By now, you’ve probably heard of social media marketing and how it can benefit your business, but what about you hasn’t decided if it’s worth the effort? You might be worried that social media marketing won’t work for your industry or that the tools are too complicated to use, but those aren’t the only reasons you should be giving social media marketing a try. Here are just some ways how social media marketing benefits your business and why your business should take advantage of them immediately.

What is social media marketing?

Although not all social media channels are created equal, there are some great reasons why you should be marketing them. Here’s a look at how your business can benefit from social media marketing. With over 2 billion people using social media platforms (per reports from Statista and Hootsuite), getting your brand into users’ feeds is a no-brainer. You just need to know what type of channel fits best with your product or service. Think outside of Facebook! Depending on who you ask, they may tell you that Facebook has lost its popularity due to privacy concerns or will soon lose steam because young people aren’t spending as much time there as in years past. These kinds of opinions are commonplace among older generations; however, I know that these opinions simply aren’t true. In fact, 88% of Internet users visit Facebook daily. If you want to reach an audience that wants to engage with your content, then it’s worth considering posting there. However, when it comes to creating content for other social media channels, don’t think about it too narrowly: video tends to perform well on sites like YouTube and Instagram, while Pinterest is an obvious choice for boards and images.

B2B vs. B2C

If you’re just starting out, it might be tempting to choose a B2C (business-to-consumer) social media marketing strategy. By developing an online presence for your business, you can help sell more products and services to individual consumers and avoid large advertising fees associated with B2B (business-to-business) marketing strategies. However, if you are targeting very niche audiences or offering highly specialized goods or services, it might be better to focus on B2B social media marketing rather than start from scratch with a new brand name. It really depends on who your target audience is; if you’re trying to reach potential employers looking for job candidates in their industry, then B2B is probably best. While there are social networks such as Linkedin that appeal to both types of buyers, there are pros and cons to each type.
Once you have a B2B vs. B2C social media marketing plan all laid out and ready to go, find some real fans of your company on those networks so you can build up initial momentum quickly.

Social Media Marketing Strategies

As a business owner, it’s imperative that you know how to use social media. There are so many different platforms to utilize and each of them allows you to market your brand in a unique way. Not all strategies work for every company; however, if you do some research on what has worked for other businesses like yours, then incorporate some of those strategies into your own marketing plan, you will see success! The key is knowing which platform(s) will be best for your brand. Start by thinking about your audience. If you run an e-commerce store, maybe Instagram isn’t right for you—consider Pinterest or Facebook instead. Knowing who your target audience is, will help determine where they spend their time online and therefore where they can discover more about your products or services. Remember to also consider demographics when deciding where to focus your efforts online. Age and gender play a big role in determining interests and thus where someone spends their time. For example, if you’re selling items geared toward men over 40 years old, maybe it makes sense to focus your attention on LinkedIn versus Pinterest or Twitter. Once you have narrowed down your audience and determined which platform is most appropriate for reaching them, now comes some fun brainstorming! Brainstorming ideas with your team can give you the best results when trying to create engaging content for users on social media channels.

Tools For Successful Social Media Marketing

Hootsuite, Buffer, SproutSocial, TweetDeck, Loomly, and Radian6 are among your best bets for social media marketing. These tools will help you manage multiple accounts at once and streamline your posts so that you can reach a larger audience without spending extra time on social media. And with features like analytics to see what works and what doesn’t, these apps make it easy to determine which strategies give you (and your business) more bang for your buck. More than anything else, these tools enable small business owners to track ROI based on their efforts—so they know exactly how much their efforts contribute to success later down the line. If you aren’t using one of these platforms yet, now is a great time to get started!

What Are the Benefits of Social Media Marketing?

There are a number of benefits to using social media marketing for your business. First, social media marketing is relatively inexpensive compared to other types of marketing. Furthermore, no matter what size your company is, you have access to social media platforms. Lastly, most people already use social media regularly as part of their daily lives; therefore, they can easily share your content with their friends and family online through a wide variety of platforms. Social Media Marketing Can Benefit Small Companies: In addition to larger companies, social media marketing is also beneficial for small businesses since it doesn’t cost much money or time to set up an account on Twitter or Facebook. For instance, some companies might not be able to afford pay-per-click advertisements on Google AdWords. However, having a profile on Twitter is free, which means that all smaller companies can take advantage of a social media presence if they choose to do so. Regardless of what size company you operate, you still have the opportunity to grow your brand using social media marketing tools like those available from Hootsuite. Social media marketing helps B2B companies Too: Although social media marketing is often associated with consumer products companies, there are many B2B (business-to-business) companies that benefit from building their brands online. As more and more consumers read about brands in news articles and blogs, it becomes increasingly important for businesses to build an active presence on reputable sites across all verticals. Social media is more accessible than ever before. Finally, one of the biggest benefits of using social media marketing for your business is that everyone has easy access to it today.

Challenges of Successful SMM

By some accounts, social media marketing is one of the most effective digital marketing strategies you can use. But if it’s so effective, why aren’t more businesses taking advantage of it? The answer is that successful social media marketing isn’t easy. A lot of hard work and determination go into building a loyal community on social media and keeping it engaged with your brand. Engagement is what keeps your customers coming back for more, and SMM helps you do just that. Here are some challenges of successful social media marketing: You have to create good content constantly; You have to be responsive to customer concerns (i.e., listen closely); You have to post at regular intervals; You have to actively engage with your audience (i.e., respond). Though these challenges may seem daunting, they present opportunities for you as well—opportunities like increased revenue and increased customer loyalty, both of which contribute immensely to business success. If you decide to take advantage of social media marketing, see it as an opportunity rather than a threat. Above all else, make sure that you deliver quality updates consistently through whichever network(s) you choose to focus on. Doing so will increase the likelihood of positive outcomes for your business in short order. Good luck!