Let’s revisit some of our previous definitions of marketing before proceeding. Seth Godin, the founder of Seth Godin Productions and Do You Zoom, described the idea of contemporary marketing as:
At the heart of our operations lies marketing, encompassing the narrative that is being conveyed, the target audience it is being shared with, and the underlying reasons that drive people to purchase your product or service.
He further stated that in today’s marketing landscape, the focus has shifted from the products themselves to the narratives that companies convey.
Despite being a recent technological development, social media marketing is not a novel concept. Prior to embarking on promoting a brand on social media, it is essential to have an understanding of fundamental marketing principles. This familiarity with marketing will enable you to leverage social platforms optimally and enhance the dissemination of your brand message.
Product
Thinking about Product from the traditional marketing standpoint, the immediate association is with a physical product or service provided by businesses to fulfill the audience’s specific requirements. The notion of product in social media marketing follows the same principle.
In order to promote your product and establish your brand, you have the option to build a business profile on LinkedIn, engage actively on Instagram, or start a YouTube channel. Similar to fellow entrepreneurs in the digital realm, you can also utilize social channels to connect with your target audience.
In order to proceed with any marketing endeavors, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of both the advantages and disadvantages of your market offerings. Familiarizing yourself with how it brings value to customers, its unique selling points, and what sets it apart from competitors is essential.
In the digital era, accessing the required information is easy. Customers are woke and socially aware. They prefer brands that not only develop products to meet their needs but are also conscious about preserving nature while doing so. You can focus on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR activities) during the promotion phase, but sustainability should be incorporated into the organizational culture.
Price
Having the correct pricing strategy is crucial as it directly influences the triumph or failure of a product. If your prices exceed those of your competitors, you are likely to experience a decline in customer base. Conversely, setting low prices can result in financial losses if they fail to cover the expenses incurred during the product development phase.
This module has also been influenced by digital or social media marketing. In the past, business owners used to spend a significant amount of money on acquiring or leasing a space to showcase their products due to the absence of social networks. Customers would physically visit these establishments to examine products before deciding to make a purchase. Consequently, the expenses associated with utilities, rent, and other overhead costs would escalate, leading to an increase in the product’s overall price.
Despite the existence of physical stores, online stores have become immensely popular, with over 24 million businesses selling products through websites or social media. The advantage of selling online is the reduced overall cost.
By storing products in warehouses and dispatching them upon customer orders, businesses are able to sell products at a reduced cost as they are not burdened with shelf space expenses. Consequently, this allows one to adopt a Cost leadership strategy, offering products at more affordable prices in order to attain a competitive edge.
The need to keep a large inventory has been decreased by technology as well.
The rise of social media marketing has led to the development of Dropshipping. Simply reach out to a manufacturer and become their fulfillment center. Once a customer makes a purchase, you can pass on the order to the manufacturer who will take care of manufacturing and delivering the products. This allows you to earn profits with minimal upfront investment. Customers are drawn to online shops because of their convenience and comparatively lower prices in comparison to physical stores.
Place
The rise of social media has undoubtedly transformed the way products are sold to customers, particularly with regard to Place, which refers to the platforms where customers can discover or reach your market offerings. Whether you provide a physical or non-physical item, service, or encounter, social media has had a significant impact on the selling process.
In the past, customers had no choice but to shop in-store, leading manufacturers to prioritize ensuring their products were easily accessible in supermarkets where their target market frequented. They collaborated with distribution networks to increase their reach and promote their products. While managing distribution channels remains an essential aspect of business marketing, the emergence of digital platforms, specifically social media websites, has provided a unique platform for businesses to sell their products.
Businesses can maximize opportunities by being present on social media. They have the ability to create engaging content that generates discussions about their brand, engage with customers to gain insight into their experiences, and respond to customer reviews in order to enhance the overall customer experience.
Promotion
Combining traditional and digital marketing yields the optimal results for promotional efforts, although the significance of traditional marketing cannot be disregarded.
With the help of contemporary digital channels, particularly social media, businesses are now able to promote their brand using various means. Not only are these platforms cost-efficient, but they also offer time-saving benefits and enable reaching a specific audience likely to have an interest in the products or services being offered.
Social media is the top preference when it comes to digital promotions. It allows you to establish enduring customer connections and transform them into loyal patrons by earning their confidence. To achieve this, you can execute cost-effective advertisements and share captivating content.
In addition to social media marketing, businesses have the option of advertising through search engine ads. If you are in charge of a business website, it is advisable to consider investing in Search Engine Optimization as well. This will ensure that your brand is visible in the top search engine results, potentially resulting in an increase in website traffic and sales.
Smart Social Media for Business: A Marketer’s Guide
4.41 thousand million.
By 2025, there will be approximately that number of active social media users, as predicted by Statista.
An audience to advertise their products is what marketers can infer from those numbers.
If you are a marketer and you are not utilizing social media for business, you are undoubtedly forfeiting a great chance to expand your organization.
5 Great Reasons to Use Social Media for Your Business
There are numerous possibilities for businesses with the use of social media. Its extensive reach allows for utilizing it as a potent instrument for accomplishing various business objectives. Here are a few examples:
Increase familiarity and recognition of the brand.
Generating brand awareness is one of the key roles of marketing, and social media can greatly assist with this task. Given the vast number of people worldwide using various platforms, social media offers unparalleled ease in reaching the appropriate audience for your brand, surpassing other marketing platforms.
