What Is Social Media Marketing?

What Is Social Media Marketing?

 

Social media isn’t just for sharing funny memes and cat pictures with your friends. It can also be used to build your brand online. When you use social media to promote your business, that’s called social media marketing.

What Is Social Media?

 

In the event that you’re really new to this, it’s important that you understand the concept of social media.

 

You can think of social media as an online hangout space. It’s where people who have formed connections with one another “meet” in cyberspace to discuss funny stories, share experiences, talk about their families, post pictures, and generally socialize. Social media connects friends, family members, and people who share interests online.

 

The most popular social media channel in the world is Facebook. You probably have your own personal Facebook account that you use to stay in touch with old friends and family members.

 

Other social media channels include Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even YouTube.
While all of those social media sites are often used for personal reasons, they can also be used for commercial reasons.

Ads on Social Media

 

One of the easiest, but more expensive, ways to promote your brand on social media is to run ads. Usually, the ads appear in native format so that users don’t get completely annoyed with what they’re seeing. That means the ad will look just like the content that the user is accustomed to seeing as a post from a friend or associate. It will, however, contain the word “Sponsored” (or some variant) so that users who look carefully will see that it’s an ad.

 

Ads on social media cost money, but they can also offer an excellent return on investment (ROI) if they’re used correctly. Fortunately, most social media channels let you run ads that target people based on demographics and interest. So, for example, if you offer a product or service that will appeal to young women, you can target women of a particular age group in your social media advertising campaign.

Organic Reach

 

A less expensive, and less intrusive, way to reach people on social media is with organic reach. The trick here is to successfully encourage people in your target market to “Like” or “Follow” you on social media. Then, those people will see your updates when you post them to your social media channels so that you don’t have to pay for advertising.

 

There’s a catch there, though. Facebook won’t show all of your followers your post. Instead, your post will be visible only to some people, based on the engagement rate. Twitter seems to be adopting a similar algorithm.

 

Also, keep in mind that you can advertise on social media to ask people to “Like” or “Follow” your business. That’s a one-time cost that can pay big dividends for your future social media marketing efforts.

Wrapping It Up

 

Social media marketing is an excellent way to build brand name awareness and keep in touch with people who are in your target market. If you aren’t using social media to promote your business, start doing so today.