The Importance of Having a Social Media Marketing Strategy
The Importance of Having a Social Media Marketing Strategy
What Every Business Owner Needs to Know About the Importance of a Social Media Marketing Strategy
It's no secret that social media marketing is a critical piece of the online puzzle for businesses of all sizes. But what is less well known is that having a solid social media marketing strategy in place is the key to success. Without a process, you're likely to waste time and money on tactics that don't work, or worse, that can hurt your business. So how do you go about creating a social media marketing strategy that works for your business? In this post, we'll walk you through the steps.
What is social media marketing, and why do you need it?
Social Media Marketing is just that, marketing on Social Media. Utilizing social media platforms to market a brand's product and service allows marketers to connect and engage with their audience and attract new potential customers through consistent exposure. Social media facilitates brand awareness growth, creates the opportunity to build a loyal audience, and enables the business to become an authority within its particular niche.
“I use social media as an idea generator, trend mapper, and
strategic compass for our online business ventures."
Success in social media marketing demands the inclusion of valuable and engaging content that resonates with the brand and, in turn, the audience. Creating and implementing a Social Media Marketing strategy helps align the content plan with the business's goals. It is crucial to create content that speaks directly to the needs and wants of your ideal client and audience members. Building these connections between your content and your audience is part of what it takes to convert those social media impressions into sales for your business!
How does social media help your business grow?
Social media, by nature, is social, so keep it human, authentic, and social! Here are a few ways social media works to grow your business and brand.
- Attract customers with fresh and engaging content
- Increase your market reach beyond your physical location; social media sends your message far and wide into the world wide web and international markets.
- Build your brand’s awareness by reaching more people with less money than traditional marketing avenues while staying top of mind
- Authenticity in messaging helps build trust with the audience – this is an excellent opportunity to feature and embody the company's values.
- Establish yourself as a thought leader, an authority within the industry
What platforms are best for your company's social media strategy?
Choose the social media platforms that are most appropriate for your brand or business. Choose platforms relevant to your ideal audience and where your brand/business can be represented and seen by your ideal audience. According to WordStream, the most popular social media platforms for marketing are:
Why it’s important to create valuable Social Media content that your audience will love!
Creating valuable content that resonates with your audience is critical. If content is King, then consistency is Queen! A consistent and well-thought-out content plan is essential to growing your audience, relevance, and your brand/business authority.
Business marketing traditions identify the 4 Pillars of Marketing Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. A fifth "P,” or People, has been added. All marketing efforts help position the brand to be recognizable, accessible, and sought after by the consumer. Social Media Marketing demands the same, but the focus of the marketing pillars changes.
According to Forbes, the Social Media Marketing Pillars to focus on when developing a strategy are:
- Uniqueness – how is your brand/business unique within the marketplace? How does it reflect the brand? How does it reflect you?
- Influence – how much influence does your brand have within its niche and in the eyes of its audience? How much power does your brand possess to sway your audience's perception?
- Trust –How much is your brand trusted by the consumer? You can build trust by providing honest, entertaining, educational, and positive content that your audience can engage and resonate with
- Relevance – how is your brand relevant within the marketplace? With your audience? With the current conversations of the day?
A successful content plan, using the social marketing pillars stated above, equips the brand with a roadmap to ensure its individuality and clearly express the key points, services, products, and message.
"The first rule of social media is that everything changes. What won't change is the community's desire to network." – Kami Huyse (@kamichat)
Each social media platform is ever-evolving and constantly changing | SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING | @DufferinMedia
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Social Media tends to keep business owners and agencies alike on their toes. Identifying how your brand differentiates from others in the marketplace is crucial to your brand's growth. The impressions and other analytics garnered from all your hard work.
Should you outsource your Social Media creation and scheduling?
Why should you outsource your social media? That’s a great question! We now know that social media can be an excellent tool for business growth. Still, it takes time to create and manage multiple channels effectively constantly.
Dufferin Media Can Help!
Dufferin Media has been assisting businesses of all sizes with their online marketing since 2010, so we know what works best in terms of strategy and execution. We offer a variety of packages that fit any size of business and budget.
One of our specialties is to offer a fully tailored social media marketing solution and strategic plan for your business. Dufferin Media is your strategic social media marketing agency dedicated to your business's social media success.
Whatever the size of your business, leveraging the power of social media can help build relationships and build your business credibility, trust, and reputation. It will even help enhance your rankings on Google. Trust us with your Social Media Marketing Strategy.
If you're ready to take your company's social media engagement up a notch without adding hours to your week, contact us to book a discovery call.
Author: Christy Brighton
