Welcome to the 21^st Century. Be it a digital native or immigrant, it’s crucial to adapt to the times in this ever-changing world. With society so caught up in using social media 24/7, it is not a surprise that conventional marketing efforts no longer work. As the former statement suggests, you need to keep moving forward if you want to continually make progress, and at the same time to look back and see whether your learnings and skills from the traditional marketing days can be applied to the new age of marketing.

Social media marketing, or SMM, is a form of internet marketing that involves creating and sharing content on social media networks in order to achieve your marketing and branding goals. These includes activities like posting text and image updates, videos, and other content that keeps the audience engaged, as well as paid social media advertising. Here are a few tips that WordStream gives to amateurs and newbies to consider before begin marketing on social media:

Start with a Plan

Before you even begin creating social media campaigns, you have to know what the goals of your business are going to be. Having a strategy in mind is important otherwise you would never prepare for the worst case scenario should that arise. Think of it like going to war without a gun, which will not end up so well.

Here are some questions to ask when as you define your social media marketing goals:

• What are you hoping to achieve through social media marketing?

• Who is your target audience?

• Where would your target audience hang out and how would they use social media?

• What message do you want to send to your audience with social media marketing?

Social media marketing strategies would also depend on what kind of business the organization is in. These are just some of the goals that social media marketing can help achieve once you start putting your mind to it:

• Increases website traffic

• Builds conversions

• Raises brand awareness

• Creates a brand identity and positive brand association

• Improves communication and interaction with key audiences

The larger and the more engaged your audience is on these social media networks, crossing off each goal on the list will be a snap.

And now that you know, you must apply.

Social Marketing Tips

Here are just a few social media marketing tips to kick off your social media campaigns.

• Social Media Content Planning — At the heart of every solid foundation lies a plan. There is no right or wrong plan, there is only the company’s plan. To begin that plan, you must do keyword research and competitive research to help brainstorm content ideas that might pique your target audience. Analyze what your competitors are up to and how they continually manage to attract the masses in social media. Once you’ve done so, ask yourself: What can I do to make my plan unique and innovative? 

• Great Social Content — From time to time, marketers continuously update their customers with new promos or new product launching to make sure that they are not forgotten. In this manner, posting new updates regularly with what the audience desires will give them enough reason to keep coming back to you; content-wise, it can be anything ranging from social media images, videos, infographics, how-to guides and more.

• A Consistent Brand Image — Making use of social media for marketing purposes enables your business to further widen your brand image across a variety of different social media platforms (e.g. Febook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, etc…). Consistency is key in staying true to your organization’s core identity despite the own unique environment and voice each platform offers.

• Social Media for Content Promotion — Social media marketing is a perfect avenue for sharing your best site and blog content with readers. Once you have managed to make a name for yourself with the readers that they trust and love on social media, it becomes easier to post newer and fresher content that the viewers would not want to miss out on. After all, only a great blog with juicy content will help you build more followers (nobody likes dry and stale content). It is not surprising that content marketing and social media marketing go hand-in-hand with each other. Have I mentioned that it is absolutely free?

• Sharing Curated Links — While using social media for marketing is a great way to take advantage of your own unique, original content to gain followers, fans, and devotees, it serves as an opportunity to give access to other articles as well. It pays to give credit to other links, especially when other video content creators link your video in return. After all, curating and linking to outside sources improves trust and reliability. 

• Tracking Competitors — It is not a bad idea to monitor the competition once in a while as it provides valuable data for keyword research and other social media marketing insight that might help on your next social media campaign. Learn from them and apply. If it’s working for them, it might just work for you too. But do it better!

• Measuring Success with Analytics —How would you know if your social media marketing worked if you have no idea on how to track the data? Google Analytics is the key. This program can be used as a great social media marketing tool that will help you measure your most triumphant social media marketing techniques, as well as determine which strategies are better off without. Simply attach tracking tags to your social media marketing campaigns so that it can be properly monitored. And make sure each social media platform’s techniques are analyzed  for even more insight into which of your social content is performing best with your audience.

Choosing the Best Social Media Platforms for Marketing

With so many social media marketing sites and platforms, it must be a dilemma on which platform must be used first. After all, no two platforms are alike, so it can be assumed that various approaches are needed. Develop a unique strategy tailored for each platform. Here’s a brief overview about how to use social media for marketing according to each platform’s unique user base and environment. 

Using Facebook for Social Media Marketing

This is perhaps the most common social media platform commonly used by the masses in promoting their business or products as Facebook’s casual, friendly environment would require an active social media marketing strategy. Start by creating a Facebook Business Fan Page. Even then, you might want to pay extra attention to the layout, as the visual component is a key aspect of the Facebook experience.

Facebook is a place people go to relax and chat with friends, so keep your tone light and friendly. And remember, organic reach on Facebook can be extremely limited, so consider a cost-effective Facebook ad strategy, which can have a big impact on your organic Facebook presence as well!

Using Twitter for Social Media Marketing

For those who have not heard, Twitter is the second most commonly used social media platform that allows you to send your updates across the web. By following “tweeters” in your industry or related fields, you manage to gain a steady stream of followers in return.

You might consider mixing up your official tweets about specials, discounts, and news with fun, brand-building tweets. Do not forget to retweet when a client has something nice to say about you, and make sure to answer people’s questions whenever possible. Using Twitter as a social media marketing tool revolves around dialogue and communication, so be sure to interact as much as possible to nurture and build your following.

Using YouTube for Social Media Marketing

In terms of video content, the first thing that comes to mind is YouTube since it is the perfect place for creating and sharing video content. YouTube can also be an incredibly powerful social media marketing tool. Many businesses try to create video content with the aim of having their video “go viral,” but in reality those chances are pretty slim. One such brilliant instance would be last year’s video when Samsung drew first blood in mocking Apple’s iPhone telling users to let go of the iPhone and upgrade to Samsung’s Galaxy phone because of its numerous advantages. Focus on creating useful, instructive “how-to” videos and DIY (do-it-yourself) videos as these types normally rake in the views. 

Using Pinterest for Social Media Marketing 

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social media marketing trends. Pinterest’s image-centered platform is ideal for retail, but anyone can benefit from using Pinterest for social media purposes or sales-driving ads.

Pinterest allows businesses to showcase their product offerings while also developing brand personality with eye-catching, unique pinboards. When developing your Pinterest strategy, remember that the social network’s primary audience is female. If that’s your demographic, you need a presence on Pinterest!

These are just some of the social media platforms that can be used to promote your product. But of course, there are always more to explore. So find out which platform best suits your social media campaign needs and get right to it!