Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. – all are examples of social media, right?
Why does it get all the hype when it comes to marketing?
Why are companies spending billions on social media marketing? Even not-for-profit organizations, governments, political parties, and almost everyone has joined the bandwagon for outreach to the people.
How do businesses profit from marketing on their savvy social media handles?
Before we get into serious discussions of social media marketing, it’s crucial that you understand what social media is, especially in this current digital landscape.
Along with necessities like food, clothing, shelter, jobs, and dignity, people also need to socialize. Do you remember “man is a social animal” from school? – Well, the way socializing has gone up the ladders online, it can’t be ignored, can it? Not if the active global social media population worldwide is 3.96bn with 3.91bn on their mobiles!
- Social media platform with the highest revenue – Facebook
- Leading social media billionaire worldwide – Mark Zuckerberg (Surprised?!)
The growing proximity between social media users and businesses has been possible due to these popular social networking sites that continuously evolve with technology (AI and machine learning) to improve interactions, communications, and connectivity.
We won’t say that social media hasn’t been all goody-goers throughout time. Sometimes, reckless usage leads to fake news penetration, inflammatory posts, misleading information, and so on. Still, people are in love with them going by the positives.
The Internet facilitates social media marketing as an effective, profitable tool for businesses out there. We can’t guarantee every business is bound to collect revenues from this, but a majority does. Above 90% of small businesses are on social media because they find it useful.
Do we imply that you can’t do business without social media? Certainly not! A vast majority of people don’t even know about these things yet they carry out their businesses successfully. Remember, social media enhances the exposure of a business.
If you still don’t want to get carried away with what’s there and what’s not. Keep reading this piece to keep abreast of all that we have to share.
How Social Media Marketing Helps A Business To Accomplish Its Goals?
Drawing a fine line between over-hype and low efficacy is the key here.
We can’t discard businesses that run productively, unperturbed by social media existence. Meanwhile, you would neither abandon those who have produced great results via a full-fledged social marketing strategy.
You, as a business or individual, stand profitable if you connect with your customers. The social media platforms just provide you with the appropriate tools to do that.
With assured transparency and authenticity, you stand to benefit from:
· Community discussions
· Relationship building
· Brand awareness
· Event promotion
· Referral clicks to the website
· Leads and sales generation
· Value-based services to the audience
· Online reputationGiving value to your customers or people via social media is an art. While the audience gets impressed with what’s on the Ad copy or a post, they’d relate to the thoughts first. Therefore, brands and businesses need connection-building via intriguing, relatable content.
Facebook – with 2.5bn Monthly Active Users, It’s Quite Hard to Resist
Wondering what’s making Zuckerberg rich? No doubt, billions of people have contributed to that, one can’t deny the ingenious 30-something created a vast network of people in a virtual world.
Facebook allows brands to create pages, showcase business hours, store location on a map, get reviewed and rated, check insights, and more. With a page for your brand, you can just show all the right information needed by your customer.
Being at the center of most social media marketing strategies, Facebook drives more energy from content creators for the particular businesses they are associated with. Whether creating well-intuitive posts, flattering images, or clickable content, businesses bring impeccable stuff for page maintenance.
Though Facebook’s (a.k.a. FB) latest algorithm declines reach for posts, businesses can decide to put plenty of native content, interesting videos, or generate discussions there. You can invest your ideas to fulfill your audience’s expectations and not share too many outbound links at the same time.
Want to reach a new audience quickly? Facebook Ad Manager is the right place to start running ads on FB, Messenger, Instagram, or Audience Network.
Twitter – The Microblogging ‘Giant’ with 62.55 Million Users Worldwide
Doesn’t seem too big a base of users against FB, right? However, an influential audience lives on the network that prefers to-the-point offerings.
Frankly speaking, Twitter isn’t an ideal platform for every business to reach their customers. Several businesses have managed to gain profits via shrewd Twitter marketing strategies.
Some businesses fail to engage with the audience there because of their ‘dump-links-only’ strategy. The 280-word limit hasn’t been a favorite for endorsing products/services. But, a few businesses have used this platform like a Pro to create conversations with people by creating smart or thought-provoking content, interesting memes or banters, polls, and question-based posts.
You can design fascinating content and jumpstart conversations to entertain your community. When you get re-tweets and responses on Twitter, you know it is working great. Encouraging yourself to try new concepts may help.
At times, Twitter becomes one of the fireballs of controversy and the hashtags tell the stories. You should pursue a sensitive approach to address raging issues on this microblogging site.
Instagram – The Photo and Video Sharing Platform of Billions (Also Owned by Facebook)
The exuberant newsfeed won’t perish until the photo & video sharing app goes obsolete. Instagram houses over 1.5 billion users worldwide with 34% of them being aged between 25 and 34. Voila!
Facebook owned the platform in 2012 for a mammoth 1bn USD. Out of all social platforms, Instagram takes pride in the highest engagement rates with diverse followers spread across the globe.
From supermodels to religious scholars, the vibrant presence on Instagram has more happening stuff to know about. At one point you would be scrolling through the fantastic images and at another, you can view the IGTV videos. The new feature “reels” for short videos has immediately gained traction.
