What Is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic or attention through social media sites. Social media itself is a catch-all term for sites that may provide radically different social actions. Social networking websites allow individual, businesses and other organizations to interact with one another and build relationships and communities online. When companies join these social channels, consumers can interact with them directly.^[5] That interaction can be more personal to users than traditional methods of outbound marketing and advertising.^[6] Social networking sites act as word of mouth or more accurately, e-word of mouth.

Social media marketing can bring increased brand recognition as well as improve brand loyalty. According to a report published by Texas Tech University, brands who engage on social media channels enjoy higher loyalty from their customers. The report concludes “Companies should take advantage of the tools social media gives them when it comes to connecting with their audience. A strategic and open social media plan could prove influential in morphing consumers into being brand loyal.”.

With Social Media there are also more opportunities to convert. Every post on social media is an opportunity for customers to convert. When you build a following you’ll simultaneously have access to new customers, recent customers and old customers, and you’ll be able to interact with all of them. Interacting with your customers regularly is a show of good faith for other customers. When people go to compliment a product or service, they turn to social media. Without social media, your incoming traffic is limited to people already familiar with your brand and individuals searching for keywords you currently rank for.

The more quality content you syndicate on social media, the more inbound traffic you’ll generate, and more traffic means more leads and more conversions. Taking advantage of social media also decreases marketing costs.  According to Hubspot, 84% of marketers found as little as six hours of effort per week was enough to generate increased traffic.

Social media, at its core, is a communication channel like email or phone calls. Every customer interaction you have on social media is an opportunity to publicly demonstrate your customer service level and enrich your relationship with your customers. For example, if a customer complains about your product on Twitter, you can immediately address the comment, apologize publicly, and take action to make it right. Or, if a customer compliments you, you can thank them and recommend additional products. It’s a personal experience that lets customers know you care about them.

Social media is the best way to brand yourself and your product. Consumers are 92% more likely to trust their peers over advertising when it comes to purchasing decisions. When you are looking for a good referral who do you turn to? When you need a good deal who do you ask? You ask your peers, your friends, your acquaintances because they are the ones that can tell you about experiences they personally have had. This means that even though you may be dropping a lot of money on advertising, you still need to be setting up an active social platform. You need to be interacting with your consumers and reaching them where they hang out—on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,—because those are the places where your consumers are talking about YOU.