WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA IMPORTANT FOR

WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESS GROWTH?

By Lubna Salam

Despite the fact that the term “Social Media Marketing” has spread and been discussed in a variety of fields, there still remains a number of businesses that are struggling to understand the methods of social media marketing, as well as how to apply them. In this article, I’ll maneuver through the different forms of social media marketing, as well as the procedures required to implement effective marketing plans.

First, I may describe social media marketing as: “the process of producing tailored content for each social media platform in order to share the business’s product, promote its products and services, and encourage potential clients to become clients’’. This is because you’re running a business, you can take advantage of online marketing to achieve the goals of the project you are advertising.

The modern generation of business experts believe in technologically sophisticated tools, such as social media, which has the potential to change the way businesses operate. Regardless of how creative a new business model is, it must still send the correct message to the target audience, which may be accomplished through the usage of social media.

HOW CAN YOU USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE?

Social media has become an essential element of business growth plans because it can have a social effect as well as generate emotional connections and loyalty that connect you with your target audience and clients. Social media has been around for a while, but many businesses still don’t know how to use it. On the other side, there are many businesses who utilize social media in a variety of productive ways, including some that use it to learn about people’s thoughts and feedback, or to evaluate their reach and audience engagement, or to target a certain portion of the audience through paid advertisements to market their products.

BUSINESSES CAN BENEFIT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:

„ Boost brand awareness.

„ Creating interactive communities. „ Advertise and sell products and services to the target audience. „ Listen to the audience to gauge brand sympathy. „ Customer service using social media channels.

The larger and more interactive your social media audience, the easier it will be to reach all of your marketing objectives.

YOU NOW HAVE A CRUCIAL QUESTION: WHERE DO I START?

We recommend that you begin by identifying the goals of your business and then create a list of social media goals, since the technique and goals of marketing are heavily influenced by the type, objectives, and vision of the business.

The first stage in developing an effective strategy is to identify your objectives. You have no means of measuring the success and return on investment (ROI) of your business if you don’t set goals. Each of your goals should be S.M.A.R.T. :

Specific \ Measurable \ Attainable \ Relevant / TimeBound I’LL GIVE YOU TWO EXAMPLES

Profitable Business: Assume you operate a store that offers locally made clothing, and the store is highly successful, so people follow its social media platforms, but you’re unconcerned about your activity on these platforms. In this situation, you may use some of the following suggestions to improve your marketing plan in order to increase online interaction and sales while also meeting your objectives: „ Make sponsored promos to boost your following, engagement, and sales. „ Create some teaser posts or competitions, as well as unique offers, to help you attract a large number of people and improve the page’s reach and activity. „ To enhance sales, details about the store’s items and services must be provided on a frequent basis. „ Create special content for existing followers, such as information or tips, to keep them engaged and interested.

Non-profit business: We’re talking about a community initiative or a charity organisation that requires numerous relations and campaigns, as well as the ability to schedule television interviews. If you haven’t yet activated social media platforms, now is the time to do so by following the procedures outlined below: „ Create and market social media platforms using phone numbers, relevant posts, emails, and websites, as well as appearing on television through related shows or promotions. „ Create sponsored advertisements for promotional purposes. „ Social media marketing postings may be used to raise awareness of important topics, promote activities and events, or bring more interested and relevant individuals to fund or support. „ To raise the number of followers and interaction on the platforms, create re-shareable content and acquire audience compassion.

I didn’t include all of the strategies or methods that you may use, because there are many tricks and tips in social media marketing, and they’re continuously expanding with the rise of apps and platforms used.

HOWEVER, HERE ARE SOME GUIDELINES OF THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:

1. Identify buyer and audience personas: Analyzing your buyer and audience persona will allow you to decide what content will attract the sort of followers and customers you want to obtain, as well as how to develop compelling content to keep your followers engaged, for example: (age, location, income, career, interests, social status, etc). 2. Choose the major social media marketing platforms: this is determined by the demands of your target audience and where they spend their time. 3. Collect data: Social media analytics gives you a wealth of information on who your followers are, where they reside, and how they engage with your

business on social media, allowing you to refine your approach and better target your audience. 4. Learn about your competitors: Learn about what they do by conducting analysis that allows you to understand what expected to do in the field your business is in.

5. Create unique and engaging content: Consider what material your audience are posting and how you can advertise your business in a unique way to help you get creative. 6. Create a content calendar: These tools enable you to make content, prepare images and videos, and schedule postings in advance. There are several tools available to help you share your content automatically and track all post interactions, for example: (Hootsuite, Sprout social, Hubspot). 7. Find inspiration: You may obtain ideas from other excellent businesses on social media.

8. Analyze your impact and results: Track all of your postings on each platform, which you can accomplish by analyzing and controlling your social media stats.

SOCIAL MEDIA METRICS

Engagement: Clicks, comments, likes, and reactions to your social media postings are all included in this category. Reach: Number of people that saw any content linked with your Page. Followers: Number of people that clicked the “Follow” button on your Page. Impressions: Number of times a post on your Page has been seen. Views: Videos on Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms. Visits: Number of people that opened your page. Mentions: How many times people mentioned your Page in their posts. Tags: When people tag your Page name in another post. Re-post: Number of people that shared your content on their profile, this is referred to as a repost. Share: Content that your fans and audience take from your page and post on their public or private pages

CONCLUSION

Creating a social media marketing plan is one of the most challenging tasks since it needs you to evaluate, study, and consider the larger picture. However, it’s critical to have a social media marketing plan in place where you don’t just post content for the sake of posting, but also to achieve your business goals.