What is Social Media Marketing and promotion on social media

Social Media Marketing is a set of activities aimed at interacting with potential customers using social media and messengers.

For promotional purposes, various types of content are created which are then independently distributed by users through social channels. This method allows you to gain the trust of the audience thanks to the fact that the source of information is the recommendation of a familiar person.

• an opportunity to choose a narrow target audience that is interested in the company's product;
• you can successfully promote not only products and services but also information projects, media or a specific person;
• it allows you to increase brand awareness;
• it increases audience loyalty;
• SMM attracts new visitors to the company website

A positive experience of user interaction with a brand in social media provides additional benefits:

• 70% of people who were contacted by a brand or who got a brand reaction to their messages are more likely to use the product or service;
• 65% become more loyal to a brand;
• 25% are less likely to switch to competitors;
• 75% are willing to share their good experiences in their accounts.

Social Media Marketing is one of the most effective customer acquisition channels for the following reasons:

• as of March 2019, there are 4.4 billion Internet users in the world among which 3.5 billion are active users of social media;
• on average, each user has about seven social media accounts;
• in 2018, users spent an average of 142 minutes a day on social media;
• $74 billion was spent on advertising on social networks in 2018. It is predicted that in 2019 this amount will grow to $99 billion;
• 61% of small and medium-sized businesses representatives (SMB) in the USA invest in SMM;
• only 16,6% of small and medium-sized businesses owners in the USA think their social media marketing strategy is inefficient;
• 90% of customers in the USA tried to connect with brands through social media.

• there are 2.32 billion users including more than 815 million women and more than a billion men;
  
• as of 2018, 80 million SMB pages were created in this social network;
  
• 70% of SMM specialists choose Facebook for promotion, 83% of them run paid advertising;
  
• Facebook is the third most popular website in the world after Google and YouTube;
  
• 1.49 billion users visit Facebook daily;
  
• on average, each user clicks on 8 advertisements per month;
  
• 60% of users are subscribed to brand pages; in order to access the remaining 40%, you need to use paid advertising;
  
• 5,7% are users aged 13 to 17 years;
  
• 26% are users aged 18 to 24 years;
  
• 32% are users aged 25 to 34 years;
  
• 17,5% are users aged 35 to 44 years;
  
• 10% are users aged 45 to 54 years;
  
• 5,8% are users aged 55-64 years;
  
• 4% are users aged over 65 years;
  
• Facebook is chosen for social media marketing and is considered the most effective platform for both B2B and B2C business segments;
  

Here is an example of the business page:

• there are 1.9 billion users;
• 80% of users aged 18 to 49 years watch YouTube;
• users daily watch 1 billion hours of video;
• the first advertisement was shown on YouTube in 2007;
• on average, users watch 40 minutes of video content per day;
• YouTube is suitable for companies that can create various videos with product usage tips, video reviews, and other useful information for customers

Here is an example of the brand channel:

• there are 1 billion users, 52% of them are women and 48% are men;
  
• 6,4% of users are aged 13 to 17 years;
  
• 31% of users are aged 18 to 24 years;
  
• 16% of users are aged 35 to 44 years;
  
• 7,8% of users are aged 45 to 54 years;
  
• 3,2% of users are aged 55 to 64 years;
  
• 1,9% of users are over 65 years;
  
• Russia is one of the five countries with the largest audience of this social network, 35 million Russian users are registered on Instagram;
  
• this social platform is relevant for promoting products targeted at a young target audience. Business accounts of clothing stores, accessories, cosmetics, gifts, and gadgets are popular. Also, restaurants, wedding agencies, professional photographers, and beauty salons often choose this social network for social media marketing.
  

Here is an example of the brand account:

• there are 330 million users including 66% of men and 34% of women;
  
• 11% of users are aged 13 to 17 years;
  
• 24% of users are aged 18 to 24 years;
  
• 31% of users are aged 25 to 34 years;
  
• 20.2% of users are aged 35 to 49 years;
  
• 14,1% of users are over 50 years;
  
• this social network is most popular in America, Japan, and the UK. At the same time, Russia ranks fifth in terms of the number of users, there are almost 10 million of them;
  
• this social network is focused on business audiences and celebrities, so it is suitable for promoting consulting agencies, business trainers, news agencies, personal branding services.
  

Here is an example of the official Twitter page:

• there are 303 million users including 57% of men and 43% of women;
  
• 25% of users are aged 18 to 24 years;
  
• 38% of users are aged 25 to 34 years;
  
• 29% of users are aged 35 to 54 years;
  
• 8,8% of users are over 55 years;
  
• in Russia, there are 6,8 million LinkedIn users;
  
• this social network is focused on establishing business contacts; therefore, it is optimally suited for the B2B segment and personnel search;
  

Here is an example of the business page:

• 200 million users (for March 2018) including 57% of men and 43% of women;
• less than 8% of users are under 18;
• 40% of users are aged 18 to 24 years;
• 37% of users are aged 25 to 34 years;
• 15% of users are over 35 years;
• it is suitable for companies with a clear target audience and wide service geography, for example, an online children's clothing store or a chain of foreign language courses.

Here is an example of a Telegram channel:

You can promote your brand on social networks on your own but for this, it is worth exploring the basics of SMM. SMM training will allow you to navigate in various effective tools and marketing methods so as not to reduce all the social media activity to posting beautiful pictures in a company group.

It is also worth exploring professional terms. For example, it is worth distinguishing SMM from social marketing. Social marketing is not marketing in social media, but the work of a company aimed at improving brand perception by an audience in conjunction with certain social values.

You can use the following tools for independent Social Media Marketing:

• blogging in social media;
  
• posting information about services, products, and promotions in communities;
  
• communication with users in the comments;
  
• undercover and viral marketing;
  
• direct advertising;
  
• monitoring company mentions in social media and working with product comments.
  

If you cannot master SMM yourself, you need to find and hire a specialist or contact a freelancer. The main thing here is to pay attention to the experience and resume of a specialist, it is desirable that previous employers could confirm his expertise.

Specialists working on social media marketing are called differently, for example:

• SMM specialist;
  
• community manager;
  
• SMM project manager;
  
• social media marketer.
  

Their skills and responsibilities can also vary significantly depending on the companies where they work.

An SMM manager is a comprehensive profession that requires the skills of an SEO specialist, marketer, analyst, and IT specialist. It is necessary that the employee constantly monitors trends and innovations in the field of social media, draws up a marketing strategy and an up-to-date content plan, analyzes competitor communities, etc.