Social media marketing is the contemporary use of various social media networks and websites to advertise a product or service. Although the traditional terms such as digital advertising and e-marketing are still quite dominant in academic circles, social media marketing is fast becoming popular for researchers and practitioners alike. With more people turning to their cell phones to surf the web, as well as providing their daily updates on the latest information through social networking websites, social media marketing has become more prevalent in the advertising and marketing world. It is no longer seen as something that is experimental or too complicated for the average person to understand. Instead, people see it as a form of intuitive marketing that is accessible to anyone who cares to take the time to implement it. This makes social media marketing not only more practical, but also easier and more effective.
A good social media marketing strategy should be able to answer three questions: What, Who, and When? Your social media marketing plan should begin by identifying your audience, who you hope to reach, and how you intend to reach them. For example, if you are a dentist with an online blog, you probably will not want to market the blog during busy times such as lunch and coffee. Your target market for the blog would be those individuals who would not normally read up about dentistry during their daily commute to work.
Once you have identified your target market and a brand strategy, the next step is to promote your product. This can be done in a number of ways including social media marketing, a press release, a classified ad, and so forth. Many companies like to use social media marketing in combination with other types of marketing to reach as many people as possible. A catchy tagline or a funny video ad will get many people to take the time to check out your brand’s website. A highly engaging article that includes your tagline and a link to your brand’s website will help you generate interest from prospective customers.
