand-new business or have been in the industry for years.
Let us take your social media marketing to new heights
Social media is a powerful tool for all businesses big or small.
By grasping a full understanding of social media marketing, and implementing your well-thought-out strategy, you can utilise its potential and meet your goals, which can include brand awareness, engaging your audience and driving business success in today’s digital world.
Let our marketing team help you to increase your online presence through your social media. Get in touch.