Last Updated on Mar 30, 2020 by James W
Social media marketing is just one tiny aspect of the digital marketing family tree. In fact, it’s often seen as the ugly duckling. The runt of the litter. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Digital marketing budgets are constantly increasing as we continue to find new ways of reaching customers. Only a fraction of that increased budget, however, finds its way to the social media department. Why is that? Nobody is really sure, given that social media can often be the most effective marketing strategy on the web.
It’s often touted that, in order to find success and reach an optimal number of customers, your brand should be active on all platforms. And, while there is some truth to that claim, it doesn’t quite paint the full picture. By all means, your social media strategy should find ways to incorporate all of the most popular platforms. But some of them deserve more of your attention than others. Indeed, not all social media platforms are created equal. Let’s take a look at a few of the most popular, and when, why, and how you should look to target them.
I bet you would struggle to name a single person you know without an active Facebook account. That alone is enough to demonstrate the sheer power of Zuckerberg’s brainchild. With twice-daily posts targeting ads, events, and shareable content, you’ll reach a huge audience. Of course, Facebook has become monetized in recent years, which means you’ll have to pay a price for maximum visibility. It’s a worthy investment, though. Don’t doubt that for a second.
Conversation on Facebook spreads like wildfire. For every one person that likes or comments on your post, you could appear in thousands of timelines. It’s viral marketing in its most basic form. And with FB stock predictions showing consistent growth, it’s pretty safe to hedge your bets with the platform.
If your brand can paint a picture worth a thousand words, make Instagram marketing your utmost priority. Semi-regular visual content (you should average one post per day) will demonstrate your brand to your audience. Seeing is believing. Smart use of hashtags can draw relevant followers to your brand with ease.
To put it simply, there isn’t a brand on earth that shouldn’t be making use of Twitter as a commercial marketing entity. From startups to multinational organizations. Everyone should be harnessing the power that the little blue bird allows them to. Before even taking into account how easy it is to interact directly with your customers, let’s start at the top.
Twitter allows you to find, start, and join in conversations. There is arguably no other platform where social sharing in small doses takes such prominence. Quick, easy to digest snippets brimming with personality should include a frequent posting schedule. Target the most relevant trends for maximum appeal.
Mastering these three platforms will stand you in good stead. Then, you can begin to think about branching out elsewhere… Like Snapchat, LinkedIn, and Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, and Yelp.
