In simple terms, Social media marketing means using Social Media platforms, in order to, reach to the potential target audience, build your brand and drive traffic to your website. This involves posting good content, engaging with the community and strategically running social media ads.
The most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.
There are 4 steps to successfully carry out Social Media Marketing
- Strategizing & Planning
- Consistent Publishing
- Listening, Engaging & Analyzing
- Strategic Advertising
Strategizing & Planning
In order to be gain profitability, your Social Media Posts require a high amount of strategizing & planning. It is also important to have a clear approach to this process. You need to first, be clear on your marketing goals. Some businesses aim to increase brand awareness or to grow traffic towards their website and generate sales.
NOTE: Social media, if done right, can help you generate massive interaction with your brand and become a valuable & an essential tool for your brand’s growth.
It is also important to be aware of your target audience, as this will help you pick the right social media platform. For example, if you aim to target the millennial generation, then the right place to start is Instagram. If you aim to target the older population, then the right platform to approach is Facebook. Hence, it is crucial to know about your target audience & pick the right social media platform.
Consistent Publishing
It is very important for you to post consistently, as it is important to grow your followers on a regular basis. In order to leave an imprint in your audience’s minds, it is essential to provide them with consistent visual information, about your brand.
For example, there is no need for companies like McDonald’s or KFC to carry out any advertisements, as the general public is already aware of their brand. But the sole purpose of their advertisements is to be visually visible to the general public.
The social media platforms provide this method available for all size business, and it would all be dependent on the content they would make.
Listening, Engaging & Analyzing
As your social media accounts tend to grow, a community around the brand will develop and increase. With continuous engagement with the community, the audience will feel connected with your brand. There will be possibilities of situations where the community would talk about the brand at posts which are outside your posts. This could be tracked by continuous social listening. The most common social listening tool is Hootsuite. With social listening tools, you can also keep track of your competitor’s posts and engagement.
Strategic Advertising
With all the data provided constant social listening & analytics from your own page, you can create better content and interaction for your page. The collected data will also assist in providing valuable insights on creating a strategic advertising strategy. It will provide a foundation for providing a valuable marketing & advertising campaign.