Every business approaches its social media marketing differently. Some entities want to create brand awareness, others want to generate leads. Either way, every social media strategy needs to be curated with a complete understanding of the process.
When you start a business, you make sure you have the right knowledge and the right resources to take it forward. Just like when you select a strong internet connection for your business to ensure the smooth sailing of your operations. Similarly, you need a solid social media strategy that can boost your business growth.
Before discussing the process of understanding social media for your business, we just want to establish that you can still get a reliable internet connection if you don’t have one yet. Click here to see which internet option is great for your business.
Once you are all geared up with a robust internet connection, it is time for you to understand the importance of social media marketing. If this already seems daunting, don’t fret! We have curated a guide that will help you begin your social media marketing journey from scratch and utilize strategies to boost your business profits.
Social Media Marketing: The Basics
In simpler terms, social media marketing is all about your target audience. Anything related to the audience – from engagement to collecting feedback, to building brand loyalty – everything is an extension of your presence on the relevant social media platforms.
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is a practice that involves businesses creating content for all relevant digital social platforms on which they can promote their brand. It also includes businesses building engagement with their target audience to generate leads.
By the year 2022, 92.1% of the businesses in the United States used Social Media Marking for their businesses. Over the years, we have witnessed a significant increase in the usage of social media marketing and it is only increasing in 2023.
Social media can become one of the primary sources driving traffic to your website. Engaging with people from around the world is becoming more accessible with the help of a variety of features present on different social media platforms.
Most Popular Social Media Marketing Platforms
The previous year, the total number of users across social media was 3.96 billion and it is expected to increase to up to 6 billion by 2027. Keeping that in mind, imagine how many people from your target audience will be actively using social media.
That number is higher than you think!
Here are some facts about different social media platforms that you can use in your social media marketing journey.
1. Facebook
Active Users: 266 million monthly active users (MAU) in the United States.
This platform is an advertising powerhouse. It is the most common platform used by marketers across the world. It is one of the most effective tools for businesses with the ability to render organic results.
With Facebook, you can choose specific audiences and categorize them according to their demographics. Additionally, the platform offers you several opportunities to add CTAs like “Shop Now” that give your customers to take action right away.
2. Instagram
Active Users:127.2 million(MAU)in the United States.
Over the years we have witnessed a significant increase in Instagram users. You can take advantage of the platform by utilizing its amazing features. Sign up for the free business account and conduct a competitive analysis. Put your best foot forward and represent your brand with relevant and quality content.
Collaborate with influencers to promote your business. Conduct live sessions to amplify your engagement with your target audience. Moreover, you can use stories, reels, and many other features to boost your social media marketing process with optimize your sales.
3. TikTok
Active Users:80 million (MAU)in the United States.
Albeit TikTok launched only 7 years ago in 2016, it is one of the fastest-growing platforms in the world. If your business targets an audience from the younger lot, like Gen Z, then TikTok is the best social media marketing tool for you. Studies show that 30% of Gen Z users on TikTok have purchased a product that they learned about or found on this platform. Great news for your, right?
You can easily create top-viewed ads and utilize them to boost your sales. Here are some examples:
TopView Ads: They can last up to 60 seconds, and are displayed at the top of a user’s TikTok feed when they open the app.
In-Feed Advertisements: This function is a skippable ad that should be 60 seconds long or less. It will play on the full screen of the user.
Business Takeovers: It enables one brand to control the app for a single day. You can make picture or video advertisements that play at the top of the program like TopView Ads, but they cannot be skipped.
Branded Effects: Here you can build branded effects for people to use in their films, such as stickers, gifs, games, and filters.
4. Twitter
Active Users: 77.75million (MAU)in the United States.
Keeping up with trends is vital for a business to succeed and this is where Twitter comes in. You will get to know everything that is happening around the world. Making decisions accordingly will only help you in effectively strategizing your business objective.
