You’ve probably heard about the importance of social media marketing so many times that you’re sick of thinking about it. However, if you’re like many of the new clients who meet with us, you might not be sure exactly which activities fall under that umbrella.
What is social media, exactly? And does social media marketing encompass the things you’re already doing, or a completely different set of tools and tasks?
We will warn you up front that there aren’t always firm answers to these questions. Even within our industry there are overlapping terms and definitional disagreements. In other words, what one person thinks of as “social” falls into search, email, or content marketing for someone else.
With that in mind, let’s look at a few different categories of social interaction that all work together…
Posting Business or Branding Content to the Major Social Platforms
The most obvious and necessary form of social media marketing involves opening and using accounts on the major social networking platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Your business should have dedicated pages for all of these, and you should be posting new material to them occasionally. That gives you more exposure to customers, helps to build up your identity in the market, and can lead to new sales or inquiries.
This is often the type of activity business people and consultants are referring to when they think of social media marketing.
Using PPC Ads on Social Media Networks
In the same way that you can run ads on Google associated with certain search terms, you can use pay-per-click advertising to reach customers through social channels as well. In some cases, a well-structured campaign on Facebook or LinkedIn can pay huge results.
For some, this still falls firmly into the realm of social media marketing. Others might think of it as social advertising. Either way, these efforts should work in conjunction with your social posting (not to mention other internet marketing campaigns).
Other “Social” Activities
Once we get past the things you’ll do directly on the social media sites themselves, we get into more of a gray area. There are certainly marketing authors and experts who would consider YouTube videos, blog posts, and email newsletters to fall into the category of social media marketing. Others would consider them to be distinct activities.
To us, the way you label each one isn’t necessarily important. What matters is that you use each channel or campaign to build upon the others, and that you’re always monitoring your website and accounts to see what’s making the biggest impact in your bottom line.
For instance, you definitely should be producing YouTube videos and sending a regular email newsletter. You should also be promoting your videos within your emails and vice-versa. What you call those efforts isn’t necessarily important. What matters is that they all work together in a cohesive way.
Build a Marketing Plan That Makes Sense
The breadth and complexity of digital marketing in 2019 has left some business owners and executives in a tough spot. They want to compete and participate, but find themselves working from piecemeal plans and ideas. That ultimately leads to confusing branding messages and missed opportunities.
The solution is to have a proven team of business growth experts on your side, working to ensure that all of your content and updates fit together seamlessly. If that’s what you want from a marketing partner, then we encourage you to contact Biondo Creative in Philadelphia today to schedule a free consultation!