In today’s world, marketing is all about the promotion of brands on digital platforms. And, this has given rise to the term ‘digital marketing,’ which comprises influencer and content marketing strategies, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, and online reputation management, among others. The expansive digital marketing landscape sprawls across social media platforms, e-mail inboxes, online portals, etc.
Notably, the digital marketing landscape is in a state of constant flux. It is ever-changing and ever-evolving. Over the years, it has changed so much that what was relevant only a year ago is now old news. Anyone who’s not leveraging the perks of digital marketing is missing out on an ocean of opportunities.
Considering the effectiveness of marketing on social media, more and more companies are joining the digital marketing bandwagon. And, this has led to an increase in the demand for trained and qualified digital marketing professionals. Further, young aspirants must go for digital marketing certifications in order to rule the market. Read on to learn more…
What is Social Media Marketing?
Since social media has become an integral part of our lives, businesses have taken to social media marketing to reach customers. It is, after all, the most convenient way to connect with potential customers and interact with both existing buyers and the target audience. If a brand makes its presence felt on social media, people are bound to talk about it (in the form of likes, comments, mentions, and shares).
But what exactly is social media marketing? In layman’s language, social media marketing (SMM) is a form of digital marketing that centers around both creating and sharing meaningful content on social media (SM) platforms to accomplish marketing goals.
SMM focuses on creating brand awareness and promoting products/services on social media platforms to gain the attention of potential buyers. For instance, Twitter allows you to share your views/promote your products in the form of short messages (280 characters), whereas Facebook engages you by the means of share photos, status updates, create and join events, tag people, and much more. You need to also find How Can Social Media Listening Increase Customer Advocacy.
As SMM is primarily a targeted form of brand promotion or advertising, it has proved to be an effective tool for enhancing brand awareness.
10 Social Media Marketing Tips for you!
Here’s a list of 10 social media marketing tips that will help you to take your brand to the next level!
- Feature faces
Yes, incorporate more faces in your social media profiles across various channels. Share success stories of your employees and inspiring people in the field, or post the pictures of office events, birthday celebrations, and awards. By and large, do anything that will get people talking about you.
- Real-time content is the new deal
By sharing real-time content on the latest events in the industry (or life in general), you can keep your audience engaged and updated with the latest happenings around them. Also, creating and posting short-lived content on a daily basis gives your audience a reason to look forward to something from your brand every day.
- Connect with local marketers/business owners
It is a great idea to connect with like-minded marketers and local business owners to help expand your brand’s reach. You could offer to promote their content on your platform and ask them to do the same for you. This way, you can both receive mutual benefits and create lasting relationships with each other’s audience base.
- Offer referral credits and loyalty points
When you combine the power of social media and word of mouth, you have a good thing going. By offering referral credits, you are essentially encouraging people to promote your brand in their network. And, this cycle goes on and on. Loyalty points and exclusive coupons/offers are also excellent choices to get people to promote your brand.
- Engage with your audience daily
Make it a point to engage and interact with your audience daily. Share pictures, videos, GIFs, blogs, and stories to keep your audience engaged. Set aside some time when you can reply to user comments, messages, and questions every day. This shows your target audience that you care about them.
- Be aware of where your audience is
As a marketer, you must know where your audience is spending most of their time. Make use of the tools that can help to find the key demographics and psychographics of the popular social media channels to know where your target audience is. By doing so, you can focus your marketing efforts on specific SM channels to boost leads and revenue.
- Adopt the storytelling approach
Why? Because stories are easy to relate to. People tend to connect better with meaningful and real-world stories. So, resort to effective storytelling to speak about your brand, vision, and goals. Instead of using overly-promotional content, create stories that are both engaging and represent your brand.
- Make the most of your SMM channels
The best way to utilize all your SMM channels is to combine them. For instance, by leveraging SEO, SEM, organic social media, Google marketing ads, keywords, search advertising, and others, you will be expanding your marketing horizons. For instance, you can combine Facebook and Google keywords to promote your business on Facebook using SEO content so that people can find you easily.
- Design a social media calendar
By creating a simple and well-articulated monthly social media calendar, you can pre-plan your SM posts throughout the month. Not only will it help you visualize and evenly distribute your content, but it will also save you from the confusion of what should you post next.
- Be personal and interactive with your customers
Prompt and personalized responses to your customers make them feel valued and a part of your brand’s story. When you reply to customer requests, queries and messages, use a friendly and personal tone so that they always feel at ease while interacting with your brand.
While these tips will help you win the hearts of your audience on social media channels, first you must be well-versed with the nitty-gritty of social media marketing. And what better way to learn than by enrolling in an online digital marketing course? Most digital marketing training programs and courses have an elaborate study structure on social media marketing. Hence, they are a fantastic choice to begin your digital marketing journey.
