Social Media Marketing is a new player in this field of Digital Marketing where brands and consumers face each other.
If this is so, there is no doubt that there is room to ask ourselves: has advertising changed? Has the way of seeing the product or the brand changed? Has the consumer changed?
What will the future hold for us in marketing if this is the present?
The evolution reached marketing and advertising. Digital Marketing agencies have had to tackle these changes and adapt the services they provide to their clients.
As expected, techniques and approaches had to change.
To understand all the variants that Social Media Marketing affects, we must break down what this term means.
What is Social Media Advertising Services or Marketing in Social Networks?
Social Media Marketing is a series of tools that, when put into action, open different channels of communication in the digital world.
The key to all the concepts is that social media advertising services refer to the strategic creation of a new communication channel with a 100% digital audience.
Not surprisingly, marketing has had to find a way to evolve with consumer needs.
Those who have gone from being just a consumer entity to becoming an audience. With opinions of such great value and weight on the web, they can give wings to a campaign or destroy it in a heartbeat.
This is how Social Media Marketing was born; the answer to the search for a new way of communication to link brands and products with every Internet user who surfs the web daily.
For its part, Social Media Marketing is such a broad term that many people looking to boost their company’s image ask: “what is Social Media Marketing?”
This is a common question because it is broad and encompasses many things.
The definition of Social Media Marketing is difficult to describe.
But a very popular definition says that it is the systematic use of Marketing with other technological concepts and techniques to achieve specific objectives for a company.
In simple terms, Social Media Marketing means building a business through various mediums, such as viral videos and blogs, to give exposure to a business and execute different buying processes.
The participation of the community of people and society, in general, has driven the growth of Social Media Advertising.
There is hardly anyone who is not participating in one or another type of social platform.
Whether it’s exchanging emails, chatting, posting photos, exchanging music, etc.
With the growing number of online community participation, social media has become an important medium being explored by marketers.
In it, they find the most effective way to approach customers and get to know them deeply.
Sellers have a double advantage in contacting those who have already become their customers and experienced their products.
This is how potential customers can be inclined or influenced to buy the product.
Unlike traditional media, where readers or viewers are passive participants, a social network is where customers actively participate and exchange information.
Thus they share their experience, giving their opinion and comments based on their understanding.
This means that the markets can interact with the customer in real-time and benefit from the communication.
The organization gets to “listen” to the customer and understand more about the customer’s perception of the brand, product, etc.
Social Media channels help build collective opinion and spark healthy debates on relevant topics.
The second important feature is that Social Media Marketing spreads through various channels and media compared to the limited channels that the press and media operate.
Social Media works with various tools, including audio, video, text, audio pods, private forums, public discussion forums, SMS, chat, emails, blogs, etc.
Social Media also works very well if carried out in conjunction with Paid Media strategies through a PPC agency; in this way, the efforts in social networks benefit from digital advertising, achieving greater reach.
In this way, there is a comprehensive effort to optimize organic and inorganic results, translating into generating traffic or leads.
Third, Social Media is a dynamic and flexible medium that keeps changing content tools and evolving.
As participants continue to give input and the collective wisdom of the group results in changing and updating content and creating demand for more tools to be made available.
Fourth, Social Media demands a different kind of involvement from marketers.
Unlike traditional media, where marketers run customer-designed campaigns and ads focused on a particular audience or group, Social Media allows participants to drive the discussion and marketers must listen rather than lead the discussion.
Sellers have to approach potential customers indirectly, helping to build public opinion. And, from that point, indirectly guide them towards taking an interest in your product.
Social Media is evolving very fast, and online are the available technological tools.
Marketers have no choice but to tune in to the media, understand how things work, and ensure they’re there.
Not being present on the networks in current times is not an option for marketing companies.
Social networks: which is the best?
Social networks mean space or a platform where the audience connects differently.
Each Social Network has different functions, and within Social Media Marketing, everyone works in a unique way looking for specific objectives to be achieved with the strategy.
Can we say that one social network is better than another?
The answer is no. The truth is that each one is important for different variants and differs from the others due to its characteristics and functionalities.
They are all important for one objective or another, depending on the strategy, the audience and the goals we want to achieve.
Each social network has characteristics that satisfy the specific needs of users or the audience. Here we leave you a count of the functionalities for us that stand out the most:
For years, Facebook has represented the most used social network developed worldwide and tops the list of favorites.
So far, in 2016, this platform has 1.55 billion registered users, representing almost triple or quadrupling the numbers of the rest of the social platforms.
If you wonder how Facebook has managed to have these numbers, the answer is simple: they are open to change.
