How would you explain Social Media Marketing to someone new?

At its core, Social Media Marketing is like being a host or a storyteller at this massive party. You're trying to engage with people (potential customers) in a way that's genuine, interesting, and helpful. Instead of just shouting about how great your product or service is, you're weaving it into conversations, sharing it in compelling stories, and making it relevant to the lives of the party-goers.

Social media is social. It's a dialogue. It's an opportunity to tap into the largest focus group available to a company and not only listen and learn from what they have to say but speak back to the directly using branded channels. It's a goldmine of information and can be one of the best opportunities to broaden brand awareness when used correctly. Social media is a growth driver, not just a cost center.

Social media is the biggest opportunity to get the attention of the right and interested people/ ideal ICP and ideal audiences. It’s the space where good content drives engagement, action and interest. Brands and individuals are using social media to get in interaction with their audience and drive them to perform an action - ideally buy a product or a service. Social media is a long-term plan to succeed, it requires consistency, great content and great overall strategy. Analytics are the key element to track what’s working and what isn’t and it’s very important we adjust & experiment new content ideas and new format accordingly.

Think of social media as a virtual playground where you can meet new friends, share cool stuff like photos and stories, and chat with people from all over the globe. It's like a never-ending digital party where you're the host and the guest, all rolled into one!

Social media marketing isn't just about broadcasting messages; it's a two-way street. It involves listening to your audience, responding to their comments, and actively participating in discussions. This engagement helps to build a relationship with your audience, which can lead to increased loyalty and advocacy for your brand. Additionally, social media marketing leverages the power of social networking to spread your message. When your content resonates with your audience, they're more likely to share it with their own networks, amplifying your reach organically.

Social media is one of the primary ways to build a 'brand'. Sometimes the word 'brand' is a nebulous concept, but at its core, your 'brand' is based upon what people say about you. 'Word of mouth' has always, and always will be the most powerful way to grow a business. Word of mouth creates 'trust' and trust is the primary emotion that governs buying behaviour. Nothing helps word of mouth spread like social media and the best brands in the world understand this. They know the impact it has to have people talking about you at scale. That's why we need to think of social media as an overall business strategy that impacts many areas of a business (HR, Investment, Customer Service, Sales etc.) not just see it as another marketing channel

Social media is the largest focus group available to a company or brand. With a social presence, you can tap into what users are saying and how they feel about your brand, products and services. I can't imagine not knowing. Beyond the intelligence than can be gleaned from social, there's also the action side. A majority of the humans on the planet are from generations that have grown up as digital natives. The technology to connect with a brand at their fingertips has been there a majority of their life and it's become an expectation from customers to have that instant access. Imagine not being available. You could be mission out on immeasurable opportunities (leads, sales, income, etc.).

Social media marketing is about sharing content (text, images, videos, UGC, etc.) that is relevant and valuable to your audience on a social media channel like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, or TikTok. The key in finding success is not just sharing what’s important to your Company but what is important to your community of followers. That’s where success is found - when your audience finds value in following and engaging.

Social Media allows access to a large group that provides the most instant feedback to brands. The brand puts something out there and can nearly instantly get comprehensive feedback through not only engagement statistics but also live comments on the content. Social media is also a compounding asset that the larger it gets the more it grows through having a larger reach.

Social media marketing allows you to reach out and engage with your audience. Ask questions, conduct market research, find out what your audience really wants from you; which will help you get your offering aligned with their needs. Listen to their responses and create a sustainable business that addresses your audience’s requirements.

Social media strategies should be based on people and not on profit. Nobody wants to hear a company talk about how great they are and how good their product or service is. Instead find topics that your target audience likes and engages with, link them to your businesses' activities & employees and let the creative juices flow. Find the right balance by creating multiple 'content pillars' as a base for your strategy. These pillars will help you rotate your most important propositions and topics, and will also prevent your schedule from becoming boring and monotone. Trends come and go, interests change and new competitors emerge. To make sure your strategy is relevant and effective, you will have to keep testing. Always keep improving!

