What is Social Media Marketing?
A common misconception is that Social Media Marketing is about selling your product on Social Media. That is not completely wrong but there is much more to it. With the rise of the internet consumers now have the ability to voice opinions, research information and seek out alternatives so simply putting a product in front of them and asking them to buy it is not going to cut it. Social Media marketing now is all about creating a conversation. You need to imagine Social Media Marketing like dating – you can’t just walk up to someone and say “Hi, your cute marry me?” so with Social media marketing you can’t go “Hi this is my product buy it”. You want to chat first, get to know each other, weigh up the pros and cons and then they can decide if they want to take that next step to get married or in this case buy your product. So the main goal on Facebook for example is to get customers to use Messenger to ask questions and interact with you. From there you can then introduce the sale. The main platforms you want to be focusing on will depend on the market you are dealing with. Facebook is a good all-rounder with audiences stretching both genders and most age categories plus its used globally. Instagram is for a younger target market but requires creative imagery as opposed to text to get your point across. If your focus is more B2B streams then you may be looking at creating connections on LinkedIn.
Shelby Clark
MBus(Adv) Marketing and International Business
