Social Media Marketing
At its core, social media is about people connecting with other people and organizations. Social media offers a platform where individuals or groups share thoughts, resources, and media. It represents an enormous marketplace for businesses, as there are billions of users across multiple platforms.
Social media or the Internet is not device-specific; it is a journey from one screen to another. Social media gives you unparalleled insight into your target audience, which differs across companies. Social Media lets you understand:
- What people think
- Tweets, blog posts, Facebook posts, etc.
- What they share
- Retweets, Facebook likes, video embeds, Pinterest pins
- What makes them take action
- Subscribers, shares, registers, purchases
Social media helps all organizations increase their presence and gain new customers. Small or new businesses earn credibility faster, and reviews/insights from existing customers help people make decisions about a brand. Established brands can change their personalities and target different or younger demographics.
Paid, Earned, Owned Media
Social media is now used to motivate people to engage with organizations through advertisements or PR, so social exposure also falls in categories of Paid, Owned, and Earned.
Earned Media (Public Relations) – Third-party blog mentions, reviews, social sharing, check-ins.
Paid Media (Advertising Team) – Paid ads, Facebook ads, Promoted posts
Owned Media (Content Team) – Blog, website landing page, mobile app, or partially owned media like Facebook/YouTube.
Converged Media
Today, these three areas converge into one, and the lines between each area are blurred. Finding the sweet spot in the middle and balancing the different channels will help you make the most of your marketing dollar. A team creating a YouTube advertising program may also create other interactions and engagements to get additional exposure. The team creating content for Facebook can also be involved in running Facebook ads. Converged media provides stability to your marketing cycle as if one area filters, the other two can keep up the momentum.
- For instance, if the ad budget is pulled back, this can be compensated by creating quality content.
- Conversely, if there is a momentary lapse in new content, the advertising and PR teams can still keep online marketing running.
Team Structure
Converged media allows for a more stable marketing channel by not relying solely on one piece, as other avenues may be producing more effectively to keep the momentum going. To work together effectively, it is imperative that the internal team structure that reflects the size of the organization and business goals. Pick your team based on:
- The channels you will use
- How active and forceful you want to be with your campaign
- The size of your company
Enterprises and small businesses (SMBs) will have a different focus. Enterprises may have multiple, dedicated teams and need a strategy to look at the business goals and work with specific departments to achieve those goals. Small and medium businesses may have one or two people multitasking and switching between different channels or campaigns. SMB’s must ensure that all social media activities are focused on the business goals.
| Teams | Enterprise | SMB |
| Content creation | A team of writers and bloggers | One writer and one editor to create content and post statuses |
| Media creation | Full-fledged production studio and editing team | A single-camera or phone camera |
| Advertising | Teams to create and regulate ad campaigns, perform retargeting and track conversions | Targeted Facebook ads, or Twitter ads and pairing simple, in-channel tools with Google Analytics |
| Analytics | An analytics team to manage conversion funnel, A/B split testing, campaign tracking, lead generation, CRM, and segmentation | One person to take care of goals, trend and referral tracking, in-channel tools paired with Google Analytics |
| Listening | A team of 24/7 live conversation tracking, monitoring conversations and respond to conversations. Using tools like Radian 6, Crimson Hexagon | Daily or weekly response and comment checks using Google alerts or Tracker |
Social Media Effectiveness
There is a correlation between effectiveness and the number of tactics used; however, content marketers don’t rate every tactic that they use as effective. The key isn’t using more tactics but using a larger number of effective B2C and B2B tactics. According to the Content Marketing Institute, the majority of content marketers rate the following as effective social media platforms:
- Facebook – Use Audience Optimization to reach and engage target customers
- Twitter- Start with a single piece of substantial content
- YouTube – Optimize your videos for the world’s second-largest search engine
- LinkedIn – Incorporate relevant hashtags to tap into relevant conversations
Effective B2C and B2B content marketers use a large number of social media platforms as part of their strategy, but more isn’t always better. According to Content Marketing Trends by the Content Marketing Institute, the average number of social platforms used by content marketers are:
Source: (Content Marketing Institute)
As content strategies differ from B2B and B2C, there are still only three platforms that both B2B and B2C rate over 50% effective. Content marketers must understand how each social media platform will add to their value proposition and overall marketing plan. If they are effective but not working, work on what is performing best, which is always the top social mediums. Focus on what works and take it to the next level before adding more platforms.
For more information on the top-performing Social Media platforms, please click on the links below.
If your company needs a social marketing plan or assistance with your overall marketing efforts – visit our Services page and contact SPF Marketing at (313) 641-0134 today or e-mail Stefan@spfmarketing.com for a Free Site Audit.
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