Social Media Marketing (SMM): what it is and How to do it

The importance of social networks in the relationship between companies and consumers continues to grow. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the desires and needs of the public and create relevant and engaging content.

Social Media Marketing is the combination of Digital Marketing techniques and strategies to the universe of social media.

With SMM, companies optimize posts and consolidate their brand as a true reference on digital platforms. That way, you can generate leads and new sales opportunities.

Continue reading our article to learn more about Social Media Marketing, what it is, its advantages, and how to do it.

 What is Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

In summary, Social Media Marketing is the application of marketing strategies focused on social networks.

SMM is part of a macro strategy, which is Digital Marketing. However, your focus is on creating optimized content to promote your brand on these channels.

For this, you can use the different formats available on these platforms, such as:

• Texts;

• Photos;

• Videos;

• Audios.

It is important to remember that in Social Media Marketing there is no magic formula that any company can follow.

Understanding the public's behavior and preferences is essential to implement the most appropriate actions.

In this way, reaching an understanding of what works best for that brand to succeed on social networks.

As SMM is an arm of Digital Marketing, you can (and should) mix different tactics. This allows you to boost your results on and off social media.

However, this is only possible with planning capable of contemplating the best channels to be used. Tone of voice and timing of content are also important.

Digital Marketing VS Social Media Marketing

When we talk about Digital Marketing, we deal with any and all actions to promote a brand on the internet. Email marketing, SEO, Paid media, Inbound Marketing …

Social Media Marketing, in turn, exists only in tactics aimed at social networks.

Therefore, it is correct to say that SMM is part of your Digital Marketing strategy. But doing one doesn't mean doing the other.

The ideal is to complement the various actions of your digital plan to enrich your communication as a whole.

This cross-channel integration is crucial for the modern consumer. According to research from Harvard University, 73% of consumers prefer to buy from companies that offer a multi-channel experience.

Therefore, it is interesting to ensure synergy between the communication channels used in your Digital Marketing.

You can, for example, make posts directing users to your website. Or even create CTAs in blog posts so that readers can access their social networks.

Why Apply Social Media Marketing?

Companies from all over the world use social networks to connect with their target audience.

And why shouldn't they do this? There are billions of users spread across these communication channels, just waiting to be impacted by the right message.

Most peoples already follow and interact with their favorite companies, often buying from them directly through these channels. With that, Social Media Marketing becomes fundamental.

When you influence a user with valuable content, they tend to consider your product when making a purchase.

Your brand stays in the mind of Internet users, who start to see you as a reference, a trustworthy company. That way, when he has a need, his solution will be considered fondly.

All of this results in increasing your Brand Awareness. It attracts more customers and produces brand advocates to voluntarily promote its products and services.

The way to use this approach for your enterprise

We already said that Social Media Marketing is not a magic formula. It's about understanding your own audience and the fundamental characteristics of the brand.

So, here are some important tips for you to put the plan into practice to engage and convert followers into customers:

Choose the social networks you will use

Not every social network makes sense for a company to invest in. Dedicating valuable resources to the wrong channels can completely undermine your SMM.

So, survey your audience's favorite platforms. So, think about how to occupy each of them with good content.

To do this, study your persona in-depth the semi-fictional representation of your ideal consumer, and go ahead with the strategy.

Make a content calendar

Posting without the slightest planning tends to hurt your results. Define the best recurring themes to ensure a consistent calendar with themes that interest your audience.

Vary your posts between content to engage and convert, generating more interactions and brand awareness.

Use different formats

A clothing store can benefit from good product photography. Or, alternatively, videos with the making of the creation of the pieces.

Make sure you are using the best possible formats to promote your business, be it text, photography, video, audio, etc.

Furthermore, a single format can be exploited in multiple ways. A photo in Stories and Instagram Feeds are completely different things, and this factor also needs to be considered.

Set your tone of voice

Create the tone of voice that will be used in your Social Media Marketing strategy to sound more natural and organic.

Of course, this is not just any language: try to talk in a way that is close to what your audience is looking for. Thus, the consumer tends to identify with you more easily.

Engage your audience

CTAs are essential for you to achieve good results on social networks. They induce the follower to perform a certain action in his interest.

In addition to them, pay attention to the comments left by your audience and engage in conversations with users to generate better experiences.

When the consumer feels close to a brand that he follows and admires, the chances of closing a deal with it increase a lot.

Analyze your key metrics

Digital Marketing is well known for its data-driven approach i.e. based on data. With Social Media Marketing, it's no different!

Monitor the main metrics of your campaigns to optimize results based on concrete information.

This facilitates the work of implementing improvements, adjustments, cuts, and budget injections – as long as they are corroborated by your KPIs.

Optimize your presence on social networks!

With Social Media Marketing, your company gets closer to the target audience by offering valuable content with the right tone of voice.

Throughout the article, you saw that it makes possible a portfolio of customers who are engaged and faithful to their solutions. Thus, more and more advocates of your brand appear on the internet.

In addition, you also learned the differences between SMM and Digital Marketing and how to put it into practice in your company.

All you need is good content planning, knowledge about the persona, and intelligent monitoring of your results.