31 Social Media Marketing
Alexis Eckerson
31.1. Introduction
Keywords
- Word of mouth– a consumer’s interest in a product or service is reflected through daily dialogue
- Content creator– someone who creates entertaining or educational material
- Micro influencers– an influencer with 10,000- 50,000 followers, with a particular area of interest and high engagement
- Vanity metrics– measurements that make you look good but do not help the business otherwise
- Customer engagement– communication between the consumer and organization through various communication channels
- Conversions– when a visitor to you website completes a common goal
Learning Objectives
- What is social media marketing
- Pros and cons of using social media marketing within a business
- The influence of content creators and influencers
31.2 Social Media Marketing
Social media has taken the digital age by storm, 90.4% of millennials, 77.5% of Generation X and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are on social media. Social media refers to the interactions among people on a digital platform in which they create, exchange and share information and ideas. It encompasses a large variety of websites and apps. Social media has created a way for people to share and access information and content in real and efficient time. It has found a place in a world of digital marketing that has overall reshaped consumer behavior and businesses as a whole.
”File:Social-media-1.webp – Wikimedia Commons” by صفيه سالم محمد الدرعيis licensed under CC- BY-SA 4.0
Social media channels have become an important avenue for new business strategies. Social media marketing “ is the use of social networks to market a business’s product or service (Henderson, 2020). This content is tailored for each different platform in order to drive engagement and promote the business. Social media marketing affects the growth of business, reach of target demographic and the communication between a consumer and seller. Within this chapter, we will look at the foundation of social media marketing, the benefits and challenges, as well as the impact of influencers within business strategies.
“Social Media Marketing” by Jerry Nihen is licensed by CC-BY-2.0.
31.3 Steps for Business and Creative strategies in Social media marketing
Key Takeaway
31.3.1 Steps of Social Media Marketing within a Business
The first step to social media marketing within a business is to learn and establish the businesses goals and values. Without setting goals and objectives for not only the company, but the social outreach, you will have no way of measuring success or your returns on investment. Tracking meaningful engagements is important. Two different types of measuring tools are vanity metrics and targets. Vanity metrics include data collected and displayed on media pages such as followers, page views, retweets or subscribers. While vanity metrics are fun and easy to track, it does not have much effect on business goals. Businesses in particular should focus on tar