Have you ever wondered what is social media marketing? And why it is important? In this article, we aim to explain what is social media marketing and why should a business engage in it.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a form of digital marketing using social media networks and social media websites.
As of writing this article, there are 95+ social networking sites. According to a survey (Statista, October 2020), Facebook was the most widely used social media platform globally. In the United States, Facebook was closely followed by You Tube.
In today's digital landscape, having a Facebook page for your business has become a no brainer. Even if your business does not engage in ecommerce, and only sells services/products at a physical location.
Social media marketing involves more than just having social media pages/accounts for your business. Say you have a consulting business. You have rented an office space and have a list of clients. You have a website and are thinking of expanding your brand's online identity. This is where social media marketing comes into play.
Social Media Marketing offers a lowcost option of marketing to a large audience, compared to traditional marketing methods. Creating social media pages/profiles for your business is the first step towards this. The other steps that need to be followed are:-
1. Optimizing your profiles to make it easier to be found by search engines or searchers.
2. Engaging your audience. For that, you need to
- Post relevant content on these profiles consistently.
- Customer service: address user comments and concerns when they engage with your online accounts. Many social media platforms offer automated chatbots.
Let us go in more detail about the 3 points mentioned about.
Optimizing profiles
Engaging your audience
Post relevant content consistently
To understand the above point, we should understand the two most important words in the statement: relevant and consistent. As a rule of thumb, I always advise my clients to post at least once a week on their profiles. Do that for every week of this month and then REPEAT. This is very important to show consistency. This shows consistency.
The other word to consider here is relevant. When you post on your profile, the content must be relevant to your business. A dog grooming business should not be posting landscaping stories. This will make your audience loose interest in engaging with your page.
Customer Service
Social media platforms are a great way for a company to address their clients' issues. Many times, clients reach out to the brands they like or follow with a complaint or compliment. In either case, your response or acknowledgement will determine the outcome of the transaction. Be prompt.
Using paid advertising on social media platforms
The main advantage of using paid advertising on social media platforms is that your ad will be shown to a wider audience, outside your circle of followers and their friends. Depending on your targeting, this wider audience will include people who are looking for businesses like yours and hence are more likely to convert (become followers who may eventually turn into buyers).
RELATED: Using Social Media for business
Conclusion
To wrap it up, let us summarize things we have discussed so far. We defined social media marketing (SMM), and the reasons why every business should engage in it. Social Media Marketing is a very cost effective way to reach interested audiences compared to traditional marketing. For most small businesses, Facebook is the first social media platform you should start with.
For further collaboration or to hire us to work help your business with its digital marketing needs, you could contact us through our website or through our Facebook page.