Social media is one of the key driving forces in online marketing. The impact of social media is very obvious because we are in a tech-savvy age and it’s only logical that more than half the world’s population would be influenced technologically. Since social media is an aspect of technology, it means that most of our potential customers are on social media. By “potential customers”, I mean people who can be found on social media platforms who may just be interested in the service you have to offer depending on their needs and wants. Now that we know the importance of social media in online marketing, let us jump right into the steps in making the best out of this great tool:
Make sure you have good content
If you already have available content you want to market, you must ask yourself if the content is something that will resonate with your potential customers. Is your content just average or is it top-notch? The market is very competitive and people are only looking for the best of the best products and services. The key to having good content is to acquire as much skills and knowledge as you can on that content until you become a pro. If you can do what it takes to develop good content, you will definitely reap the fruits of your hard work when you reach out to your target audience.
Learn the basic skills of marketing
Content and marketing are close siblings and they always go hand in hand. Once you have your content sorted out, the next thing you need to look into is your marketing skills. It is important that you learn: the latest social media marketing tips, online marketing, dos and don’ts of growing a
Youtube channel (or whatever platform you want to use). Don’t just rely on your content alone; good marketing skills are also important to get you those customers you want. There are tons of websites online (
Youtube, Lynda.com, cousera.com and the likes) where you can learn social media for free or for some amount of money.
Identity your audience
In order to market your content effectively, you need to know who your audience are and what platforms they are on. This requires you to define your demographics [“the characteristics of human populations for purposes of social studies” source:
Wikitionary]. If your demographics skew towards the younger generation, Snapchat will most likely be their platform. If you are into blogging, you can share your blog post with an attractive picture on platforms like
LinkedIn groups or
Pinterest. It is essential that you know which platforms your demographics skew towards so that you can display your content on them.
Master social media platforms
Identifying the platforms your target audience is on is only a part of the puzzle. You also need to be ahead of your game on these platforms. When you have succeeded in identifying the platform your target audience is on, spend a considerable amount of time studying what works on this particular platform. For instance , if your target audience is on
Instagram, browse through the internet for best business marketing strategies on Instagram. You can also study the page of a business in the same field as yours and observe how they market on Instagram.
Engage with your audience
This is one area most social media marketers neglect. If you are just posting your content without any form of customer engagement, it may not create much effect. People will react to your brand emotionally if you can reach out to them. Asking for feedback and giving room for honest reviews about your brand from your customers can give you cues on what your customers expect from you. This takes a lot of work but if you can execute this effectively, you will not only be aware of what measures to take but you will also succeed in creating good impressions on your customers.
Think from your audience’s perspective
The last thing you want to do is go posting your content on social media without knowing if it has all the qualities your audience is looking out for. No matter how good your content is, it will be meaningless to your target audience if it is not relatable to them. Hence, think critically before you post any content for your intended audience. If you realize it’s not something they want to see, dispose of it and look for a better alternative.