Creating a strategy is one thing, sticking to it is another. With the fast-paced nature of social media trends and platform functionality updates, it's important to have a strong strategy in place to quickly access what is a good fit for your strategy and company goals and what is not. Your brand shouldn't be everywhere doing everything all the time. That's the opposite of a strategy. Having this strategy will empower the social pros on your team to be able to move quickly for content trends that fit and say 'no' to those that don't.

To make a good plan for social media, you need to know who you're talking to—understand what they like and where they hang out online. Once I figure that out, I pick the right social media places for my audience. I keep an eye on how well my posts are doing, so I can always alter them to what people like. Social media is always changing - especially nowadays when every trend lasts 5 minutes. It's important to be ready to adjust your plan based on what's working and what's not. Being flexible and paying attention to what people are into is key to social media success.

Successful social media marketing strategy is not static; it evolves over time based on changing audience behaviors and platform dynamics. Flexibility and adaptability are key to long-term success.

Social media marketing tools are important, but we are over complicating them. I use these 5 easy peasy types of tools: 1] Research Platforms - Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, Answer the Public 2] Write and edit - Grammarly, Hemingway, Headline Generator 3] Design - Canva 4] Schedule - the platforms itself.

Full disclosure -- I currently work for Sprout Social. But prior to being an employee, I was a client which is one of the reasons I was so excited to join their team. I'm a big advocate for them. Without a social media management tool like Sprout, social pros have to natively: publish content, review and respond to comments and DMs, and pull fragmented metrics for arduous reporting. Sprout enabled me to work smarter, not harder. Publishing, engagement and reporting was all built into one intuitive too for me and my team to work more efficiently and free up brain space to work at a more strategic level rather than being in the content trenches all of the time.

There are so many popular social media marketing tools across various categories: Social Media Management Tools: Hootsuite Buffer Sprout Social SocialBee Analytics Tools: Google Analytics Facebook Insights Twitter Analytics LinkedIn Analytics Design and Visual Content Tools: Canva Adobe Spark Piktochart Snappa Monitoring and Listening Tools: Brandwatch Talkwalker: Mention: Influencer Marketing Tools: Influencity AspireIQ Upfluence Hashtag Tracking Tools: Hashtagify RiteTag Keyhole Content Curation Tools: Feedly Curata Scoop.it Social Advertising Tools: Facebook Ads Manager Twitter Ads LinkedIn Ads

From my time in the digital trenches, Sprinklr has consistently impressed me as a standout CXM platform. Here's why: Publishing: It's more than just posting; Sprinklr’s unified calendar helps me ensure our voice is consistent across all channels. Community Management: In the fast-paced world of online engagement, Sprinklr is my go-to for keeping track of conversations and gauging sentiment. Analytics: Diving deep into metrics is crucial. Sprinklr simplifies this, helping me grasp everything from general engagement to ROI specifics. Integration: Its ability to play nice with other tools I use? Priceless. In my journey through SMM tools, many offer parts, but with Sprinklr, I truly feel I'm seeing the whole picture.

En marketing de redes sociales, el uso de herramientas es esencial para crear una estrategia exitosa y llevar cabo una gestión adecuada. Analítica y programación: en redes sociales es vital la planificación y el posterior análisis de los resultados de las publicaciones con el fin de analizar los KPI´s. Metricool y Emplifi son mis favoritas. Social Listening: este tipo de herramientas son necesarias para poder monitorizar tu marca, la competencia y las tendencias actuales. Yo recomiendo Brandwatch y Digimind. Diseño: Para poder acompañar tus publicaciones y ser más llamativas es necesario que tengan imágenes y vídeos. Para ello, canva y para vídeo CapCut. AI: Hay herramientas de AI que te pueden ayudar. Grammarly, Bing, ChatGPT.

