Social media marketing is an excellent way for businesses in any sector to reach a sizeable audience. Consumers spend hours each day on their social platforms and, most importantly, use them to discover new products and services.
But what exactly is social media marketing and how can you use it for your business? This guide will explain everything you need to know.
What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing is the process of using social media platforms to promote products, services, or brands, engage with target audiences, and drive traffic to a website or other digital properties.
In terms of the actual activities, social media marketing involves:
- Content creation
- Influencer marketing
- Community management
- Paid advertising
- Running contests
What are the benefits of social media marketing?
Social media marketing can provide a ton of benefits for you business including:
Increase brand awareness.
Everyday, more and more people are using social media platforms, and these people have the potential to be converted into customers of your business.
Social media marketing can be used to boost brand awareness through content creation and can be used to drive traffic to your website, product or service.
Most businesses are on some social media platform or other because it’s such an effective way to reach new customers.
Boost conversions
Whether through organic or paid social media, you can so a huge boost in conversion if you effectively market your products on social media platforms.
While there are many soft benefits to social media marketing, conversions is typically the most important factor in working with a social media marketing agency like CEEK.
Strengthen relationships
Social media marketing provides the perfect opportunity to gather feedback from your customers in real time, therefore allowing simplicity in communication.
In addition to this, by interacting with your customers via responding to comments, your business can build trust and form long lasting relationships with its customers.
Humanise your business
By personalising your businesses’ social media content with a more approachable persona and tone of voice, your audience can feel more connected to your business and therefore convert into repeat customers.
Platforms
There are a considerable number of options when deciding what is the best social channel for your business’ social media marketing strategy and there are a range of social media management tools that will help your business grow.
With over 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, boding most popular with millennials and Gen Z groups.
With its newest updates, Instagram allows its users to browse, discover and purchase products all in the space of one application.
Tiktok
Being the best platform for short-form video content, Tiktok’s users primarily consist of Gen Z audiences. There is no doubt that Tiktok has risen to become a dominant player and has perhaps the most potential for you to go viral.
With its in-built shopping experience, businesses can benefit greatly from building their online presence on the app.
Facebook being the largest and most established social media platform, offers the best platform for brand awareness and advertising.
This channel has become an integral part of social media marketing for B2C businesses and their advanced targeting tools make them a staple in most social media strategies.
Pinterest acts as a visual discovery engine for finding ideas and inspiration for everything from recipes to home decor.
80% of weekly Pinterest users say that they’ve discovered a new brand or product on the platform, so naturally Pinterest functions as a great asset for businesses wanting to grow their brand.
Key metrics
Measuring your business’ social media analytics is crucial to know what does and doesn’t work for your business.
There are a range of methods to measure your social media analytics, the most important of which is setting goals and tweaking your strategy based on reaching these objectives.
To find out more on measuring your brand’s social media marketing performance, check out our full guide.
How to create a social media marketing strategy?
Before thinking about content creation, it’s recommended that your business plans out an effective social media marketing strategy to make the most of your investment.
A clear and focused strategy will ensure you use social media to effectively pursue your goals and not waste time and resources.
Summary
Social media marketing is a valuable tool to build your brand’s image, increase sales and drive traffic to your products/services when used correctly.
Regardless of which platforms you use or how you use them, the most important thing to remember is to use social media for your business building long lasting relationships with your customers and create the necessary community needed for your business to flourish.
If you want to learn about how CEEK Marketing can utilise social media marketing to transform your business, then get in touch today.