Social Media Marketing Essentials
These days, you'd be hard-pressed to find a major brand that doesn't have a strong social media presence. In fact, most major companies (and even some smaller businesses) employ their own team of social media experts to maintain their online presence and connect with their target audience using popular social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. But for businesses that don't quite have it in their budget to hire a social media strategist, there are effective social media marketing strategies that anybody can follow for greater success.
What is a Social Media Marketing Campaign?
A social media marketing campaign essentially refers to the strategy used by a business to engage their audience and grow their brand awareness via social media. A social media marketing strategy may involve efforts to gain more page "likes" and "shares" on Facebook, more "re-tweets" or "followers" on Twitter, or similar results.
What Are the Uses of Social Media Marketing?
Ultimately, social media marketing is generally done to grow the scope and awareness of a company's services or products. However, many well established businesses also use their social media accounts to request customer feedback, announce new products/services, or even be seen as authorities within their respective industries.
Tips for an Effective Social Media Campaign
There are several social media platforms existing today that also have different audiences and uses. Facebook and Twitter may seem like the most obvious choices, but there are many more platforms out there beyond these two giants. To name a few – LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and Vine. Of course, these platforms also have different qualities. Just make sure that your strategy is in line with the use of these platforms. A social media strategist handles several accounts of an organization. Naturally, things might get a little overwhelming managing several platforms at one. Keep in mind that there are existing social media tools out there that make the life of a social media professional easier. For example, rather than remembering to log into each of your social media accounts at the same time to post each day, there are programs that allow you to schedule your posts in advance. You can then have your posts published in a timely and consistent manner without having to remember to log in and do it manually. When coming up with social media content to post, remember to have variety. For example, did you know that when it comes to content marketing, most users these days prefer videos to text? This is where apps like Snapchat and Vine can really come in handy. In other cases (such as on Twitter or Facebook), an infographic or even an image may be better suited for your needs. The key is to mix things up and to engage your users as much as possible by encouraging them to share and "like" your content. This can be done not just by posting unique and fresh content, but by holding occasional giveaways and contests on social media as well. As you can see, there's a lot to keep in mind when it comes to developing an effective social media marketing campaign. If this type of work interests you, you could eventually make a career out of it by becoming a Social Media Professional.