I’ve found that there can be some confusion about what exactly social media marketing(SMM) is. This in turn leads to confusion around the role it can play in the overall marketing mix and the benefits that it can offer.
The first thing to remember is that social media marketing is only one element of digital marketing. The second thing is that digital marketing is only one element of marketing.
Social Media Marketing
SMM is really an umbrella term to describe using social media platforms e.g., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, to connect with your audience. This can be done either organically or by advertising. That is using posts or stories on your social media profiles or by placing paid ads to target a specific audience.
Bottom line is that it is all about getting in front of your target audience in the places they are and socially interacting with them.
There are a range of benefits of including SMM in an overall strategy. It can be valuable and rewarding for a business. However, your strategy will depend on what you are trying to achieve and where your audience are.
Main Benefits
- Increase brand awareness
- Generate leads and conversions
- Communicate with customers
- Build relationships & loyalty
- Conduct market research
The vast majority of internet users (over 95% according to Hootsuite), age 16-64 use social networks on a regular basis. The same research showed their top reasons for using the platforms. These included to find content, finding inspiration for things to do and buy, finding products to purchase and seeing content from their favourite brands.
Once you find which networks your audience are on, the biggest challenge with social media marketing is to produce engaging content.
But that’s a whole other blog!
If you need help in finding out where social media marketing fits into your marketing strategy and plan, just get in touch.