Justin Hall. That’s the lead character in this very, very short story. Wherever he got the idea, we are glad he didn’t let it go to waste. He wanted to show the world the amazing things that went on in his mind. It did not matter if they were random fun thoughts, how his day went, or serious scientific brainstorming. What did he do to get his thoughts out there? He told everybody! Just kidding. He founded the first-ever blog there was. It’s called Links.net. Read more about it here if you like.
Before you ask us what Justin has to do with anything, his innovation ushered our world into online sharing - blogging, which would later make room for online marketing as we know it now. From that time into the early 2000s, more people began to share stuff online. Justin’s blog had limitations, but as more people came up with theirs, they improved on those limitations. Before long, blogging platforms and forums became the first recognizable form of social media marketing. These platforms allowed individuals and businesses to share content and engage with their audiences in a more personal and interactive way.
With the launch of platforms like LinkedIn, MySpace, and Facebook, businesses found a new way to reach and engage with their target audiences. Social media marketing became more widespread as businesses began to see the potential for reaching and engaging with customers through these platforms. Businesses began to develop social media marketing strategies, tools, and techniques. Today, social media marketing is an essential part of any comprehensive online marketing strategy and is used by businesses of all sizes to reach and engage with their target audiences. Now, what is social media marketing?
What is Social Media Marketing?
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Social media marketing is using social media platforms to promote a product or service. These platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, allow businesses to reach and engage with their target audience directly. Using social media for marketing allows businesses to create and share content, interact with customers, and measure the success of their efforts. Many companies have successfully used social media to build brand awareness, drive website traffic, and generate leads.
Thus, a social media marketer is a professional responsible for developing and implementing a company's social media marketing strategy. This may involve creating and scheduling social media posts, responding to comments and messages, and analyzing the results of marketing efforts.
Why Your Business Needs Social Media Marketing
- Wider Marketing Reach
- Better Brand Awareness
- Customer-Business Connection
Wider Marketing Reach
Marketing on social media allows your business to reach a large and diverse audience. Billions of people use social media every day. This report tells us that 1.9 billion people use Facebook every day. Instagram has over 500 million daily active users, according to Backlinko. 122 million people use YouTube every single day, as Zippia tells it. That is a goldmine if you ask us. This means that with the right strategy, your business can connect with a huge chunk of your target audience in a way that was not possible before.
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Better Brand Awareness
Social media also allows you to build brand awareness and establish your business as an industry leader. By consistently posting valuable and engaging content, your business portrays itself as a thought leader or expert. This attracts new customers, as people are more willing to trust you, the beauty, nutrition, or real estate guru, than the random John Doe who knows nothing about anything. The more people think you know what you are doing, the more they tell others about you and what you are doing.
Still, on branding, social media is good for making your customers remember you. Your brand kit, (that is, your logo, brand colors, brand name, etc.) is the easiest ways to remember you. For example, when you see a product with a half-eaten apple, what do you think? Apple. Apple products are everywhere, but we bet you see them so often because they are everywhere on social media. Social media makes it easy to share your brand kit with the rest of the world. This, in turn, makes it easy to carve your brand into your customers’ hearts.
Customer-Business Connection
Social media allows your business to connect with your customers in a more personal and interactive way. Customers can leave reviews and ask questions in your inbox and comment sections. This will help you know what areas to improve on in your products and services and a rough way of conducting market research. It also enables you to learn what marketing strategies work best for your target market.
How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy
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We are assuming that, at this point, you already know what kind of business you want to do. You have chosen an industry and decided on your niche. To effectively use social media for marketing, you must follow these steps.
Define Your Target Audience
Identify who you want to reach with your social media marketing efforts. Consider factors such as age, gender, location, interests, buyer behaviors, and other relevant metrics. These metrics will help you determine where to find them and how to market on social media to them.