This platform was the first to generate continuous changes in its algorithm, look and feel, and options. Always looking for better features that generate better experiences for its users.
Videos and photos generate approximately 70% of the engagement on this platform.
This has given rise to many experts in digital matters for studying audiences, their tastes and needs within the web.
Given the continuous change and movement of the digital world, many have predicted the fall of Facebook for years.
However, this platform has fought tooth and nail to keep its audience happy, no matter what.
Thus we were introduced to videos, GIFs, memes, live streaming and even a continuous change to visually make the platform more friendly to the eyes and the handling.
Without a doubt, Facebook does not seem to slow down its route on the highway of empowerment within Social Media Marketing. Still, we cannot forget that hundreds of new ideas become part of the game of content and digital communication every day.
Can Facebook survive for many more years?
YouTube
The text has taken a backseat in an age where the audience wants to consume content immediately.
Video and images have taken the opportunity to reign and give the consumer what they want faster and more visually gratifying, which makes this content one that gives more positive results within the Social Media Marketing strategy.
This is how YouTube has become the king of videos, a unique platform in its style where almost 1,300 million users have found a community that satisfies their tastes and needs.
In addition to being a perfect space for Digital Marketing, this platform is a space where the same audience has a voice in its quest to put a more effective strategy according to the audience.
This happens through the comments they can leave within the videos and by creating their channels, where they can echo their ideas and join the brand or product.
In addition, the consumer is not only seen as a final link in a chain of consumption but also as a companion of the product or the brand itself.
YouTube has become a perfect space to make Social Media Marketing much more organic (and therefore more efficient) since the content lends itself to opening creative spaces and having constant communication between the brand, product, and consumer. Or the audience.
The king of photos. Flickr is, in the past, been crushed by this titan with more than 400 million registered users.
Instagram is, without a doubt, one of the favorite platforms of the audience (of different ages) as it refers to the sharing of moments through photographs immediately.
The power of this platform in Social Media Marketing is significant to the extent that the brands or products show experiences with which the user can identify.
In 2016, advertising officially arrived on Instagram. In this way, users have a space, every certain post, that suggests brands or products they invest in to be visible to potential new customers.
Some loved this measure, others hated it, but it is here to stay, making the network one of the platforms with the most requests to invest in the market.
Much has been said about the death of this social network, and it is happening that before, you entered Twitter every day and now perhaps you do it a few times a week when you want to be informed of a specific news item.
But although this social network has had a hard time joining the changes and we no longer use it like other social networks, it remains one of the most used social networks, with 320 million users in 2015.
A fundamental factor for which it continues to be among one of the most famous social networks: is the chronology of messages in real-time.
Do you know why he still likes this feature? Because today’s audiences want to know everything now, Twitter tells them immediately.
Do you want to know how much the game of your favorite team is going? You probably look it up on Twitter.
Before learning of world news, a user’s first action is to enter the Trending Topic of Twitter and see what it is about, a functionality you do not get in other social networks.
Within Social Media Marketing, it is a challenge to compete with the news nature of Twitter.
It is necessary that, perhaps not with the strength of other social networks, you consider it within your digital ecosystem since it is a network that can work very well to detect trends and topics of conversation among users.
If you work in a B2B field, this is the Social Media network to focus on.
LinkedIn is easier to connect with business professionals in any industry, as it allows you to target them by industry, job title, etc.
As with all social networks, LinkedIn prioritizes building relationships more than any other.
Don’t take it into a sales pitch; you must start by building a connection.
One of the best features for businesses is LinkedIn Groups.
Companies should establish groups in their niche or industry and invite others in their target market to join.
Only use this network if you have great images to share.
Quality images are perfect candidates to go viral on this site due to their visual nature.
If your image is pinned by a member very often, you have the potential to be seen by millions.
It is also ideal for promoting products.
Yelp
Yelp is essential for businesses today.
If you don’t have an active strategy for creating reviews on Yelp, your customers can do it for you as soon as possible.
All it takes is one bad review to hurt your skills.
Asking your customers to review your business on Yelp prevents any negative comments from standing out.
We provide the best services in this field, so if you want these services, you must visit a social media marketing firm.
Factors to measure in social networks
As we have already seen, each social network has different characteristics. In the same way, in each of them, the parameters to measure our reach will also be different. The metrics provided by Social Media will let us know if your publications are working for your audience.
Measuring the reach of your profile on a social network will give you tools to know how it works, but each social network will give you specific information about your community that you must take into account to boost your reach.
To measure loyalty and the number of new customers, look at the number of visits to your site from the platform you are analyzing. This will allow you to know which social network more clients access and what type of publications perform better.
