Let’s go back to the drawing board. What is marketing? As highlighted by the AMA, Marketing is the activity and process for creating; communicating and delivering offerings that have value to customers.
Now look at social media marketing. Social Media Today argue that the purpose of social media marketing is to build a brand and increase a brand’s visibility, through building relationships and communicating with potential customers.
The two seem to go hand-in-hand. But you may still be wondering, why social media?
‘‘Social networks are one of the fastest growing industries in the world’’.
This statement does seem to be thrown around quite frequently with anything internet marketing related these days. However with a projected 25.0% annual growth over the next 5 years, it is definitely be time to start investing in social media if you haven’t already. This is so important we’ve added a fancy tweet-this box below…. partly to show off, partly to make it easy for you to share it!
Like with content marketing, due to the continuously developing internet marketing industry, there are countless digital media and social networking sites, all of which have a unique characteristic and purpose. As part of an introduction, here are a few social networkexamples.
Facebook is the biggest and arguably most powerful social network in the world with 1.55 billion active monthly users. Regardless if you are a startup or fortune 500 company, you need to be on Facebook and start *engaging with your consumers. (*Positively. We don’t want to replicate Amy’s Baking Company’s mistake).
Twitter is known as the ‘‘in the moment’’ platform and boasts a respectful 255 million active monthly users. Twitter is a perfect online marketing tool for businesses that want to reach out to people (and are ready for a reply). The key is to be quick and smart, ever heard of dunk in the dark?
Instagram is a visual platform designed for customers to post, share, comment and engage through digital media. As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.
LinkedIn is regarded as the professional social networking site. LinkedIn largely focuses on b2b marketing rather than b2c.
Google +, Youtube, Foursquare and Pintrest are other social network sites that harshly miss out on the list. And then there’s Snapchat, the new kid on the block, who recently recorded six billion daily views. Should Facebook be worried?
What’s your take on any of the above social networking sites? Are there any other sites you display your digital media and connect with consumers on? We’d love to know!
Having a social media presence without an appropriate strategy and plan can be just as damaging for your business as no plan at all. We have created a social media marketingstrategy checklist that should aid your online marketing operations.
“A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience.”
Set Goals – Start big and work down. Do you need to increase customer loyalty?
Know your target audience – Don’t just use demographics but expand with psychographics.
Social Media – Decide on which digital media will help you connect with your audience. Will this take the form of a blog, video, podcast etc?
Social Network Strategy – Focus on a social network that adds value. Just because a network has over a hundred million active users doesn’t mean it will directly contribute to your brand’s objectives.
Measurment and Testing – What does success mean to you? You need to constantly analyse your social media strategy to understand how effective it is. Engage with your audience, find out what works and what doesn’t.
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