7 Big Ways to Use Social Media Marketing (SMM)

Jan 7, 2024

<a href="https://www.ewrdigital.com/author/geoffcampbell" target="_self">Geoff Campbell</a>

Geoff Campbell

Geoff Campbell is a PPC and Paid Media Manager for eCommerce, Industrial, and Enterprise brands.
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90 percent of utilize social media as a medium of communication to engage with businesses or brands. For example, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all free platforms brands can use to engage with their audience directly.

For years, businesses have leveraged these growing social networks to connect and build brand awareness and trust. This social media activity has often helped brands in many ways, particularly by facilitating improved customer interaction.

However, with the ever-changing algorithms of big social networks and the shifting of preferences by social media users, it’s important to be dynamic and watch out for trends in social media advertising.

Here are seven sure-fire ways from a paid media company to use social media marketing to boost brand awareness, expand your customer base and improve sales for your brand in 2020.

1. Lay the Groundwork for Social Media Advertising

7 Big Ways to Use Social Media Advertising in 2021 | EWR Digital

Before deciding to use social media advertising, you want to lay the groundwork by doing activities such as knowing the customer’s journey. You also need to identify the persona of each social network and follow what content strategy works for you.

Build your marketing framework based on the knowledge you have of your prospects. By correlating a customer’s journey with a marketing funnel, you’ll be more sure of the role social media advertising will do in driving sales.

Generic stats can be deceiving. Just because Instagram has one billion monthly users doesn’t mean you have to use it. Depending on what you offer, various platforms provide different utilities.

Analyze each channel and figure out the right fit for the various activities for your brand. Then, research and experiment with several social media advertising tactics to find out what works for you.

2. Join the Conversation

Joining conversations about a topic you’re interested in is a good way of social media advertising. For example, you can participate in Google Hangouts and Twitter chats that relate to your business. You can also join in ongoing discussions about a topic on most social media platforms by using popular hashtags.

Although Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn top the list of most receptive platforms for businesses, no social site is off-limits, provided you tweak your content to suit that platform. You’re not just promoting your brand, and you can win on any platform by being a part of a community.

3. Build Communities

There’s a shift in individuals wanting more human and authentic connections via social media platforms. That’s what social media platforms exist in the first place—to connect virtual communities. If you understand this and plan your social media action tactics around this, you stand a better chance to succeed in engaging your target audience.

You need to listen to what people are saying and commenting, not just promoting products and services on social media. To build a community around your brand, you should consider avoiding content that isn’t engaging and doesn’t promote two-way communication.

4. Engage With Your Email Subscribers When Social Media Advertising

Businesses using social media are trying to get new leads. If you care bout how to market on social media, you cannot ignore the power of email marketing. Not many brands are using social media to build strong relationships with the subscribers they already have.

Social media is a fantastic method for engaging with your email subscribers. While emailing your list every day doesn’t seem like the right move, you should think of ways of connecting with them regularly. Social media platforms can help you with that.

You might want to consider placing an email in your autoresponder that invites new subscribers to follow you on social media.

5. Analyze Your Competition

Before you hit the ground running, you should have a clear idea of what the competition is up to. Third-party competitor analysis tools can provide you with useful stats about a competitor. You can also gain valuable insight from just reviewing a competitor’s social presence. By looking at a competitor’s social channels, you can gain insights about social media promotion strategies that can directly inform your social media activity.

The easiest way to find a competitor is by looking them up on search engines like Google. Search for your most valuable keywords or industry terms and phrases to see what pops up. After identifying several competitors, you can use competitor analysis to compare their performance to your own.

You can go as far as analyzing feedback from their customers, which can help you know how to position your brand.

6. Invest in Nano-Influencers

7 Big Ways to Use Social Media Advertising in 2021 | EWR Digital

While influencer marketing was not a new trend in 2020, it’s definitely going to stick around for a while. Investing in an upcoming influencer is often much cheaper than running paid campaigns that deliver the expected results.

More companies are working with influencers to promote their stuff on social media platforms. You can build your brand by forming a partnership with the right influencers.

7. Find Inspiration

While it’s important to be unique, it won’t hurt drawing inspiration from other brands killing it on social media. Social network success stories can provide useful insights you can apply to your social channel.

You could also check out award-winning campaigns and accounts to keep tabs on brands that bring their A-game on social media. Keep in mind that you can follow your favorite brand on social media to figure out their voice, style, and tone.

Use Social Media Marketing (SMM) Action Tactics

In the last decade, marketing has seen important changes, and social media marketing has been at the core of numerous strategies. Your social media activity can make you or break you.

Implementing some of the tactics outlined in this article can help set you up for success. Now that you know how to market through social media, why don’t you build communities around your brand and business? They can reward you with loyalty, trust, and even free referral marketing.

If you’d like to get started using social media to expand your business, sign up for a free consultation today.