The Benefits of Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing, also known as SMM, is the application of social media networks and sites to advertise a product or service by means of social interaction. Though the terms digital marketing and e-marketing are generally dominant in academic circles, social media marketing has been growing increasingly popular for researchers and practitioners alike. The increasing number of users on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube and other sites has led to an increased need for advertisers to create unique promotional applications and campaigns. Companies who have not yet begun a campaign on these social sites may find that they need to do so before their competition has a chance to do so.
Companies that understand the benefits that a well-planned SMM strategy can bring to their business and brand can leverage its power to influence the marketplace and increase brand awareness at the same time. SMM allows companies to gain an edge over their competitors by creating effective strategies and tactics that target the right audience at the right time. For example, a well-designed campaign that targets the right audience in the right location can significantly impact sales. For example, a campaign promoting popular brands such as McDonald’s that includes locations in multiple cities can potentially drive greater sales figures for those companies if it is done correctly.
In order to engage audiences with a company’s products or services, companies must employ a variety of strategies. These can include the production of television commercials, online advertisements, social media marketing content, and even press releases. A well-planned strategy will allow a brand to take advantage of opportunities such as those mentioned above, while engaging a specific audience at the same time. For instance, a television commercial or PPC campaign that only targets consumers in a certain city may not be as effective as one that targets consumers in multiple cities, since the audience would need to be large enough to justify the cost.
Another strategy that can be used for SMM is to use targeted adverts. Adverts that are specifically designed to engage a specific demographic or another type of group may prove to be more effective than general ads in terms of efficiency. This is because these ads are not seen by people who are not interested in the product or service being advertised, which allows a brand to focus on attracting an audience that will be more likely to buy. For example, if a brand’s advertising campaign targets middle-aged adults, it is likely that these individuals will not be interested in a marketing campaign that features high-tech gadgets.
Tracking analytics for a social media marketing campaign is crucial for a company. A brand should know where visitors to its website come from, how they found the site, what keywords were used to access the site, how often the visitors navigate away from the page, and which social media platform they used to find the brand. Thorough analytics plan will allow a brand to fine tune its website, ensure that the content is engaging, and to implement future measures that will improve the brand’s return on investment.
A major benefit of SMM is that it creates a base of active followers. Once a brand builds up a significant audience on a number of platforms, it can then use this audience to drive sales to its website. In addition, the audience that the brand has built up can also easily disseminate messages via various other websites, creating more avenues for growth. SMM allows a brand to reach a larger audience while at the same time improving its overall visibility in the market.
