Social media has become a global phenomenon in the modern world. From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter, the majority of people are on all of them or at least on one of them, making them the go-to place for information, entertainment and communication. This immense user base has made social media the most popular channel for marketing. In fact, a 2024 survey revealed that 86% of marketers worldwide use Facebook for marketing purposes, with Instagram and LinkedIn following at 79% and 65%, respectively. Social media is being used to promote products, engage with audiences, create enduring connections and more.
This article dives into the fundamentals of social media marketing, its importance, key strategies, best practices, and the challenges you may face.
What is social media marketing?
Social media marketing is the process of using social media platforms to connect with your audience, helping you develop your brand and increase sales and engagement.
The major social media platforms used in this regard are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and LinkedIn. Content is made according to the platform and audience to ensure maximum engagement and interaction, to establish a brand community.
Companies such as Wendy's have mastered the science of social media marketing, which enhances brand visibility and connects meaningfully with their target audiences.
Take a look at the Twitter bio of Wendy's as an example. It plays a huge part in their social media marketing by tapping into their bold and playful brand personality. It instantly sets up an expectation for witty, engaging content that few have come to expect from a fast-food chain. By combining humor with confidence, Wendy’s appeals to followers, provokes interactions and distinguishes itself in a crowded market, taking social media as its top brand engagement tool.
Benefits of social media marketing
Social media marketing provides business establishments with a number of advantages in growing and connecting with the audience. Some of the most important benefits include:
1. Cost-effectiveness
Social media marketing is relatively cheap in contrast to other channels if you don’t opt for paid advertisements. So, brands can reach a large number of people at a low cost, especially when using organic approaches. Additionally, social media is ruled by trends and it becomes quite easy for brands to hop on these trends for more impressions.
2. Increased brand visibility
In 2024, over five billion people are using social media worldwide, a number projected to rise to over six billion by 2028 .With such a vast audience, consistent posting and interactions on social media platforms can significantly increase brand visibility and drive more website traffic over time. As a brand's presence grows, it becomes more recognizable, keeping it top-of-mind for potential customers.
3. Enhanced customer insights
Social media platforms offer insights into the behavior, preferences, and demographics of customers, which enables you to fine-tune your marketing strategy effectively. Different social media platforms have different customer insights and key metrics to analyze such as likes, comments, follower growth, profile visits, etc.
4. Customer engagement
Social media allows brand-to-customer interaction directly, encouraging a sense of community and trust. It is a two-way street where your audience can like, comment on and share your posts and you can also respond to their comments. This allows for discussions that can build your brand image and long-lasting relationships with your audience.
5. Targeted advertisement
With social media advertisement, you can target very specific groups of people depending on demographics, interests, and behaviors, making campaigns both effective and efficient. By honing in on the right audience, you can generate better leads, resulting in increased conversions. This precise targeting ensures higher engagement and increased sales.
Key social media marketing strategies
To succeed in social media marketing, businesses need a clear strategy that aligns with their goals and audience. Here's a look at the most effective approaches.
1. Building in public
This strategy involves being radically open about your brand's journey, wins and failures alike, in front of the audience with the aim of inspiring and engaging with like-minded people.
Take this LinkedIn post from Buffer as an example. By revealing their experiment of shifting to long-form, asynchronous communication and discussing both the positive outcomes and difficulties, Buffer showcases their transparent approach. This invites their audience to engage, relate, and learn from their journey, building trust and fostering a sense of community around their brand.
2. Founder-led social marketing
This is a strategy that uses the founder's personal brand for engagement. The founder could do this by sharing insights, establishing thought leadership, and connecting with the audience at a personal level.
In this LinkedIn post, Adam Robinson from R2B2B shares his journey of building a brand on LinkedIn which resonates with many professionals facing similar hurdles. Candid storytelling in this post, coupled with some reflective thought and lessons learned, makes the founder relatable and credible. This not only increases engagement but also builds trust in the audience.
3. Employee evangelism
This strategy involves encouraging employees to share content and participate on behalf of the company, which can really humanize the brand. It also multiplies the touchpoints and speeds up distribution. It’s always better to have multiple sources of distribution.
Dreamdata's Laura Erdem, for instance, is quite active on LinkedIn, sharing her experiences and insights and garnering trust as well as showcasing the company culture through her own profile.
4. Livestream and events
Livestream and online events can help a brand engage with their audience in real time. It also allows for better engagement and places your brand as an industry leader. Brands like Mailmodo use this strategy, hosting live streams on LinkedIn and YouTube to create a platform for interaction, education, and the expertise that a person may want to create.