Personality of a project
Using social media in your marketing campaigns serves another purpose of showcasing your brand’s personality. This is significant because individuals prefer connecting with brands that exhibit distinct identities rather than those that lack character. Hence, it is crucial to establish a brand persona and allow it to radiate through your social media interactions.
Establishing authority.
Establishing thought leadership is essential for driving business growth for your brand. This is because when you present yourself and your brand as authoritative, individuals are more inclined to rely on you for resolving their issues with increased trust.
Establishing thought leadership can be effectively achieved through the utilization of social media platforms.
Demonstrating your expertise can be achieved by sharing valuable content and actively participating in conversations within your niche or industry.
Increase your lead generation by using effective strategies.
In order for any business to grow, it is crucial to have a consistent flow of leads.
Your lead generation can greatly benefit from a well-executed social media marketing strategy.
The research conducted by Ascend2 reveals that social media is among the top tactics employed by businesses to enhance the quality of leads generated.
With an increasing number of individuals working remotely, social media has emerged as the most convenient means of reaching out to customers, applicable to both B2C and B2B sectors.
Managing one’s reputation
Despite the internet’s benefits for numerous businesses, one drawback is that it can also have adverse effects on certain brands. This is due to the fact that anyone can post unfavorable reviews or comments about your brand, regardless of their veracity. Consequently, your brand’s reputation may be damaged.
Reputation management plays a crucial role in this situation.
You have the ability to utilize social media for:
- Monitor what people are saying about you
- Join in conversations and mention your brand
- Encourage your customers to share their experiences with your brand
- Provide customer service to new and existing customers on platforms that they actively engage on
How to Design an Effective Social Media Marketing Strategy
To achieve meaningful business transactions through your social media presence, a strategic approach is necessary.
Here are some steps that can assist you in achieving exactly that.
State your objectives.
You have a distinct purpose for being on social media that sets you apart from the majority of users, as you are not solely seeking social interaction but rather aiming to promote and expand your business.
When creating your social media strategy, it is important to have a desired outcome or goal in mind.
Having specific goals that are connected to your business objectives is essential. These goals may encompass:
- Brand awareness
- Lead generation
- Growing your brand’s following
- Increasing engagement
- Driving traffic to your new blog or website
Determine the Metrics You Plan to Monitor
When tracking multiple metrics, it is important to avoid superficial metrics and prioritize the ones that hold significance for your business. To achieve this, you need to determine the metrics that align most closely with your set goals. Some examples of metrics that can be monitored are:
- Reach. This is a measure of how many people have seen your post.
- Engagement. Engagement is a measure of how your audience interacts with your content.
- Clicks. As the name suggests, it shows how many people clicked on any element of your post. This allows you to see what elicits more curiosity and interest from your audience.
- Sentiment. Sentiment analysis is a measure of how people feel about your brand. It puts into account comments and emotions associated with your content.
Gain knowledge about your audience.
Having a 4.41 billion audience may seem like a dream, but unfortunately, not every one of the 4.41 billion social media users is suitable for your business.
It is essential to carry out thorough research and gain a comprehensive understanding of your target audience.
You will be able to help yourself by understanding your audience.
- Determine which platforms to use
- What kind of content to create
- Design personalized campaigns
No need to worry. It is easy to gather the necessary insights about your target audience thanks to advanced social media posts.
In addition to utilizing your social media analytics tools, you have the option to gather data from your email marketing service, customer relationship management (CRM) software, and any other digital platform employed to engage with your customers.
Decide which social media platforms you prefer.
You need not be active on every single social media platform. Rather, it is more beneficial to invest your time, efforts, and resources into the platforms that:
- Are frequented the most by your target audience
- Align with your goals and overall business philosophy
- Makes it easy to distribute the kind of content you produce
There is no correct or incorrect social media platform to utilize, but it is advisable to focus on the top 3-5 platforms preferred by your target audience. Despite the initial intimidation, handling multiple social media accounts can be effortless, particularly when using a unified dashboard.
Create your own editorial calendar for social media.
Creating a social media editorial calendar helps you fulfill your audience’s need for consistency.
A social media editorial calendar simplifies the management of your social media activity by providing a schedule that details the type of content to post and the appropriate timing. Additionally, it guarantees that your content is created effectively to encourage engagement.
Generate and curate one-of-a-kind and captivating content.
Creating and curating exceptional and captivating content that resonates with your audience is key to achieving success on social media. That’s why it is crucial to devote both time and resources towards this endeavor.
To achieve your goals of creating social media content, you should ensure that you are aware of a few key factors, such as your audience and the platforms you will be using to engage with them.
- Create content for your audience. Sure, it’s your content, but you must create it for your audience. If your audience finds your content relevant and useful, they’ll gladly interact with it.
- Check out your competitors. Follow your competitors and find out what content is working for them.
- Leverage user-generated content. One thing people look forward to seeing on social media is authenticity. One of the best ways to create authentic posts is by allowing your customers to create content for you. Called user-generated content (UGC) this kind of content tends to help drive engagement.
- Know the latest TikTok trends. Unique videos like hacks, tutorials, hashtag challenges, case studies, and behind-the-scenes looks can help boost brand engagement.
Keep track of your performance and analyze it.
After implementing your social media campaign, it is crucial to monitor and evaluate its performance. At this point, your objectives and metrics play a significant role in assessing whether your campaign is achieving the intended outcomes or not.
You can always make adjustments to the underperforming areas if necessary. Utilizing a reliable analytics tool can provide you with comprehensive data at every stage of your campaign, making it a simple task.
