Social Media Marketing SMM

Social Media Marketing SMM

70% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand will probably recommend the brand to their friends and family. Recommendations and referrals are easier to convert and require less effort. Consumers research an organization or product via social media to view the reviews and the conversations around that brand or product.

Social Media Marketing SMM​ is an essential part of Search Engine Optimization SEO and the various platforms dovetail with your website. The advantage of the WordPress Platform is there any many Plugins that connect your Social Media accounts to your website displaying posts and videos in the webpage or sidebars. Facebook chat plugin on your website allows web search users, who also logged into Facebook to communicate directly with your sale staff via chat or WhatsApp. You can embed your YouTube Videos and Instagram photos into your WordPress website. It some ways Social Media platforms have replaced the email newsletter. These Digital platforms offer you instant communications and feedback with your potential customers but also an opportunity to interact with the customer in their leisure time at the place and time that suits them. Website and Social Media integration allows far greater analytics, instant feedback and engagement.

Social Media Marketing SMM has given a greater voice to many who had no Digital Footprint or tools like websites. It has opened up markets and voices to those who do not appear in #Page1 SERPS

The major social media platforms

The major social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Snapchat.
Facebook Monthly Active Users 2.5 Billion
Instagram Monthly Active Users 1.0 Billion
Twitter Monthly Active Users 330 Million
Pinterest Monthly Active Users 335 Million
LinkedIn Monthly Active Users 310 Million
YouTube Monthly Active Users 2.0 Billion
Snapchat Monthly Active Users 360 Million
TikTok Monthly Active Users 800 Million

4 billion Social Media users worldwide spend 6.4 hours online each day that is around 100 days of connected time per year per user.
We spend 40% of our waking lives using the internet.
92% of internet users are connecting via mobile while 53% of all web page requests come from mobile phones.

Social Media Wiki:

Social media are interactive technologies that allow the creation or sharing/exchange of information, ideas, career interests, and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks.^[1][2] While challenges to the definition of social media arise due to the broad variety of stand-alone and built-in social-media services currently available, there are some common features:^[2]

Facebook
Facebook 2.7 billion monthly active users and is the market leader when it comes to social media platforms. Metrics show that it is one of the most diverse social channels and a great platform for Small Business. Facebook algorithms restricts your posts, especially business posts to those fans who directly interact with your page. You can increase the view numbers by creating interacting posts or polls but the number of views is capped by the algorithm and then you must pay to boost your posts to reach a larger audience. Facebook ads has the best ROI as you can target demographics in places based on user likes or interests.

Twitter
Twitter has around 750 million users that allows users to send and read restricted to 140-character messages or “tweets” with embedded images, hashtags and direct messaging DM. Twitter’s largest demographic 37% is young adults between the ages of 18-29 split evenly between traditionally known male and female. A tweet only has an 18-minute lifespan unless there is interaction, reshare or engagement.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn has 347 million members and is designed for the business community to network and connect with one another. This business networking site has great authoritative value but must not be mistaken for social networking. LinkedIn largest demographic is 61% are 30–64-year-olds which 50% college graduates. LinkedIn is primary a business platform targeted at the older generations but you will miss out on a younger market or those not business orientated.

A good strategy is to focus on where your primary market is but I recommend having a comprehensice social media representation. It is good practice to blog from the website out to the various digital on-line platforms with YouTube been an exception.

Instagram
Instagram has around 300 million users sharing over 60 million photos a day, is primarily a mobile photo and video sharing social network platform. The largest Demographic is 25-34-year-olds. Your images and videos have to be visually compelling, your hashtags popular and you must have a great loyal engaged following. Through Facebook Business Suite you can share posts and promote to both Instagram and Facebook. The downside is there is no link follow unless you have paid adverts.

Pinterest
Pinterest has around 416 million active users and is more an online bulletin board for visual content. The largest demographic is females 71% while 35% of Pinterest users are 35-49 years old. It is a great way to drive traffic to your website as the link value of the pinned images are linked via the webpage URL. The downside is if the demographic does not match your market.

Search Engine Marketing Management SEMM is SEO and SEM as 2 pillars of the same marketing function but Social Media Marketing SMM main focus on return-on-investment ROI versus traffic building SEO or direct customer engagement SEM. Social Media Marketing SMM integrates a comprehensive marketing strategy.