Not long ago, social media’s purpose was to connect people and their similar passions or interests. Social means interaction. Social media in 2024 still connects people with other people, and people with brands.
Businesses of all types have managed to make a stand and differentiate themselves from others using social media as well-done inbound marketing strategies.
What is Social Media Marketing (SMM)?
SMM is the connection between social media and your brand. SMM can help you build brand loyalty, increase sales, direct quality traffic to your business website. It’s an easy and effective way of being popular in a specific niche. With SMM, you can show different audiences why choose your brand among others. Keep them engaged with great content and analyze the results.
By using SMM, you can:
- Outline a business strategy.
- Plan your social calendar and publish different types of content on all networks.
- Listen to your community and engage with it.
- Build your buyer persona
- Grow your business through paid ads and partnerships.
- Use the analytics functions and reports.
- Use A/B testing based on analytics results.
Popular Social Media Platforms
In 2021, people used social networking sites for all kinds of purposes. Some used them for socializing, others for buying things, job seeking, online dating, reading, listening to music, gaming, as well as discovering new information on popular subjects.
This was a great year for online businesses that turned their activities into powerful marketing tools via social media. Facebook and YouTube were the leaders, but WhatsApp and Instagram were also preferred instead of Twitter or Quora.
Some businesses are using Whatsapp api integration as a marketing approach so they can talk directly to their customers in a quicker way, or to send marketing materials to convert new clients.
This social network works as a hub for businesses. Here’s the place where you can easily find professionals that talk about their work. There are also job opportunities and an easy application system. People can upload their resumes and apply for a published vacay job at a company. Recruiters can reach out to possible candidates based on their page descriptions. Running ads on LinkedIn is expensive, but it is worth the try.
TikTok
A short-form video seems to be a preferred way to quickly show something. The attention of your audience will be focused on the item or activity you’re showing.
Here, you can engage your audience with images, videos, and long wall posts. Moreover, you can create dedicated groups. For Ads management, you need to have the Business Manager account created. Also, if you have an Instagram account associated with Facebook, the Business Manager is the center of communication, data, and advertising.
Best for selling fashion, makeup, and cosmetics. It is preferred by influencers because they can quickly engage with their audience through stories, and they can present your brand’s items in appealing ways.
YouTube
Unboxing, presenting features and functionalities, DIY videos, or tutorials. Music, movies, challenges, vacations, cooking, tips and tricks – people can browse through billions of video content they’re interested in. And brands can run video ads to catch a preferred audience’s attention.
Still preferred in the USA the most. It’s home to viral memes and tweets.
These are the main social media platforms that still perform at their very best in 2022, and will generate results if you invest in them. If you’re looking for insights on social media demographics, you can check out Sprout Social’s article on social media stats.
Why Still Use Social Media as a Marketing Approach?
Social networks are great advertising tools. You can run paid ads, influencer campaigns, connect with your customers and build a solid support system.
The freemium capability of a social media platform is the most important of them all and with this, connecting with the real audience requires consistency and a lot of patience. We have found a guide on 15 ways how you can attract real followers organically.
You can publish content of all types (images, video, text) for free and analyze the data perceived from them, such as engagement and reach reports, and others. SMM is a growing industry, and you should not neglect it in your business.
In Conclusion
Yes, using social media in 2022 for marketing purposes will get your business pop out from the unknown. To be on social networks, doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to spend money to be visible. With the right strategy and quality content, you can build online communities that will lead to more and more prospects. You can think of social media as a freemium service, where you can pay to reach out to more people, but you don’t have to make a payment to create an account. So, use LinkedIn to keep your company in the loop and seek new employees, Facebook for engaging discussions, and Instagram & TikTok for beautiful visual stories. YouTube is the best place to publish video tutorials.