You can create stories, lucrative newsfeed posts, and use at least two dozen hashtags (max limit 30) for encouraging interactions, start discussions, and attract new followers. Some creators encourage user-generated content to bring more interactions to the platform.
LinkedIn – The Professional Network
The B2B industry prefers LinkedIn network over any other platform due to the engaging content between professionals, industries, and related groups. LinkedIn allows you to create professional profiles for your company, where you can share posts, launch discussions, and more.
Your active participation in the commentary of people’s posts and group discussions help you know more about the recent trends, insights of the industry, key pain points, introduction of new activities or technology, and so on.
Several organizations prefer recruitment via LinkedIn because of the professional outlook. Since most LinkedIn users summarize their professions and provide substantial links to their works, recruiters may spend less time to consider their applications.
You should first learn about the kind of postings that generally happen on LinkedIn. We insist on this because you will become a pro in creating informative, valuable, and actionable content. Writing about the trending topics also gives you a chance to start discussions, which will also be shared by your peers.
Pinterest – The Perfect Image Sharing and Social Media Service
Pinterest has been one of the most underrated social media services because of its ‘unconventional’ style of saving content. Pinterest Business helps businesses increase their outreach by showcasing products and ideas via inspiring photos or videos.
Pinterest presents an innovative platform with a wide variety of creative ideas, including home design, architecture & DIY, travel, fitness & beauty, fashion and style inspiration, new recipes & cooking, food, etc.
Not all businesses opt for Pinterest, but those who have congruence with the topics mentioned above can benefit from that. If you think your business should feature on it, you can create engaging content with titles, descriptions on profiles (placing the right keywords) to attract traffic and share with the ecstatic audience.
How ecstatic they are? Just have a look:
· 90% of weekly Pinners make purchase decisions on Pinterest
· 87% of Pinners bought a product because of Pinterest
· 83% of Pinners prefer to follow a brand than a celebrity
People who prefer to research buying decisions would actively search on Pinterest for the latest products. Don’t give a miss to this audience if you think your business can relate.
YouTube – The Most Popular Video Search Engine
It’s 2nd most popular search engine after Google with 2 billion users worldwide. The largest video sharing platform accounts for the choicest marketing platform.
For becoming a ‘rockstar’ as a content creator, YouTube provides ample opportunities. From prank videos to funny content to intelligent and educational series, people find it all here.
Giving your prospective buyers about the product/service you offer increases the chances for sales. Tap onto this opportunity with high-quality resources & you will see the results.
By choosing the right keywords (user-friendly ones, preferably!), you can place YouTube marketing at the top. Use these keywords in titles, descriptions, and hashtags. Next time you see a well-liked video on YouTube, check their description for some ideas.
YouTube content can comprise tutorials, how-to demos, Q&A sessions, informational content, funny content, etc. that people keep actively looking for. For example, TED-Ed, a YouTube channel with over 12 million subscribers that offers educational lessons in entertaining animated videos for ‘spreading great ideas.’
A blend of content marketing and social media marketing, YouTube tenders a platform for showcasing epic-level creativity. You can produce content and guide the audience to reach your main website because that’s the purpose you chose it for.
How To Get Started?
Getting started with social media marketing plans isn’t anything difficult or dependent on a specific event. You’re ready to go right after reading this article! Before you go, just take the following recommendations with you.
1. What goals do I want to achieve? The answer may be a short or long one. From selecting new ways to connect with the customers to attracting prospective customers for leads, highlight & focus on your major goals from a social media strategy.
2. Which platforms would benefit my business the most? The first choice is an easy one. Yes, we’re talking about Facebook since most businesses exist here to build their reach. Pick the second platform based on your business & industry. For example, products like clothing & apparel or jewelry require more visual marketing, whereas SaaS services require B2B marketing. Instagram can be your 2nd choice of platform for product-centric marketing. Opt for LinkedIn if your business centers towards building thought leadership. In the beginning, open accounts on 2 to 3 platforms to manage communities efficiently.
3. When should I post? Prepare a content schedule for a month and progress accordingly. Designing a content calendar helps you keep a track of what you wish to share or market in advance. Hootsuite is a leading social media management platform, enabling businesses or individuals to manage multiple networks and profiles, track effectiveness in real-time, and more.
4. Whom should I follow? Don’t follow too many social media handles at once. Go on steadily to choose a few competing and non-competing handles of influencers or businesses you and your target audience can relate to.5.How often should I monitor my social media? The “analytics” section on each platform lets you constantly monitor the effectiveness of your social media activities, especially in terms of engagement, response, trends, etc. Make sure you accommodate all types of reviews and feedback and commentary with a polite and understandable tone. Build communities across social media platforms to gather more insight into improvements.
Conclusion
Social media marketing helps you connect with a diverse and intelligent audience. These accessible platforms not only let you say/sell what you have to but also to hear the audience and nurture your relationship with them. By the means of social listening, you have a fair chance to improve your product/service, communication skills, and revenues.
Which platforms did you select to start with? What strategies worked best or which ones just didn’t? Just share your experiences in the comments below!
