A Beginner’s Guide To Social Media Marketing

Every business needs to market its products or services in order to attract the attention of potential customers and generate sales. While there are many traditional means of advertising available, with a proven track record; no method is more cost-effective as social media. Additionally, social media marketing enables businesses to reach a wider audience. This is especially important for small to medium businesses with a lower budget. Here’s everything you need to know so you can start marketing through social media.

Different Platforms Attract Different Market Segments

Before you start focusing your energy on your Facebook page over others, and before you decide to buy Facebook followers, consider who you are targeting with your marketing campaign. Studies show that Facebook is more popular with the baby boomer generation, whereas Instagram has more millennial users (especially females). So, think carefully about who your target market is, and research which platforms they use more often. Your segmentation doesn’t necessarily need to be based on age – use any criteria that fits and research accordingly.

Your Content Can Change According To The Platform You Use

For the most effective marketing, you should change the type of content you post depending on the platform. For example, TikTok is more suitable for short comedic sketches, or quick facts about your product. Instagram is best for visually appealing photographic content. Therefore, you should tailor your content according to the platform you choose in order to make the most of your marketing campaign.

A Multi-Platform Approach Exposes Your Content To More People

If you want to improve your marketing campaign and make more impressions, you probably want to try mass marketing. A great way to reach a larger audience is to post your content on multiple platforms. Most people only frequent one or two social media platforms, even if they have accounts on more platforms. For example, millions of people have Facebook accounts that have been active for years, but are spending more time on TikTok and Instagram nowadays because they are the newer platforms. They still have an account on Facebook, but may only browse through it occasionally. So, if you want to reach more people, you really need to spread your content around different social media platforms.

Avoid Saturating Your Page With Promotional Content

A good rule of thumb is to post promotional content only 30% of the time. People are bombarded with advertisements in every nook and corner of the internet, and if your content is mainly promotional,  you may soon find that many people stop following your social media accounts. It’s best to post informational content that is related to your industry. This not only establishes you as an expert in your field,  but also showcases your products better. For example, a restaurant could show a short video of how they prepare a signature dish, instead of posting an advertisement showing a discount on the signature dish – this gets people more interested in trying the dish, even without a discount in prices.

Posting Regularly Will Keep Your Audience Engaged

The internet today is all about speed. Everything moves incredibly fast, so if you stop posting for a short period of time, people will quickly move on to the next best thing. On social media, you need to keep your audience constantly engaged to stay in the back of their mind. This doesn’t mean you need to post daily, but try to keep to a regular schedule – nothing less than twice a month. Your audience will come to expect your content at the scheduled times.

Social media marketing can be relatively simple, and even large scale marketing campaigns are easy to execute. All it takes is a little bit of dedication and work.