Social media marketing has quickly become an essential piece of an organization's marketing strategy. With millions of potential customers trafficking the Internet on a daily basis, social media platforms serve as centralized hubs for conversation and content sharing. Engaging with social media allows organizations to add their voices to the conversation and ultimately increase sales, promote brand recognition, and foster customer loyalty.
Here are some of the benefits of social media marketing:
1. It is inexpensive.Social media accounts are free to open, and it is possible to limit costs to the time and labor spent to maintain them and to the original content created for each platform. For this reason, smaller organizations have been able to compete with larger ones, adjusting their marketing strategy to fit the budget.
2. It allows for out-of-the-box creativity.The wide range of social media platforms and content-sharing options encourages organizations to be creative and take more risks in their marketing approaches.
3. It increases an organization’s reach.
Social media allows organizations to reach people in all corners of the world. With every “like” and “share” of a post, an organization’s message is magnified and has the potential to attain “viral” status. The ability to post from and link to other sites also opens opportunities to attract a new segment of followers who are interested in the cause or mission of the organization.
4. It connects businesses directly to their customers.
Social media marketing allows more fluid two-way interaction between the organization and the audience. Organizations can speak to a large audience while still maintaining the ability to have a personal conversation with any single user. Similarly, audiences can speak back and be heard--not only by the brand but also by the brand's audience.
5. It allows targeted advertising to subgroups.
With social media marketing, organizations are not married to a single campaign strategy; they can target different demographics, tailoring the messages to each one.
6. It facilitates easy reputation management.
Analytics easily allow businesses to see what works and what doesn't. By monitoring its social media accounts, a business can assess its reputation and make positive adjustments in real-time. Monitoring also helps in keeping on top of industry news and trends.
Of course, social media marketing also has drawbacks. For example, it requires fairly regular tending, and it requires trust in the individuals managing the accounts to use good taste in the content being created and posted. But ultimately, social media marketing has changed the way that sales, marketing, and customer service function; hence, it is a must-have for many organizations attempting to compete in the ever-increasingly online marketplace.
Skye Learning Certificate in Digital Marketing
