Excelling on social media has recently become the linchpin of success for businesses. This speculation is based on trending reports from the past few years which have helped analysts in identify a pattern. There’s a staggering 25.3 million people in Canada, according to reports last published, who use social media regularly. It’s not surprising then that businesses were quick to respond to this booming trend by accessing these sites and using them as digital market venues which reach out to an endless breadth of consumers.

Recent data also shows Facebook is the most accessed social media website in Canada with an aggregate of 84% internet users. Right on the heels is the fan-following of YouTube with an ever-growing user base amounting to 59% of the Canadian population. In fact YouTube-ing became a raging trend in Canada during the latter half of 2017 and retained this key position ever since. Twitter isn’t far behind in the race either as there were almost 7.5 million users on this platform as of 2017.

It’s not only important to look at number and figures that suggest the growth of these social sites but also analyze ways in which this forum is being used. The entirety of Facebook users reported above have said that they check their newsfeed at least once a day—which of course can go up to multiple times. Thereby social media is no longer just a medium of communication; it has grown to become a part of daily life for most Canadians.

Business nowadays have the good sense to slide into the lives of their potential clients (through social media) and market their brand in the most subtle yet personal way for maximum impact. This is partly the reason why social media marketing has become so significant in this age. Here’s more about this marketing strategy.

Search Marketing and Social Media Marketing

Social media is an umbrella term for all such sites that allow free-flowing engagement of people from a melting pot of cultures and a diverse set of locations around the world. Even though each platform differs in terms of features offered—Twitter has a character limit for posts, Instagram depends on hash tags and pictures, and Facebook allows all content—they all come under social media. Social media marketing (SMM) refers to the posting of pictures, videos, posts and hash tags on these sites to drive audiences towards it.

The way search marketing relates to social media marketing is that social sites often feed into news stories or discoveries. They also boost SEO by connecting links between searches and social sites. This greatly improves the visibility of new online content as users can also find them on social sites. This way social media ties into the larger web of search engines to enhance the outreach of social media marketing.

SMM: A Basic Plan

Before getting into the SMM league with all the big players, it’s important to realize your own business goals. True, social media sites offer easy access to the personal timelines of users all over the world, it can also prove ineffective if not used the right way. Therefore, it’s important to always have a plan before you take the plunge into something new.

It’s useful to brainstorm while planning and it helps to answer a few questions to get your goals straight:

• Where do you expect to see your business after engaging in SMM?
• Who do you plan to target as your potential audience?
• Where do you expect to see your audience hang out?
• How would a potential customer use social media?
• How do you want to brand your product/services: business-formal, trendy, chic, urban-modern, casual, commercial, residential, or personal?
• What message do you want to deliver to your target audience through SMM?

It’s important to answer these basic questions, keeping in mind the kind of business you run and the market it caters to.  Businesses can be divided across several categories so make sure you know which classification your product/service falls under.

How Does SMM Help Transform Businesses

Ever hear of the phrase: begin local, go global? Well, this is where it suits best. Regardless of where your business is headquartered, if you offer product deliveries or online services to international markets, you can conveniently market your brand through social media. Not only does it save you the travel cost of moving to different locations to launch your business but also offers better means to engage audiences.

Just developing an attractive website for your brand is not enough. In this day and age, you need social media to actually get in the game. There are a number of reasons which make social media marketing worthwhile:

• Increase web traffic because no website is good enough without users clicking on it
• Building conversions to help change online clicks into real sales
• Raising brand awareness because a website on its own isn’t going to market your business
• Create a brand identity because your brand needs a voice and a face for people to connect with it
• Enhancing communication between buyers and sellers because your key audience won’t interact with just a logo or company name.

Best Tips To Ace Social Media Marketing

Social media can be the best tool for your business if you have covered the basics:

• Content Planning: Keyword research is essential for determining what a potential user is most likely to type in when searching for something that you offer. You need competitive research ideas to beat the competitors and make a name for yourself. Check out what other businesses are doing and try to emulate that with some innovation according to your venture.
• Consistent Brand Identity: We understand that businesses are often tempted to tweak their brand image when they see a new player stealing the show. But you need to remember that consistency is key and without that you’ll be sending out confusing signals to your key audiences.
• Tracking Competitors: Even if you’re not engaging in aggressive competition, it’s advised to keep an eye on your competitors at all times. This is important because if you notice their marketing campaigns picking up momentum on a certain social site, you can try and do the same thing. Also, competitor campaigns are a great way to get inspiration for keyword search from.

Devebyte is a digital marketing agency in Alberta which offers the best search engine optimization and experiential marketing agency for businesses. If you need a reliable team of experts to outsource your services to, we’re here to take care of all your digital needs for you.