Choose the Right Social Media Platforms
Select the social media platforms your target audience is most active on. For example, if you're targeting younger audiences, you should focus on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. If you are looking at a more professional or older audience, Facebook and LinkedIn are your best options. For businesses that rely heavily on video-based marketing, YouTube is great for you.
Create a Content Calendar
A content calendar helps you to stay on track. It shows you what to post on what days and how to make your posts. You can hire a professional social media marketer to get the best out of social media marketing. They will help you create a calendar customized for your business. Another option is to download editable templates from the internet.
Create Valuable, Relevant Content
To engage your audience, you need to create content that is interesting, informative, and relevant to them. This could include blog posts, videos, infographics, or other types of content. Say you sell clothes. You can create content around fashion tips for different kinds of occasions, what to wear when you want to create a particular impression, or any other relevant thing.
Images and Videos
People engage better with images and videos. Share good pictures of your product. Make videos of your how-to guides. Remember to keep your videos short. Make them interesting too. It should not be in your video if it is not important. As always, professional photographers and videographers are excellent. If you cannot afford them, get a good phone with a good camera. Take short online courses on photo and videography. Study photo magazines, too, and see how they do theirs. Now proceed to take those bomb photos and videos. That’s how to do social media marketing.
Engage Your Followers
It is also essential to engage with your followers and monitor the success of your efforts. Ask them for feedback. Respond to their comments. Crack jokes with them. Take it a notch higher by sharing their posts once in a while. The little things endear you to your customers and grow your business.
Utilize Paid Advertising
While organic reach in social media can be limited, paid advertising can help increase the visibility of your content. When you use social media for marketing, you can reach a wider audience and target specific demographics. You will cover more people in a shorter time.
Extra Tips to Use for Making Crazy Sales with Social Media Marketing
- Go live
Livestreams give your audience the impression that they are interacting physically with you. Showcase that product or service live. While you are at it, answer as many customer questions as you can.
- Showcase your social Impact
Have you been up to any good for society? Let your followers know. First, it encourages others to follow the same route. It endears them to you because…who does not like good people? Let your light shine real bright.
- Amplify Testimonials
Let your customers see that other people love your product. It will encourage them to buy too. Show screenshots and videos of testimonials. If you can, get a customer to come on your live videos. Let them also give you shoutouts on their own pages.
- Publicly Handle Negative Feedback Well
If someone is unhappy with your work, that is not the time to be defensive. Don’t do that, Jane. Take responsibility for it and compensate them reasonably. As others see you do that, they will believe your business is trustworthy.
Social Media Platforms to Explore for Your Online Marketing
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1. Facebook: If you are only learning how to do social media marketing, Facebook is the easiest point to start from. This is especially if you cannot hire a social media marketer. This platform is the largest social media site in the world, with over 2.7 billion monthly active users. It allows businesses to create a page, share content, engage with followers, and advertise to a targeted audience.
2. Twitter: This platform is known for its short, 140-character messages called "tweets." Businesses can use Twitter to share updates, engage with customers, and track industry trends.
3. Instagram: This platform is a photo and video-sharing app that is particularly popular among younger users. Businesses can use Instagram to share visually appealing content and engage with followers through hashtags and tagging.
4. LinkedIn: This platform is geared towards professional networking and job searching. Businesses can use LinkedIn to connect with other professionals, share company updates, and advertise job openings.
5. Pinterest: This platform is a visual bookmarking site that allows users to save and share ideas and inspiration. Businesses can use Pinterest to showcase their products and services and drive traffic to their website.
6. YouTube: This platform is a video-sharing site that allows businesses to share video content and engage with their audience through comments and likes.
One way to amplify your social media marketing efforts is by connecting your social media to your eCommerce website. Strikingly offers you many different options you can choose from to build your online store. With a Strikingly online store, you can integrate your social media platforms into your website. What’s more? Our website shows you how much traffic you are getting from your platforms. That way, you can monitor your metrics and improve your marketing strategy.
