The twenty-first century has given rise to lots of creations, with social media being one of them. Social media is an online platform that connects millions of people across the globe and helps them interact with one another. Approximately, more than 3 billion people worldwide use social media platforms for various reasons; be it watching videos, understanding the current affairs of different regions, socializing with different cultures, etc. These help you keep up with today’s fast pacing world, slowly replacing our traditional newspapers and radios. The most popular examples are Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.
Social media has now moved on from being just a mere source of entertainment to becoming one of the most convenient and important ways to market a business. Businesses today measure their success depending on how well reputed they are on social media and hence this shows how big of a role it plays in aspects of marketing.
What is social media marketing?
It simply means marketing your products and services through the various social media platforms present today. Since this is done digitally, it involves marketing using graphics, images, videos, etc. which are usually attention grabbers. Marketers make good use of tactics and strategies to promote their content and gain traffic through these platforms. This marketing channel is more effective than traditional marketing because you can easily categorize your audience into different segments. These segments play an important role in understanding the similarities and differences among your audience and then catering to them accordingly; could be based on geography, behaviour, size, etc.
What are the steps involved?
- Identification of your goals – The first step is to decide onwhat your business wants to achieve. This is a very important step as it gives your business a mission to focus on. It could be to increase your brand awareness, drive traffic towards your website, etc.
- Choose the best platform – different platforms have different age groups present on them. So choose accordingly.
- Schedule – Make a strategic plan as to what will be posted in the following week or month.
- Audience engagement – Take an interest in interacting with your audience from time to time.
- Humanize your brand: Instead of just focusing on promoting your brand, turn it into something people can relate to as humans. Show what goes on in your team and allow team members to show their cultures and values to better connect with the audience and encourage interaction as this helps customers to better connect with the brand.