Ask yourself this: does your content sound like something a human would actually say? Is it how you would describe something? Is it a conversation you might overhear between friends at a coffee shop? Take our jargon. Try to not use acronyms that don't make sense beyond your industry. Just be real. And speak like a human. Now, being human doesn't mean you can't be professional or can't come off as polished. It doesn't mean your brand should try to post the latest slang or lingo because it might not fit. So find what's right for you but always remember, not matter who your audience is, an intern or a CEO, it's ALWAYS a HUMAN on the other side of the internet.

I'll not share the best practices but the super practice with you to ace any digital platform - know your WHYs? If you know your intention, objective, audience, and relevant key insights of your product/service/solution then you map detailed questions before you proceed with outwright marketing anything socially/digitally.

#ShowUpYOU, meaning, show up exactly as you are, without putting on a façade. The more open-hearted and genuine you are, the better. The more generous you are, the better. The more curious you are, the better. You choose how much to share and when to share it. Use the tools, don’t let the tools use you. Turn OFF your SM notifications (instead, establish a regular cadence/schedule for tuning in to post & engage). You are the boss of YOU. Don’t let social algorithms or peer pressure push you around. Be raw. Be real. Be helpful and add to conversations regularly.

Best Practice #1 Read Day Trading Attention authored by Gary Vaynerchuk It's the go-to marketing guide for 2024 about being an attention "day trader" in today's world, where attention predominantly resides on digital screens. In Day Trading Attention, Gary offers detailed advice on how small businesses, large corporations, and creators can: → Understand attention ↳ what it is, where it is, where it’s underpriced, and how to leverage it → Produce relevant, strategic content →Use modern advertising platforms to build brand and grow sales in today’s rapidly changing environment ⇢ Includes LinkedIn Hi I’m Steve ⇰ I help YOU unlock the power of LinkedIn™, and showcase your personal brand to the world's professional community.

Maintain consistency in brand voice and messaging. Humanize your interactions; authenticity fosters connections. Create value through relevant, entertaining content. Encourage interaction; engage genuinely with your audience. Embrace experimentation; diverse content keeps engagement high. Remember, social media is about building relationships; genuine interactions, valuable content, and creativity are the keys to lasting audience engagement and brand loyalty.

Social media marketing is like setting up a chai stall in India. You want people to enjoy your chai (content), so you make it just the way they like – strong or mild, sweet or spicy (tone). You also listen to what they say (engage) and change your menu (posts) accordingly. It's all about making people love your chai and keep coming back for more!

Short term sight on vanity metrics helps you know if you're heading in the right direction, but keep a long term view that ignores vanity metrics, instead focusing on business goals. There are many accounts with 6 digit followers who don't make $1000 a year, and there are many accounts with under 100 followers that make millions. Not every business uses social media to create leads, for some it's just about having a presence.

Social media Marketing is an intentional way of building (You) as a business using Facebook Twitter linkedin YouTube Instagram Pinterest and the rest to build credibility, trust and confidence. In a world where social media is a mine for everything, make sure you are visible.

Social media is the quickest, most user and most budget-friendly (aka FREE!) way to dominate the most valuable piece’s of digital real estate. Digital real estate? I’m referring to the first few (not ad) results that show up when looking up yourself/your brand on search engines like Google and Bing. Strong social media marketing strategies enable you to take ownership of HIGHLY coveted positions within search results, allowing your visitors to find the information YOU want them to find first.

For social media, consistency is the key to success. But in this case consistency does not only mean that you have to show up on a regular basis. It also means that you have to be consistent in: - Your visuals - Your value and messaging - Your engagement - And your tone of voice Whether the goal is to gain brand awareness or generate sales and conversions, if you are not consistent in these areas, chances are big your strategy will not succeed. Social media is an easy way for getting closer to your target audience. Use your content to reach them, provide them with unlimited value and engage with them like they are in the room with you. Consistency is the key that helps you to build momentum over time.