Many businesses have trouble understanding “social media marketing” and how it operates, despite the abundance of information available online.
In order to help those who are having trouble coming up with effective marketing strategies, Cosmic has created a thorough guide to social media marketing.
Think about meeting someone for the first time with the goal of developing a strong relationship.
You won’t get another chance, so what should you do to win that person over right away? If you approach that person and say dull or pointless things, will you be successful?
No matter how you do it, making people happy tends to increase your popularity.
Your ability to identify and satisfy your target audience will greatly influence how successful your social media marketing is, as will their willingness to like and recommend your brand to others.
Your social media marketing efforts won’t be successful if your story isn’t worthwhile to share.
What is social media marketing (SMM)?
Social media marketing (SMM), a form of online advertising, uses social media apps as a marketing tool.
Brands can connect with their audience on these social media platforms to:
- Build the brand
- Increase sales
- Drive traffic to their website.
- Create a following to share and interact
- Increase annual revenue
- Stay ahead of their competition
- Generate leads
- Retain existing customers
- Retarget lost leads
Types of Social Media Ads
Here are a few instances of social media advertising:
1. Story Ads:
On Instagram, story ads are extremely popular. Every day, there are about a billion active users. Instagram gathers information from users’ smartphones and displays it with the most pertinent ads. For instance, Instagram and other social media platforms are immediately notified when a user searches for a product to buy on any online retailer like Amazon or H&M.
2. Messenger Ads
Advertising on social media is available on Facebook Messenger in addition to newsfeeds and stories. Typically, these advertisements appear in-between conversations. Users have the option to click on them if they want to purchase them or learn more about them. To view more goods and services, it will direct them to specific websites.
3. Video Ads
According to Wistia research from 2016, most users watch the entire video ad if it is under 2 minutes long. The percentage of people who watch a video decreases as its length increases.
It shows that people prefer shorter videos with as much information as possible because the world is moving quickly and they don’t have time to spare. Every social media platform typically has these ads.
4. Photo Ads
The most popular form of advertising is photos. They are prevalent because they are on social media. Unlike story and video ads, photo ads operate easily. There isn’t a time limit because users can quickly scroll through them after looking at them.
These posts should be of a high caliber in nature. It will draw an increasing number of users to the products. In addition, the text that appears on the images should be clear and concise so that users can quickly and efficiently learn as much as possible. These advertisements are extremely helpful for building brand awareness,
Organic vs. Paid Social Media Marketing
Organic social media does not require a cost for advertising, unlike paid social media. It describes the unpaid posts you can make on any social media site, much like how you would use your own personal account. Even if you use paid tools to automate your posts, like Hootsuite, your social media efforts are still regarded as organic.
Organic social media may consist of your posts, comments, and follower responses.
What Is Paid Social Media?
Although the term is fairly self-explanatory, let’s define the idea.
Pay-per-click advertising, display ads, branded content, and influencer marketing are a few examples of paid social media marketing. Text, images, or video are all acceptable formats.
The aim? To encourage brand awareness and action, target particular audiences.
Why Is Paid Social Media Important?
Paid social media ads are crucial because they are effective. Not only do they help spread the word, but the practice is also becoming more and more well-liked. In fact, the percentage of online purchases is increasing exponentially.
While it’s true that social media users who see an ad in their news feed might not convert as quickly, 58% of people surveyed said that social media does influence their purchasing decisions, according to Statista. In addition, 48% claimed that social media made them aware of goods or services they later bought.
There are 11 ways paid social media advertising can benefit your business:
- Better customer understanding
- Greater Possibility of reaching the intended audience.
- Boosts Content Visibility
- Expands the reach of your brand
- Strengthens Brand Credibility
- Offers Higher Customer Retention
- Drives High-Quality Traffic
- Positively Influences Conversion Rate
- Improves Foot Traffic
- Builds a strong social presence
- Lower marketing expenses
Most business owners don’t have the time, knowledge, or resources necessary to maximize their ROI. At Cosmic, we specialize in all aspects of online marketing for small to medium-sized businesses.
Contact us right away to get an impactful paid social media marketing plan up and running or to have us evaluate your current campaign.