In 1997, the first-ever social media website was created – Six Degrees. The website allowed users to list friends, family, and acquaintances. It was then followed by more social networking sites such as Friendster, Myspace, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Since then, social media has taken over the world.
According to the statistics, the estimated number of social media users around the globe in 2019 will be around 2.77 billion. North America ranks the highest location in where social media is used, with a rate of 66%.
Facebook is the most active social media site in the world. It is said that in the third quarter of 2018, Facebook had 2.27 billion monthly active users. And that’s only Facebook! There are many other social networking sites out there such as Instagram, Whatsapp, QQ, Tumblr and Twitter which also have tens, thousands and millions of users.
Social media networking sites have various abilities, from socializing with friends and family to marketing and promoting your brand, products, and even businesses.
The Works of Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing is pretty much self-explanatory. It’s marketing on social media. But come to think of it, it’s not as easy as it sounds. There are many different ways, techniques, and procedures for you to be able to achieve an effective social media marketing for your business.
So how can you make your social media marketing for your business successful? Let’s go through some of the basic techniques.
Utilize Social Media Platforms
As said above, there is a wide range of social media platforms. From Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and many more. The goal is to utilize what you can and where you can.
With this in mind, take note that not all platforms are the same. Some platforms are better off catering this type of target audience while the other platform could cater to the opposite.
- Seniors
- Foreign Markets
- Small Niche Market
- B2B Companies
- Millennials
- Women
- B2B or B2C Companies
It is clear that Facebook is widely used as a social media platform as it caters any business. However, we shouldn’t underestimate the other available platforms.
Branding
If you want your business to be recognized, sticking to one brand name would be the best idea. Utilizing social media platforms doesn’t have to mean having different names for each one. Creating and sticking to a branded name will help people and your followers find your business quicker and easier.
In addition to a branded name, the same rule applies to profile pictures. Having a unique profile picture for each of your businesses’ social media platform will not only help your followers find you but also prevent from fake accounts from copying your profile’s identity.
Content is Key
Social media marketing is way more than increasing engagements, likes, and shares. By having jaw-dropping content, your business can achieve so much.
Content marketing is a favorite strategy for most marketers. It can quickly build your targeted audience and brand awareness. However, keep in mind that high-quality content will not immediately provide you results. Every content posted on social media will slowly build the momentum and later provide the driven results.
As part of content marketing, always remember to provide value. Your posts are likely to be liked and shared if your audience feels that it is worth sharing and liking. Providing great content in which your audience can learn from is a great thing to keep in mind. This will keep your audience engaged and satisfied. It will also excite them for your next content.
Hashtags Are A Big Deal
On August 23, 2007, the first hashtag was created – #barcamp. And since then, hashtags have been here to stay.
Using hashtags is an easy way to increase reach and business growth for Instagram and Twitter which may lead to a successful social media campaign. The hashtag # mark is used to identify a topic of interest or keyword which becomes searchable by other users.
Remember to always use relevant hashtags to your posts and niche.
Engage and Know Your Audience
Now that you have your targeted audience, an essential thing to remember is to always engage with them. This is a way of letting them know that you are listening to them. It is a great step in creating a relationship with your followers, make them feel that they are valued.
Knowing and understanding when your audience is online is an essential aspect to remember when it comes to social media marketing. There is no point to post great content if your targeted audience is not online to read them. And once you’ve understood when they are most active, utilizing social media posting and scheduling tools will make your life easier. Identify the best time to post stories and posts, then schedule them strategically to enhance your impact and achieve the best possible results.
Know the Important Metrics
Likes and shares are significant, but not if they do not have meaning to your business engagement and sales. What is the sense of your 100k followers if you are not able to do anything with them?
The three metrics below are what you should keep your eye on when checking your metrics.
- Clicks – This is the number of clicks made to content, link, comment and post reaction. Monitoring the click metric is a great way to know why your audience is engaging with you.
- Engagement – This metric can include actions such as reacting to, commenting on, viewing a photo/video, or sharing the ad. This gives you an idea on how well your audience recognizes you and what interests them.
- Reach – Reach is the number of users that has seen your post. This is important to monitor as this is a way you can see the growth of your business.
Mind-Blowing Image
As mentioned above, content is key. However, with an eye-catching image, your post will surely achieve sky-rocketing metrics. It is said that marketing executives use visual content in social media due to the engagement effect. Remember that the first thing your audience will see is the image of your post.
Run A Contest
Running a contest related to your niche is a great way to engage with your target audience. This technique is not only hitting two birds with one stone but three! – Online Visibility, Followers, and Engagement.
One of the ways to run a successful contest is by offering your audience something with great value. Remember that your audience should find your contest entertaining and would want them coming back for more.
Know Your Competitors
One of the essential things to remember in the world of marketing is how your competitors approach social media. Their work should inspire you to make your content, website, social media channel better. It does not necessarily mean to copy exactly what they do, but rather learn from what they do. As they say “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”
Final Thoughts
These are only some of the many social media marketing tips that you need to keep in mind. Everyone has a strategy. Remember not to hesitate to make changes that may improve your social media marketing success.