Learning about the importance of social media marketing as a Digital Marketing Apprentice
February 14, 2019
Social Media is a big aspect in all of our lives, whether it be to keep in touch with family, finding the perfect style icon or getting your business out there, we all know our way around at least one social media platform. Using it in a business capacity however requires a little more information and understanding about how it all works.
Since starting at Venture Stream in October, I’ve dived into social media marketing, learning the importance and impact it can have and why it’s such a crucial part of marketing. In this blog I touch upon the three main points I’ve learned about social media marketing and how it can be used and tailored for any business.
Deciding which social media platform
The first thing when it comes to putting your business on social media is deciding which platforms are going to be best for your brand. There will be multiple, but there may be one that you wish to focus on that you feel could perform better for your brand. To determine which platforms are right for you, think about what you want the social platform to do for you and who your target audience is.
Facebook is an all-rounder when it comes to the sheer number and diversity of its users, as people of all ages from across the world hold an account on this platform. But what Facebook can be great for is getting your business out there and creating widespread awareness. By creating a business page you can promote yourself, adding a company website, contact details, and a map so people can find you. Thanks to new updates, you can even have messenger connected so people can contact you instantly with any questions or queries regarding what you do. This can also be integrated with your ecommerce site so that abandon basket, order confirmations and other notifications can be sent straight to your customer’s Facebook messages. This adds an extra element of accessibility to your business, and in this era of consumers wanting everything at their fingertips immediately, this can be extremely helpful.
Twitter is a great platform to use to raise brand awareness, engage in specific conversation topics (#) and as a preferred customer service tool. Getting yourself a specific hashtag works wonders on Twitter as most of the hashtags are categorised making your business easy to be found and shared. Within twitter there are sections devoted to trending hashtags, people you may be interested in and an advanced search to find other accounts through hashtags. By getting your company name onto one of these sections, it will boost your following immensely. Twitter is the platform that allows you to really show personality with your brand, it’s less formal and more about the fun side. You have a little more freedom with your content here and can incorporate humour if this suits to encourage your target audience to relate and resonate with your company.
Sunday funday with double the trouble ???? [ ???? IG: jayde_jenson_rocco ] > #ImWearingRI https://t.co/hDSroq1D7R pic.twitter.com/XIRYIc0q8S
— River Island (@riverisland) February 10, 2019
LinkedIn can be more suitable for predominantly corporate businesses wanting to branch out for other companies to see, or to use as a recruitment tool to advertise vacancies, share business announcements and CSR news. It allows you to connect with other businesses in the same field as you with both start-up companies and well-established ones having their own pages. LinkedIn is the only platform that offers B2B (Business to Business) interaction successfully where the other social media platforms could be considered better for B2C (Business to Consumer) uses through the use of interactions.
Instagram is particularly well suited to ecommerce businesses having images, videos and product tagging in its postings. With Instagram having quite a young audience this is something to consider when choosing which platform will best work for you. Instagram is a winner when it comes to shoppable links, having a business account allows you to model your products and link them straight to the product description with the product image and includes a website link. There is also the option to send to a friend which can increase sales and increase your following.
Boosting brand recognition
Getting your brand out there can be daunting at first but once you have your social platform(s) chosen it makes everything a little easier. Your company logo will work to gain recognition for your business, along with the overall look of your social media accounts, so ensure that you’ve set the right level of professionalism. Finding the right tone whether that be professional and formal or informal with a lighter friendly tone and keeping it consistent is another key point for both the overall image and posting content to your accounts. The tone of voice used throughout all of your content will set-up your brands personality which users feed off. This could see your following grow or bring you negative feedback, so ensure you are targeting the right audience with the right tone.
Creating content
At the beginning it can seem like a large task having to create content for your social accounts, but fear not you can curate content until you have your own bank stored up. Curating content allows you to get loads of posts out there with little cost. Be sure to stay ethical if using content from other sources such as using third-party images and articles, be sure to request permission and attach a link to the original and always identify the source.
Adding your own content to the existing content can help connect with users who follow the curated accounts profile but ensure permission is given from the source. More often than not they will be happy to get their name out there as well as yours being recognised too.
I’ve learnt that being aware of these three things when putting your business onto social media helps massively in growing your following, reaching more people with your content and allowing your voice to be heard.
If you’re not sure whether your social media marketing is performing well, have a look at our blog post on measuring social media activity and how to improve your strategy. Or, if you’re looking to spend more time on higher level business activities, why not contact us today to find out how we can help with your social media marketing.
Written by Andy
Andy is Venture Stream’s Chief Operating Officer and has over 15 years’ experience in ecommerce consultancy, design and retail marketing.
See more posts by Andy Robinson