Social media marketing (SMM) is simply the use of various social media channels and websites in order to advertise a product or service directly to an audience. While the terms digital and e-marketing are more dominant in academic circles, social media marketing continues to become more popular among researchers and practitioners alike. There have been numerous theories and concepts developed on how to best approach marketing using social media. We will take a look at a few popular ones.
In general, social media marketing strategies are built around three key components. The first strategy is engagement. This requires an analysis of current customer trends, product knowledge, and brand identity. Once this has been determined, the next strategy is to build a strategy around various forms of engagement. These can be anything from Twitter campaigns to customer surveys and focus groups.
The reason that Twitter is such a great platform for social media marketing is because it allows customers to ask questions and get immediate feedback from others. It also provides a venue through which marketers can engage in dialogue with their target audience. Twitter can be used as an effective platform for conducting research and collecting user demographics. Conducting focus group discussions on any particular product can also be an effective tactic for engaging your target audience.
Another important strategy for social media marketing involves examining the impact of search engine optimization strategies. SEO is an essential component of any online marketing campaign and should be utilized on all platforms. While Google and Yahoo offer some ranking assistance, they cannot fully eliminate certain keywords from a site’s index. As a result, it is important to utilize other platforms in order to capitalize on negative SEO results. This can include results pages, blog directories, and review sites.
Finally, the best way to effectively handle social media platforms is by maintaining a strong customer service reputation. Customers want to be able to reach a live person when dealing with a company. When you utilize customer service tools like live chat options and video answers, you will be able to easily retain and gain new customers at a much higher rate. Additionally, social media management tools will allow you to build customer loyalty by offering customers free gifts and discounts. You can also offer customers contests and raffles to increase your brand recognition.
Social media marketing provides marketers with numerous avenues to explore. However, not all avenues will yield the results you desire. Marketers who have never engaged in SMM before should start out small, expanding their reach with each successful strategy. SMM requires plenty of research and good business judgment. If marketers take the time to implement effective strategies, they can make significant social media marketing improvements.
