Marketing plays an integral role in the development of your brand identity and increasing sales and revenue. Traditional marketing has always focused on mass media using channels such as print media, radio, and television. Since the advent and popularization of the internet, marketing has gained an entirely new medium: social media.
Where is your Audience?
When you decide to market on social media websites, the first thing you need to consider is who your audience is and where you will find them online.You first need to identify your target audience and choose the types of social networking websites that they are likely to frequent. For example, it does not make sense to choose a social media platform like “Pinterest” to market resume building computer software; “LinkedIn” would be a better option since it us geared specifically towards business professionals.
Based on the type of business or service you are marketing, you may need to choose different social media outlets, the cost common of which include Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.
Pinterest is an interest based social media website which allows users to create posts with photos, videos, images, and links to other websites. Pinterest allows users to share any posts that they find interesting with their followers and the world. Your marketing reach is virtually endless.
This website is used mostly by women and based on an analysis of the user trends, Pinterest is perfect for companies selling vacation packages, fashion, food, furniture, and products that can be easily marketed using pictures or videos.
LinkedIn is a social media platform used by professionals and companies. It is essentially a business-networking website that serves as a never-ending networking conference. The website is perfect for people to give and receive advice on business and work related topics. While the site is not conducive for marketing on a large scale, you can use it for sharing links to your other social media profiles, linking your blog posts and any articles in the news about you or your company, and building your professional network.
YouTube
YouTube is one of the world’s most popular video sharing websites and is home to hundreds of millions of users and non-user viewers. If used properly, the concept of viral marketing through YouTube can be highly effective. An excellent example of this was the hit web show called “Will it blend?” A company called Blend Tec, which manufactures blenders, decided to show off their products capabilities by blending any and everything that they could find. The web show was a huge success and their exposure increased exponentially as people began sharing the videos with their friends within hours of posting.
YouTube is a great option for social media marketing if your product or service can be explained or demonstrated in video format. It is highly effective and can be used to market to any demographic ranging from college students on a budget to business professionals for whom money is not an issue.
The world’s most effective social media platform for marketing is Facebook since it has the largest number of users.Facebook is an excellent tool for introducing your company name, products, and services to the masses. When you create advertisements on Facebook, you can target them to specific age groups or locations. You can also use Facebook to create weekly or daily posts to spread information about your business and services.
Because of the massive amount of users, most companies create Facebook pages and profiles for their businesses then use it as a lead generator. Every time you post something, it shows up on every “fan’s” news feed, and when they share your post, your exposure is increased exponentially.
Wrapping Up
When you decide to use social media for marketing your company, you need to consider several things including your target market and the services offered by each social networking site to create effective social media marketing campaigns. To ensure that your social media marketing campaignis as successful and effective as possible, choose a company that specializes in social media management services to reach more people in your target audience.
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