Strategy might seem to go against everything you think you know about social media. Those laid back Facebook updates, brief Twitter thoughts, or fleeting Snapchats don't look like they are part of a larger plan.
However, for businesses serious about growing their online presence, strategy is absolutely necessary to their social media marketing campaigns. And, you might be surprised how many of those seemingly spur of the moment posts are actually part of a well thought out strategy.
When it comes to your social media marketing strategy, you have many goals from which you can choose. Here are just a few of the most common reasons small businesses may want to pursue social media marketing.
Social Media Marketing Goal 1: Making Money
Or, as you might prefer to call it, earning conversions. Getting people to buy from your business (or do other things, like donate to your non profit or sign up for an email list) is the gold star of marketing. Once you get people to commit to you, and, even better, become loyal customers, you are making profits and referrals that help your business grow.
As a result, using social media marketing to increase conversions is a common tactic. How does social media contribute to this goal? First, ads on social media can drive sales on your website. In addition, some platforms, like Instagram, allow people to purchase directly from your business through the platform.
Second, as you build a winsome social media presence, you become a more appealing option for people looking for your goods and services. If they know about you, and like you, they will be more likely to buy from you.
Social Media Marketing Goal 2: Building Brand Awareness
While making money is the end goal of most marketing efforts, there are other goals you can adopt for your social media marketing campaigns. One of these is brand awareness.
Increasing the number of people who know about your brand, understand your brand, and think positively about your brand is a good goal for any business. However, your business may especially benefit from brand awareness if it is a small business, a new business, or a misunderstood business. In these cases, building brand awareness can go a long way toward improving people's perceptions of your brand.
Social media can build brand awareness by giving you a platform for portraying who you are as a company. In addition, because social media allows information to travel quickly through networks of people, it can also allow for word about your brand to spread quickly through your target audiences.
As a result, brand awareness is the number one reason businesses pursue social media marketing. And, with metrics available to show you how far your posts reach, it is easy to get an idea of how well known your brand is.
Social Media Marketing Goal 3: Generate Leads
Leads are people who are interested in your business and with whom you can follow up in an attempt to convert them into paying customers. The more qualified the lead is, the more relevant they find your business and the more likely they are to convert.
Social media can deliver qualified leads if you have an effective social media marketing campaign. Primarily, social media can deliver people to the beginning of your sales funnel, where they hear about and become interested in your business. You can then use the other pieces of your digital marketing campaign, such as your website, to advance them along the funnel toward conversion.
Social Media Marketing Goal 4: Drive Website Traffic
Website traffic is not the only, nor even the most important, part of a successful marketing campaign. However, the more website traffic you enjoy, the more leads, conversions and brand awareness you are likely to enjoy as well.
As a result, many businesses use their social media marketing campaigns to drive traffic to their websites. How can social media do so? By providing links to your website content (such as blogs) and by raising brand awareness that makes people want to seek your business out.
There are, of course, many other reasons to pursue a social media marketing campaign. For example, you may want to build rapport with customers, overcome negative perceptions of your brand, provide customer service, or improve your SEO success.
Regardless of your reasons for pursuing social media marketing, professionals like Distinct can help you succeed. Let us assist you with crafting a comprehensive digital marketing campaign that includes social media marketing to improve your business success.