Your brand’s notoriety can be measured by the number of publications you make and the total number of followers. For example, to measure this factor on Facebook, you must also take into account the number of times a post is shared; on Twitter, the number of RTs and — just like on Instagram — the impact of the hashtags you used. On the other hand, in a blog, you will measure branding with the number of times your news is shared on other platforms.
An essential factor in measuring all social networks is the number of interactions. Each network allows users to interact in different ways, so each way of sharing content and interacting with other users or brands will tell you something different.
The “likes,” comments and mentions will allow you to know the engagement of your public, the level of approach that your brand has and what types of content are more attractive.
Social networks allow for generating communities. When creating a profile on a social network, you should ask yourself about the community you want to establish and then interact with users in pursuit of those goals to increase your reach.
It is essential to consider what users use each social network for and use it to interact with them in those terms. For example, Twitter for real-time news and Instagram for more aesthetic posts focused on photography.
How to make a Social Media Marketing strategy
To reach the objectives, it is necessary to define the steps to follow to reach the goal: to have the highest conversion of Leads.
At this point, you should consider investing in paid promotion as it is the best way to boost your company in the short and medium term. For this purpose, you have tools like Facebook Power Editor, Google Ad Manager and LinkedIn Ads.
Here, step by step, we explain how to make a comprehensive social media marketing strategy:
Set the goals: What are you looking for? Branding? Increase your online community. Customer Support? Increase web traffic?
Define your objectives and start establishing the strategy depending on what you want.
Example of Objective: Branding for a women’s footwear brand.
- Know your target audience:
Now that you know what your main objective is, it’s time to define who your audience is.
This step will be key to the success or not of your campaign since a message directed at the wrong audience translates into money and wasted effort, so we recommend you take your time to study who your audience is, what networks they are on, how they communicate etc.
Example: Women between 20 and 35 years old, professionals or studying a university career.
Her image is very important, so she always buys clothes, shoes, and accessories that make her look and feel good.
- Choose the communication channel:
What social network has more presence in your target audience? Which is best suited to the campaign?
Remember that, as we explained before, each social network has its functions. And each one can be adapted to a different Social Media Marketing objective.
You should always consider where your audience is, which will tell you to know your target audience perfectly.
Example: The main social network of the campaign will be Facebook Ads, with Instagram and Pinterest as supporting social networks.
How do Ads campaigns work? In the case of Facebook, the first thing you have to do is choose based on your campaign objectives:
The type of ad: awareness, consideration, or conversion?
Segmentation: who do you go to, where is he, how old is he?
And finally, your budget.
Then you must choose the way you want your budget to be consumed.
- Generate content that is intertwined with the tastes of your audience:
The content is the KING, and we will not tire of repeating it because.
You need to understand how your target audience consumes information and generates it. The content that engages the necessary to achieve the campaign objectives.
- Set numbers:
All these metrics are essential depending on the objectives of your campaign.
With them, you will be able to measure how effective your strategy is and if you will get the return on investment that you expect.
- Analyze day and night:
You must constantly analyze the campaign’s behavior from the previous point, the metrics. Every day, not at the end, because you may have lost a lot of dollars and never even realized it.
That is why the analysis is not the last point but an action that must be constant throughout the campaign.
Social Media Marketing Measurement Tools
As we have said, the constant analysis of your campaign is a determining factor. In the successful outcome or not of your campaign.
Not everything can be left to chance, so measuring what is happening and adjusting is essential.
Therefore, here are some measurement tools that you can use to monitor the development of your campaign:
Metricol:
It is a free tool that allows you to visualize what is happening on your social networks in real-time.
It generates the reports and sends you to your email with a monthly summary of the metrics of your accounts. Visually it is very friendly and easy to use.
In addition, you can also measure the effectiveness of your blog.
Iconosquare:
Although it is not free, this app allows you to measure and optimize the performance of Instagram.
In addition, it helps you measure, understand and improve every important aspect of your activity on this social network.
Iconosquare offers you several solutions to engage your community, including photo and video contests.
Howsociable:
This tool is ideal for measuring your brand and your competitors’ social networks.
The free version allows you to monitor up to 12 social networks. However, you must have a pro account to track 24 more platforms.
This tool will make your life much easier as it allows you to filter all the relevant data on the web. And use metrics to give you an objective view of your brand positioning.
Successful Social Media Campaigns
Some people still think that social networks are “children’s things” and do not believe. In the impact of this communication channel on their Digital Marketing strategy.
However, some have believed in it and have been successful.
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