Social media marketing refers to the use of social media and social networks to market a brand, company, products, and/or services. Social media marketing (SMM) is an effective way for companies and brands to interact with current customers as well as potential customers.

The benefits of social media marketing include:

• Creating brand recognition: this is one of the top goals for any company. Customers make multiple purchases from brands they know. Social media marketing can make getting to know your brand a much easier task.
• Cost-effective marketing: social media marketing is very cost-effective. For a company that is on a budget, this is especially appealing. You can create user profiles for free and create posts that will be of interest to users in hopes of drawing them to your website.
• Increased sales: social media marketing is one of the top marketing strategies that leads to increased revenue.
• Learning what customers and potential customers are interested in: social media marketing allows you to see what users are talking about, what impresses them, and what they want. This can help you tailor your posts to them.
• Improved customer service: whether a customer has a negative or positive review, being able to express their opinion on social media and having a company personally respond can do wonders to improve customer satisfaction. Not only will the customer feel heard and appreciated, but anyone else who sees the post and response will realize it’s a company that cares.

Some of the common social media sites used for social media marketing include LinkedIn, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. A company may choose to be active on all or just a few of the social media platforms. Knowing the target audience and which one they use regularly can be beneficial in choosing which social media site will work best.

Another thing to consider when starting a social media marketing campaign is whether you want to take a passive or active approach. With the passive approach, social media marketing revolves more about having a lot of content to post and share. This content can include articles, blog posts, videos, helpful resources, etc. With this approach, followers and others who come across your posts and enjoy them will have the ability to share them, giving you even more exposure. With the active approach to social media marketing, your time will be more focused on interacting with customers in real-time. This is one way you can target the demographic you’re aiming for. You can search keywords and direct ads toward social media users who are interested in the type of product or service that you want to promote. You don’t have to choose one or the other. If using a combination of active and passive works for your social media marketing needs, do that.

Don’t forget about mobile social media marketing when creating your campaign. With so many people using mobile devices to connect through social media, you want to make sure your campaign allows for access to your website as well as making purchasing as easy as possible.