In 2021, there were 4.26 billion active users on social media worldwide and that number is expected to grow to 6 billion by 2027. That’s why social media platforms are the cornerstone of your marketing campaign. Not only are these platforms free to sign up for but you have the opportunity to expand your reach.
However, there are small businesses that still struggle with the fundamentals of social media marketing. To assist you, we’ve provided essential information on the basics of social media and how you can utilize these platforms to grow your business. Read on to find out more!
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is the process of using online social platforms to increase brand awareness or improve sales performance for a business. It’s an affordable way for companies to advertise their products and services to their target audience.
What’s more, organizations can attract new leads by posting engaging content or information that solves a customer’s problems. By posting content your audience is interested in, you can increase your online visibility and boost your marketing strategies.
The most popular social media platforms to market on are:
Some companies will use all five social media platforms whereas others will only use one or two. It’s important to note which platforms your audience is most active on and tailor content accordingly.
The Importance and Benefits of Social Media Marketing
Did you know that 97% of Fortune 500 companies rely on social media? Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are sometimes used more for advertising than a company’s website. Without a social media marketing strategy, you’ll miss out on opportunities to reach more people and grow your business.
By using social media to market your business, you’ll experience these benefits:
- Helps you gather important data on customers
- Generates higher conversions
- Creates online visibility and brand awareness
- Generates conversations about your brand
- Provides responsive customer service
- A chance to get to know your customers better
- The ability to drive traffic to your website
Marketing campaigns can be expensive. But since social media platforms are free, you can create organic content that will grow your business without paying money. Social media advertising may cost a small fee but it’s still more affordable compared to running ads on television or on the radio.
Marketing automation can also help you save time and money on every aspect of your social media campaigns. With these tools, you can test different campaigns to optimize results and create content on multiple platforms with ease.
Types of Social Media Marketing
One of the advantages of social media marketing is that there isn’t simply one specific way of advertising your business. There are various types of marketing done through social media, such as:
- Influencer marketing
- Content creation
- Advertising or sponsorships
- Reviews
- Paid media
- Social media management
- Forum contribution
You can adopt one or more of these social media marketing strategies to grow your following. Content creation is one of the most popular types because it utilizes SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
7 Social Media Basics to Learn
Now that you know more about what social media marketing is and the various types, you’ll need to know how to get started with your campaign. In this section, we’ve provided 7 tips that will help you reach more people on your social media platforms.
1. Learn About Content
Content is any information you post on social media, such as a status update, video, or even a written article. The platform you post on will determine the length of your content. For example, Instagram stories only allow 15-second videos. Furthermore, Twitter only allows 280 characters per tweet.
You must tailor your content for each platform you’re using. Or you can copy and paste a link to an article on your website or a video you’ve made on YouTube. With a few short sentences, you can grab your viewer’s attention so they’ll be enticed to click on your links or view your content.
2. What is Context?
One of the most important fundamentals of social media marketing to learn is context. For example, if you’ve written a witty joke but placed it in a long-form article, few people will see it. You won’t get the reaction you wanted.
However, if you post your joke on Twitter along with a link to your article, more people will see it and you may even get a positive response as a result. You can also post a call to action to drive more traffic to another social media account or your website.
Additionally, context marketing is the process of delivering your content to your viewers at specific times. Your message must have a context that’s relevant to each of your customers or clients.
3. Hashtags and How to Use Them
One way to reach a wider audience when posting on social media is using hashtags. This is a crucial tool for you because it adds meta information to your posts. Platforms such as Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook allow you to use hashtags to describe your content.
Using the right hashtags, you can make it easier for viewers to discover your content. What’s more, you can view how many times a specific hashtag has been used so you can see its popularity.
To create a hashtag, simply place a hashtag next to your keyword. Here is an example of a tweet with hashtags:
Want to know more about how you can grow your brand through social media? We’ve got tips and examples that will take your marketing campaign to the next level. Follow us for daily updates and advice. #socialmediaislife #brandgrowth #digitalmarketing #socialmediamarketing
4. Learning More About Social Media Sharing
It’s exciting when people start engaging with your content on social media. Comments and likes are important but what you want is more shares. When a viewer shares your content it means it’s going to reach more people. You can use social media tools to track how many shares a post has had.
When a post has more shares, it means your audience enjoys this form of content. You can use this to your advantage and create additional posts similar to the one with the most shares. To get more shares, you must create content that’s:
- Original
- Exciting to watch or read
- Interactive
- Tells a story
- Appeals to your audience's values
- Capitalizes on trending topics
To get more shares, you must post consistently. Consider posting 3 to 4 times a day at specific times.
5. How to Increase Engagements
Engagements refer to how people interact with your content such as:
- Reaction
- Like
- Comment
- Share
There are ways that you can increase social media engagement. Consider creating different types of posts such as written content, images, and videos. Viewers tend to be more drawn to shorter videos because they’re quick and easier to understand. You can create compelling footage using any video editing software that fits your needs.
Remember that high-quality videos are often large files, so they may take longer to upload. MP4 is the most compatible video format across different platforms, and if you need to know, for example, how to change a MOV file to MP4, a few clicks are all it takes with most tools.
Another way to increase your engagement is through polls. People love the chance to have their opinion heard. Ask a question to see what your audience's opinions are on a specific topic.
6. Involve Influencers
Influencer marketing includes partnering with social media influencers to promote your brand. These people already have a large following and can help increase your reach even further. When selecting an influencer, make sure that their audience aligns with yours. This will ensure the best possible results for your campaign.
Once you’ve chosen the right influencer, you can work together to develop campaigns. You could create a content series, sponsor an event, or have the influencer promote your product. The key is to create a mutually beneficial relationship that will create more interest in your brand.
7. Invest in Social Advertising
Social media ads help target the exact people you want to reach. You have control over who receives your messages and you can focus specifically on certain types of customers. They also appear on the newsfeeds of potential customers so they’re more likely to interact with them.
You can use social media ads to promote specific pieces of content, drive website traffic, or spread brand awareness. You can also re-target customers who have previously interacted with your brand to give updates on new products as well as provide discounts and special offers. The cost of social media advertising depends on your goals and the platform you’re using, so make sure to do your research before investing.
Final Thoughts – Extra Tips
For your social media marketing to work, you must develop a strong strategy. Plan to post consistently every day. You can automate your social media campaigns to optimize your posting schedule. Another extra tip is to pay attention to trends and use them in your advertising. Use social media analytics tools so you can track the engagements on your posts. Use the tips and examples in this article to help you boost your company’s presence on social media. With a strategy, you’ll increase your conversions and sales!
