Social Media Marketing - Goals and Effectiveness
Social media marketing is becoming more and more prevalent, with brands using it to grow their market share. With that said, social media marketing can be difficult because it is not always the most effective way of reaching your audience. There are many factors that influence whether an audience will be receptive to your message or not when you use social media marketing.
This blog post will discuss the goals of social media and how to use it effectively in order to make sure your brand attracts a large number of followers who will support you for long periods of time without just hopping on board for a short-term trend.
Websites: http://www.bloggerfreebiespoints.blogspot.com/
Blog Post: http://www.bloggerfreebiespoints.blogspot.com/2009/12/social-media-marketing-goals-and.html
Key Takeaways
Social media marketing takes place when a company uses the Internet to reach out to its audience, either by directly engaging with them through comments and conversations or by creating followers who will be receptive to your message without any prior knowledge of the brand or you personally having to do much in terms of advertising. The goal of social media marketing is to create an online community that will interact with and support you for years to come. It's vital to decide exactly why you want to use social media marketing, what your short-term goals are and how you will measure the effectiveness of your efforts.
Identify Your Goals: Before creating a strategy for social media marketing, it's important to first identify exactly the goals your brand has for being on social media sites. You might have a wide variety of reasons for wanting to be on Facebook or Twitter, but if you don't have an overarching objective in mind, it's hard to judge whether or not those sites will work in your favor. Make sure your goals are realistic and in tune with the image of your brand.
Before creating a strategy for social media marketing, it's important to first identify exactly the goals your brand has for being on social media sites. You might have a wide variety of reasons for wanting to be on Facebook or Twitter, but if you don't have an overarching objective in mind, it's hard to judge whether or not those sites will work in your favor. Make sure your goals are realistic and in tune with the image of your brand. Use Social Media for Relevance: Whether it's your company's mission, ethics or vision that motivates you to use social media, you need to be cautious of the kind of message you're trying to send out. Social media is intended to connect with and interact with users, not promote your business. So before you start engaging with followers, you need to make sure that everything in your campaigns fits in line with your brand image.
Whether it's your company's mission, ethics or vision that motivates you to use social media, you need to be cautious of the kind of message you're trying to send out. Social media is intended to connect with and interact with users, not promote your business. So before you start engaging with followers, you need to make sure that everything in your campaigns fits in line with your brand image. Track Results: Social media can be very effective for introducing a brand to new audiences, but it does not necessarily mean that those new followers will be interested in your products. You might post an article about the benefits of chocolate with a picture of the candy and receive a lot of likes, but if most people who like the post for advertising are not the type of people who are likely to buy the chocolate product, then using social media marketing would have been harmful to your brand image. In order to track results and measure your progress, it's important to post content that is relevant to your audience, and then monitor the engagement of your content on these sites.
Social media can be very effective for introducing a brand to new audiences, but it does not necessarily mean that those new followers will be interested in your products. You might post an article about the benefits of chocolate with a picture of the candy and receive a lot of likes, but if most people who like the post for advertising are not the type of people who are likely to buy the chocolate product, then using social media marketing would have been harmful to your brand image. In order to track results and measure your progress, it's important to post content that is relevant to your audience, and then monitor the engagement of your content on these sites. Set Realistic Goals: Although social media can really help out a brand when it comes to getting its name out there, there is a limit as to how much social media can really do for you or your business. You have to be realistic with what you're trying to achieve in terms of goals and product exposure. If you get too many followers who don't support your brand or purchase your products, then in the long run it will hurt your reputation instead of helping you out.
Although social media can really help out a brand when it comes to getting its name out there, there is a limit as to how much social media can really do for you or your business. You have to be realistic with what you're trying to achieve in terms of goals and product exposure. If you get too many followers who don't support your brand or purchase your products, then in the long run it will hurt your reputation instead of helping you out. Set Realistic Expectations: If you've already seen the benefits of social media marketing and you are more than satisfied with the results, then it's time to figure out how far you can take your brand and what further goals you want to achieve. You should consider advertising on social media sites only if they make sense for your business, since it's not the cheapest way to get your name out there. You might find that Facebook advertising is a lot cheaper than buying Google ads, but in the long run this should not affect things.
Conclusion
Social media marketing is a great method to promote your brand and reach out to new audiences. By following these tips, you can get the best out of your marketing campaigns and reach the customers who will be receptive to your message. Using social media to promote brands does not have to be expensive or overly-sketchy, but it does require a delicate touch. You need to make sure that everything in your campaign is relevant and that you are constantly monitoring your progress and adjusting to achieve higher success rates.
Do you have experience with social media marketing? Share some tips with us in the comments section below!
Photo credit: Chia seng via Flickr creative commons licensing 2.0 photo (used under CC licence).