You can initiate a movement, or bring an impact on the conversation. Additionally, you can analyze the customer’s perspective on things.
5. Pinterest
Active Users:95 million(MAU)in the United States.
Pinterest business account unlocks several interesting features that can add value to your business. On this platform, different consumers share a variety of products, trends, or designs that they are loving. This practice helps you in spotting an emerging trend.
One of the best parts is that as per the searches of users, the platform mostly aggregates popular content that can assist you in keeping up with the trends. You can also drive more traffic to your website via Pinterest as the platform offers access to features such as Rich Pins. This offers customers additional information derived from your website.
How to Develop an Effective Social Media Marketing Plan
Being one of the most vital channels for the business of all sizes, social media marketing can add more value to your business than you can imagine. But running a social media campaign will require you to have some prerequisites.
One of the most essential prerequisites is a strong internet connection. You need to have a strong internet resource to move forward with your social media marketing journey. Try going for leading internet providers of the country such as Spectrum that also have budget-friendly offers.
You can call the Spectrum phone number and gather information regarding the internet plan you would prefer. If you are all geared up with a robust internet plan then here are some effective tricks that can help you build a strong social media marketing plan.
Step #1: Audit Yourself
You must audit your current positioning. Analyze how much budget you can dedicate to your social media marketing campaign. See if you have the right skills and knowledge to take it forward.
Step #2: Identify Your Target Audience
Set smart goals and figure out who are your customers. Use Google Analytics or other tools rendered by social media platforms to categorize your target audience and make strategies accordingly.
Step #3: Choose the Social Media Platforms
Once you have identified your audience, see which platforms are the once they are using the most. Your goal is to reach your audience and being on a similar platform will help you gather the right information and reach the right customers.
Step #4: Determine Critical Success Metrics
Now you need to choose the success metrics you will use to measure the progress of your campaigns. Go for meaningful matric analysis such as click-through rate, conversion rate, and engagement rate. Don’t just settle for likes and comments.
Step #5: Conduct a Competitor Analysis
Keeping an eye on your competition has always been one of the smartest moves. With social media, it has gotten easier. Track their performance, and see what they are working on. Learn from their mistakes and try to outdo them.
Step #6: Create Engaging Content
Every step you take before content creation reflects what type of content you need to create. Content allows you to engage with your audience and present yourself in the best possible way. Social media is the perfect tool that allows you to share that content with your target audience. Extending valuable information to your customers will render better outcomes and social media marketing lets you do exactly that.
Step #7: Schedule Your Posts
There is always a right time to do things. You cannot just post five to six random posts on your business profile and expect better results. Create a social media content calendar and schedule a time and date for each post. Keep the trends in mind!
Step #8: Keep in Touch with Your Followers
It is essential to satisfy your customer’s needs and keep them happy. You need to stay in touch with them via social media comments, direct messages, tweets, and other mediums. This will help you gain accurate feedback and build your credibility.
Step #9: Invest in the Strongest Social Media Management Tools
The right tools will allow you to create effective reports, and share them with your employees, and stakeholders. It will get easier for you to identify where you are lacking and the areas that need improvement.
Here are some social media marketing tools you can explore:
Google Analytics – Free tool
Hootsuite Analytics – Paid tool
RivalIQ – Paid tool
Keyhole – Paid tool
ShortStack – Paid tool
Step #10: Monitor Results and Make Changes
Don’t repeat your mistakes. Once you have identified your lacking, it is time to make changes in your strategies and improve your practices to get better results.
The Bottom Line
The right social media marketing strategy can skyrocket your success journey. You need to make sure you have the right tools and adequate resources. For one, you need a strong internet connection, and for that, you can visit BuyTVInternetPhone and see which plans fit your needs.
Tis platform will make the internet search easier as it will only show you plans that are available at your location. Don’t forget to enter your zip code. Once you have everything you need it is time to start your social media marketing journey. Good Luck!