What exactly is social media marketing? Social Media Marketing can be referred to ‘a collective group of social media web properties whose content is primarily published by users, not by direct employees of the web property’. This makes the concept crystal clear as we all know that the Facebook and LinkedIn page of a company is managed by the company itself and it is the responsibility of the company to keep the company’s social media page updated with the help of relevant, quality content.
The Importance of Social Media Marketing
Social Media has become very important in the recent times, and it has changed the power structures in the marketplace. Social media marketing is complicated as social media has led to the emergence of a more knowledgeable customer who cannot be influenced easily by a false marketing gimmick. The empowerment of the customer can be owed to the rise of social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn etc. These social platforms are those online places where the customers can exchange ideas and views freely and also at the same time get enough information on various products and services through community building. Social media marketing involves the use of various techniques through which the companies can make an important impact on the customers in the changing marketing ecosystem.
Social Media Marketing
Three Most Important Aspects of Social Media Marketing
In contemporary times it has become important for companies to have their social media presence. It is similar to having presence on yellow pages, where all the important businesses were listed for a quick reference. Consumers of today are spending more time on the internet, and this makes web related channels an important place for communication and promotion. It is surprising to know that one in eight minutes of a consumer’s time on internet is spent on Facebook. So, we can see the impact that that these social media channels have on a consumer’s purchasing behaviour. The three most important aspects of social media marketing are:
-
- Companies should look at creating Buzz in the social media. A Buzz leads to clicks, gets the attention of the consumer and increases fan following for the company.
-
- Companies should look at creating ways that help a consumer to promote messages on the social media platforms. Fan pages on Twitter and Facebook help in achieving this milestone.
-
- Companies should create quality content for their ads, social media pages and blogs. Any wrong advertisement on social media can backfire and spoil the reputation of the company in one single blow.
Statistics About Social Media Channels
The popularity rank for various social media platforms on the basis of global active users (in millions) goes in the following order:
Facebook- 2934
YouTube- 2515
WhatsApp- 2000
Instagram- 1386
-
- Instagram has an unbeatable flow of 1.5 billion daily active users.
-
- According to Google’s Internal Research, 40% of the users in the age group 18- 24 years are now using social media platforms as their primary search partner.
-
- According to Hootsuite BeReal has been uploaded roughly 29.5 million times.
These statistics reveal the power of social media and the need for businesses to involve social media marketing for their successful marketing efforts.
Why Should Companies use social media Marketing?
Statistics reveal that companies using social media marketing achieve these benefits:
-
- Social media marketing improves the likelihood of a customer recommending a company’s products or services.
-
- Social Media Marketing improves Return on Investment (ROI)
-
- Social Media Marketing Improves customer acquisition rate.
Creating a Social Media Strategy
Social media can be used during various phases of consumer’s journey and this paves the way for creating a successful social media strategy.
Creating Brand Awareness
Whenever a company launches a new product or brand in the market, it is essential for the company to promote it on its social media platforms. To promote a brand or a product on social media a company should create engaging messages for its users on the social media platform, as only unique and quality content helps in building everlasting relationships with the customers.
Creating Brand Consideration
A well- known product in the market might not be the choice of all the consumers. How can social media help with creating consideration for a brand? It is a very strategic task, as it requires finding out the USP (Unique Selling Proposition) of the product and promoting it on various social media channels through regular posts and updates.
Generating Sales and Purchase
Social media gives the businesses an opportunity to promote offers, discounts and their product catalogues on their social media pages. Facebook and Instagram advertising is a great way to reach out to customers with new offers and products. These activities help the customer in understanding about the various deals that eventually lead to purchase and sales generation.
Creating Relationships with the Customers
This is one of the biggest advantages of social media marketing. Companies can manage to stay in direct touch with their customers with the help of their social media pages. Social media brings instant fan following and instant reaction to any activity performed by a company and this makes it an excellent channel for creating a bond with the customers. Such bonds improve customer satisfaction and customer loyalty for the company.
Driving Traffic to the website
The ultimate goal of any company is to drive traffic to its website and social media helps a company in achieving this particular goal. Managing a social media page or advertising on social media channel leads to clicks on the home page or products page of the website. It is easy to measure the ROI of your advertising efforts through the company’s Facebook ads manager page or Google Analytics. The only criteria for measuring the ROI successfully are setting simple and measurable goals like number of clicks and number of conversions for any campaign.
Important Things to Consider for a Successful Social Media Marketing Strategy
-
- Content is king when it comes to social media marketing. Create unique and relevant content for the users and promote it in the right way. Promote your company blog page, videos, Instagram reels and Tweets on your social media pages. The key to a successful social media strategy lies in interlinking all the social media pages with each other.
-
- Facebook page should be used to target a wider audience base, as Facebook has one of the largest user portfolios and these users can be easily segregated on the basis of factors like demographics, geography, and behaviour.
-
- For companies like Adidas who like to target younger generation Instagram reels is a must. Instagram as a social media handle attracts more of younger generation consumers and for companies with a younger audience base Instagram is an excellent marketing channel.
-
- Create content that is honest and simple. Many companies have tried to complicate the content in their ads and posts, and this sometimes leads to the backfiring of the content and a loss of reputation for the company.
Social media strategy has an important place in the market today, and the results of social media marketing are excellent. Companies should use all the available social media platforms in an effective way to create a robust social media strategy.