Check out one of their episodes of The Growth Chat, this live event they had hosted in the past.
5. Influencer marketing
This strategy employs people with high social media connections to promote the brand’s products and services.
For instance, Claybooks by Clay uses LinkedIn influencers to leverage more credibility and the potential of reaching larger audiences. Influencers allow brands to tap into existing communities and establish trust faster.
6. Paid advertising
You can also explore paid advertising on social media. Different platforms offer a variety of paid ad plans, allowing you to customize preferences like the audience you want to target, your daily budget, and other specifics to ensure your ads are relevant and effective. With AI-powered Ads Optimization, you can take it to the next level, refining your ads to maximize results without increasing the budget.
7. User-generated content (UGC)
This strategy involves encouraging customers to produce content involving the brand. You can run a social media campaign encouraging users to share pictures, stories, or posts featuring your product and tag your campaign or brand. This not only boosts visibility but also adds authenticity, as potential customers see real people using your products.
#ShotoniPhone #iPhone15ProMax pic.twitter.com/8KWUH6Ki0L
— Chris 𝕏 (@2edgesth) October 9, 2024
For instance, In 2015, Apple began the #ShotOnIPhone campaign. The initiative encourages users to share photos taken with their iPhones using this hashtag, showcasing the capabilities of the iPhone camera. The campaign has evolved over the years, featuring user-generated content in various advertisements and promotional materials, significantly contributing to Apple's branding and community engagement.
How to build your own social media marketing strategy
By following a structured approach, you can create an effective social media strategy to grow and engage your company or business effectively.
1. Define your goals
The first step is to identify what your goal is. Your goal could be to achieve brand awareness, increase customer engagement, increase website traffic etc. Setting a target ensures focus and clarity on the kind of content you must generate and helps you gauge if you’re on the right path.
2. Know your audience
Research and understand your target audience's demographics, interests and behavior. This can be done through surveys and questionnaires, competitor analysis or social listening.
Platforms like Instagram and TikTok, for example, are likely to be more effective if your target audience is younger because of their visual appeal and Gen Z popularity. On the other hand, Facebook may be a better choice if your audience is older, as older demographics continue to use it frequently.
3. Choose the right platforms
After identifying your main goal and target audience, understand the social media platform that aligns with these to ensure maximum activity.
4. Create engaging content
Develop high-quality, consistent content that resonates with your audience and promotes interaction. Aim to create content that not only informs but also entertains, encouraging your audience to share their thoughts and experiences.
5. Plan and schedule posts
Make a content calendar to plan and schedule all your content to ensure consistency. This will help prevent gaps in your posts and allow for better strategic planning of your content themes and audience engagement.
6. Engage with your audience
Make sure to respond to comments and messages promptly to foster conversation and build a community.
7. Monitor and analyze performance
Track key metrics like reach, conversation rate and shares regularly to evaluate and customize your strategy effectively.
Best practices for effective social media marketing
Building a strong online presence through strategic planning and creative engagement is essential to mastering social media marketing. Businesses can produce significant outcomes by adhering to best practices.
1. Consistent branding
Maintaining the same brand personality in all platforms, makes people trust and recognize brands. Brands like Coca-Cola tend to maintain consistencies in tone, visuals, and messaging as well as consistently posting, thus easily reinforcing their identity.
2. Quality over quantity
The focus on quality and relevant content is more important than just consistently putting random pieces of content out on social media . Quality content is shareable, keeps users engaged for longer periods, and boosts your reputation.
3. Experiment and adapt
The social media scenario keeps changing. The key is to experiment with different types of content: videos, stories, or any other tool, and adapt based on performance metrics. Successful social media marketers are agile and constantly refine their strategy.
4. Engage with your audience
Engagement goes beyond just posting, it involves responding to comments, participating in discussions, and hosting an interactive campaign such as running a poll or Q&A sessions. This is what makes one feel part of a community and loyal to his followers.
Conclusion
Social media marketing can prove to be a great vehicle for brands to achieve visibility and engagement opportunities. Having the right control of social media marketing for the enhancement of a powerful, recognizable brand is all about having a grasp on your audience and staying updated through the use of the right strategy.
The right social media strategy will completely change how brands relate with their customers and stand out from the crowd in this electronic age. Make use of the tips given in the article to improve your own social media marketing strategy.
