Social media marketing is essential in any Digital Marketing strategy of a company.
And today you will find the answer to what is social media marketing and what are the best strategies in 2021, which all marketing professionals and agencies should know to ensure that their strategy is effective.
Consumer habits change, platforms evolve or new platforms emerge. All this influences the way in which people and companies make use of social media marketing.
It is important for marketing agencies to stay ahead when it comes to social media. In order to do so, they’ll need to have the right tools at their disposal, an up-to-date strategy and the necessary skills to do so.
Either to get followers or potential customers and generate more engagement with them or to get sales.
but… What exactly is social media marketing?
Social Media Marketing is a part of the marketing strategy, which is developed in social networks. In other words, it is the set of these actions destined to publicise the services or products of a company and in this way, generate a link with its community.
The foundation of Social Media Marketing is to establish a relationship with customers, to achieve their goals. It is complemented by some marketing actions. The most used are:
- Content Marketing.
- Email marketing.
- SEO and SEM strategies.
- Social Ads
All these actions are part of a complete Inbound Marketing strategy.
The key to all the concepts is that Social Media Marketing refers to the strategic creation of a new communication channel with a 100% digital audience. There is hardly anyone who is not participating in one or another type of social platforms. Either exchanging emails, using chat or even posting photos ...
Not being present on the Internet at least in social networks and a web page, in current times is not an option for companies, whatever their product or service. Everything related to social media marketing represents a continuous learning process to always look for the best way to attract users and attract them to the brand.
How to make a social media marketing strategy:
First, you need to understand that a marketing strategy in social networks is a set of marketing actions that are carried out to achieve the objectives of a company and that are part of the social media marketing plan.
All social media marketing steps and details should be in the strategy, to plan, implement and measure the entire procedure.
Today we’re going to explain to you how to make a social media marketing strategy.
1. Define the objectives:
The first thing to do is define the objectives of your company, that is, what the business intends to achieve.
If we don't know what we want, how are we going to get it? They can be several objectives.
Branding? Increase your online community? Customer Support? Increase web traffic? Sell with your online store? Etc.
2. Target and audiences:
We must define our audience or target audience (age, gender, academic training, occupation, socioeconomic level, etc.)
You must find where your audience is, and with this we mean, who is your audience.
This step will be the key to the success of your strategy, as a message directed to the wrong audience translates into money and wasted effort.
And how does your target audience find it? For example, if your business is based on baby articles, the ideal would be that you look in forums of mothers or in groups on Facebook. Facebook would be the ideal network for this business. So focus on not wasting time.
3. Analysis of initial situation and competition:
The analysis of the initial situation in which our company could find itself.
In social networks, it is the key point to start the social media marketing strategy. It is also essential to know which social networks our public use and analyze the social networks strategy of our competition.
This analysis is known as a social media audit and it analyzes the following points of our project:
- Analysis of the project website.
- Information about the company's social media marketing strategy.
- Advertising on social networks, Social Ads.
- Analysis of the online reputation of the project.
- Online competition analysis.
WTSO Analysis
Now with all that initial analysis and competition data, we will do a more in-depth analysis, called Dafo analysis, which focuses on strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) and opportunities and threats (external factors).
This analysis is to see where we start and be able to mark a social media marketing strategy that gives us results.
- Weaknesses: Internal factors that limit the possibilities.
For example: videos of you do not make.
- Threats: External factors that can make it difficult for the company to achieve its objectives.
For example: your competition makes videos twice a week and you don't.
- Strengths: Internal factors that the company has a competitive advantage and that will allow it to overcome threats.
Example: You were approved for a grant and you will be able to hire one more person and improve conditions
- Opportunities: External factors that can give the company a competitive advantage.
For example: you are going to hire one more person to make videos.
From now on we can know the most important basic aspects of our company so we can begin to see possible actions to be implemented.
What social networks to use?
Is it necessary to use all social networks in our social media marketing strategy?
Well no, only those in which we believe our target audience is.
By being present on social networks, you will give greater diffusion to your brand, product or service.
Interacting with the community that is generated around your business will help you get customers and retain them.
In addition to adding value to the content and solving any possible doubts that may arise. It is highly recommended, always reply to comments on social networks or blogs.
The most used social networks are:
1. Facebook:
Facebook is an American company that offers social networking services and it was launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg.
It is still the most used social network and contributes a lot of social traffic to your company's website. It works amazingly to share your blog articles on your Facebook page and also in Facebook groups of your preference.
2. Twitter:
I personally believe that Twitter is the best Social Media Marketing tool. It is the one that has the highest percentage of visits to your website since it uses a microblogging technique, which allows users to send short text messages called tweets.
Posting continuously at different times of the day, links to your blog articles and attracts more traffic to the web.
Its advertising is very cheap and helps you work on branding and gives you some online visibility.
Twitter is the most direct social network for interaction between users between the client and the company, being a very good customer service tool.
3. Linkedin:
Used more for B2B companies, Connecting with business professionals in any industry is easier with LinkedIn.
As with all social networks, LinkedIn prioritises relationship building more than any other.
Don't take it to a sales pitch - you should start by building a connection.
4. Instagram:
The content is more visual and although we have not shown in our experiments that it brings traffic to our blog, it does improve your branding and brand image and engagement.
It is the social network of photos and it is growing exponentially. You can search free image banks if you need free photos or free videos to share.
Instagram offers the opportunity to carry out marketing campaigns with micro-influencers and influencers, showing your products in photos.
A great way to build trust in your potential buyers and make them feel like they are part of your brand.
5. Youtube:
In this social network, videos are the protagonists, which makes it ideal within the Social Media Marketing strategy. Since this more visual and creative content allows constant communication between the brand and its audience.
YouTube can drive massive traffic to your website, as Google also indexes videos in search results.
You should invest in videos that show your products and processes of what you think is relevant to show.
As we have seen, social networks play a crucial role in Social Media Marketing strategies.
6. Google My Business:
Google My Business is a free social media marketing tool that allows you to show your business in search results. So they will find you more easily.
Verified businesses that appear on Google are twice as likely to be trusted by users.
Being on Google My Business can help customers discover your products and services, contact you, and find your location.
Create Successful Marketing Strategies For Your Business Today!
If you are looking for a company to head your marketing efforts on Facebook, Google, or Instagram, we have the means to help make it successful. Feel free to book a quick strategy call with us today! Let's discuss your goals and how we both can get you there.