What is Social Media Marketing & How Will My Business Benefit?

More and more people are coming to rely on social media for everything. We use it to connect with friends and loved ones. We use it to find new people in our lives. But did you know that social media can be used for business? There are many companies that turn to social media to help grow and seek out new customers. Does it really work? How effective is social media marketing? How will your business benefit in the long run? You will be surprised to learn how powerful social media marketing is.

What Does it Mean to Market My Business on Social Media?

In the twenty-first, everyone uses the internet for everything. That includes buying and selling products. The world of business knows this and it does anything to keep up with modern technology. You can get in on the action to help sell your product to the public. The more people see your business online, the more customers you will receive. The trick is knowing how to play the social media marketing game. Believe it or not, it is not as easy as it looks. It’s more than just running some ads on social media. 

First of all, you have to look for the right platform to advertise your business. Who is your target audience? This is more important than you think. According to Hootsuite, “Don’t make assumptions about where your audience spends their time online. Your instinct might tell you that if you’re targeting millennials, you should skip Facebook and focus on Instagram and Snapchat.” But don’t take their word for it. Studying your target audience can make a world of difference. 

There are some millennials that cling to Facebook. You have to know your audience. Just like Hootsuite says, “Start by compiling data on your current customers. Then, dig deeper with social media analytics. You’ll start to develop a solid picture of who’s buying from and interacting with you online.” Knowing your audience can help grow your business and make it that much stronger.

Also, don’t be on just one social media platform. You will not get far that way. No, you have to branch out to all of the big names of social media. As Quicksprout points out, “But Facebook alone won’t be enough to maximize your reach. You need to establish a presence on as many social platforms as possible.” Take this to heart. You will cover more ground that way.

What Methods of Marketing Does Social Media Offer?

Knowing how to use social media for your marketing will make everything worth your while. Social media itself offers tools to help businesses sell your products. Facebook lets you buy ads. Same with the other major social media platforms. Sounds easy, right? But there are some things you have to keep in mind. There are organic and paid social media. What are these? Organic means social media posts that come naturally without any money. That means people who get curious and click on the ads in their feeds. You don’t really have to do much with this. All you have to do is make a social media post and let the feedback roll in. Paid is the same thing but you put a little dough into your ads. You will know that it’s paid when you see a “sponsored” or “paid” tag on your ad. Which one is better? Advance Ohio says that you should have both of them. Why is that? Their reason says, “A solid organic strategy improves your online presence and reputation, and a paid strategy increases your brand’s reach and awareness to targeted audiences. Managing both aspects of social media takes time and planning, but the results of a well-executed campaign are worth the effort.” It goes back to the previous point about covering more ground.

Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms offer many types of ads for you to use. But does that mean you have to use them all? No. Find what works best for you. Facebook ads offer photo, video, story, carousel, slideshow, collection, messenger, and lead generation ads. Let’s say that you make cakes for your business. Photo ads would be the best. You can’t just slap on a picture and call it a day. You have to put more effort into your ads. Hootsuite suggests, ” Facebook photo ads work really well for showcasing new products or services. Show people using your product, rather than a simple photo of the product itself.” If you don’t know what to do, get someone who is tech-savvy to help you.

Another way for advertisement is to get in touch with a social media influencer. Basically, these are people who are social media celebs. They can influence their fans to follow trends and purchase certain products. You have seen them before. The Kardashians are a good example of an influencer. Their posts get many likes, shares, and follows. Think of how much more business your company will get. But just anyone won’t do it. Just like with your audience, you have to do your research to find your right match. It all comes back to knowing your audience. With that out of the way, you have to make sure that your tone, look, feel, and values match up with what you are trying to sell. Hootsuite says, “The tone must also be appropriate for the way you want to present your brand to potential customers. This will ensure things don’t feel disjointed in either party’s social media posts.” Think of it like traditional advertising in a way with trying to match up what you are trying to sell.

X Benefits of a Successful Social Media Campaign

So what do you get out of a successful social media campaign? The following is ten benefits that you aren’t aware of according to Blue Fountain Media. We will go through each of these quickly.

• Increased Brand Awareness: You want your name out there, right? Humans are visual creatures. Social media have pictures and videos in their posts. People will see posts are your product easily. You will get likes, follows, and shares for each post. Plus, more people will know your brand’s name and maybe purchase.
• More Inbound Traffic: More traffic means more sales. Social media can entice curious eyes to check out your product. If your ads are good enough, your traffic will go through the roof. You just have to keep posting and getting creative.
• Improved Search Engine Rankings: Think of search engine rankings as music charts. The more popular hits are always at the top. The more social media ads you have, the easier your business will be found with just one Google search. In order for that to happen, start posting content on social media, and make it good.
• Higher Conversion Rates: What does this mean? Basically, it is the call to action. People want to connect with other people. They don’t want to deal with robots. If you try to put on a positive impression with your social media, you will lead to more people answering the call to action.
• Better Customer Satisfaction: Social media leads to personal connections. You are able to connect with your customers as they comment on your posts. It gets better when you actually take the time to respond to them. They like hearing you address their complaints and compliments.
• Improved Brand Loyalty: A loyal customer base is the lifeblood of all businesses. You have to keep them coming back. Social media will back this much easier. You are visible and always there.
• More Brand Authority: Happy and loyal customers will ensure that your brand will have the staying power that it needs. When they see your social media posts, you will have more credit. Your customers might even go as far as to spread the word about you. More for you and your company.
• Cost-Effective: Money is another thing that can help with growing a business. But what if you don’t have that much money to start with? Social media doesn’t cost anything at all. You just sign up and get everything set up. Make some posts and the rest will follow. And you didn’t have to pay a single cent.
• Gain Marketship Insights: How are your posts doing? What’s working? What’s not working? Social media marketing will give you access to your insights with your posts. The trick is you have to have a big following for you to see how your posts are doing. Once you see your insights, you will get to see what type of posts work and don’t work.
• Thought Leadership: This isn’t an easy feat. The best way to go about this is to make your social media presence known. Connect with your loyal customer base. Post regularly and command authority over your posts.

How Can I Start Doing Social Media Marketing?

Now that you know the benefits of social media marketing, it’s time to get started. How are you going to do this? There are three ways to go about this: DIY, in-house, and using a social media management service from an agency. Which one will be the best way to go? That will depend on what you are comfortable with. DIY is setting up your social media on your own. Almost everyone can do that without any problems. But what if you don’t know how to do that? There are in-house and agencies to help you out. In-house is a team of people who will set up your social media for you. They do have their ups and downs but they will get the job done. Finally, you have agencies that you hire out to do social media. It doesn’t take too much to look for in-house teams and agencies to help you get started. Just make sure you are getting your money’s worth. No matter what you choose, just keep the Entrepreneur’s words in mind, “You can never stop listening and learning. For success in social media marketing, you need to be flexible and accept that change is good.”