Why Social Media is the Future of Marketing
This article explains to readers what Social media marketing (SMM) is, and identifies its top 3 advantages. Read on to gain a greater understanding of SMM.
Background of Social Media marketing
There is no escaping the technological evolution of Social media. Social media is no longer a Web 2.0 trend; it is everywhere, from households to multinational companies to family-run businesses. A recent Social media study found that more than three-quarters of Americans use a minimum of one social media application daily. Therefore, it is not a surprise that social media’s relevance and advancements have resulted in the development of SMM .
What is Social Media marketing?
In recent years, the digital revolution has been injected into marketing. Virtually all marketers and businesses are reevaluating their traditional marketing techniques. It is ultimately transforming how consumers, marketers, and companies operate, hence developing social media marketing within digital marketing.
A basic definition of SMM is the use of Social media platforms to promote your company and its chosen products, providing more opportunities for businesses and marketers to connect with their target market.
“Social Media puts the “public” into PR and the “market” into marketing.”
Chris Brogan
It can also be thought of as using social networks and social media avenues to market a business’s products or services, with platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Tiktok, and Facebook being commonly used. Now that you have a better understanding SMM, we can now look at the major advantages it provides.
Top 3 advantages of Social Media marketing
SMM has many benefits, from connectivity and building a community to reaching large audiences to cost-efficiency. We will discuss these below.
1. Connectivity and building a community
SMM allows businesses, users, and consumers to connect online, ultimately creating a community, whether it be around a brand, a product, or even a societal movement. This is highly advantageous as it allows users to connect in a way that would not be possible years ago, bringing people from around the world together on a single platform.
Suppose we look at the powerful example of the MeToo Social media movement. The MeToo campaign was created in 2006 by Tarana Burke to fight against sexual abuse. By simply sharing the ‘Me Too’ hashtag, worldwide survivors of sexual assault united. This hashtag indicates to victims that they are not alone and their voice truly matters.
The social media movement gained a mass amount of attention in 2017 after sexual assault accusations against Hollywood director Harvey Weinstein flooded the media. The SMM campaign’s effectiveness generated a universal conversation about sexual misconduct, identifying ways to stop sexual violence and harassment in the workplace. The campaign fostered an outrage across the world, with users moving past their screens onto the streets, where protests reiterating the need for a no-tolerance policy started.
“Social media is the ultimate equalizer. It gives a voice and a platform to anyone willing to engage.”
Amy Jo Martin
This example shows how SMM has revolutionized the way in which individuals can fight for their rights and speak out. Sexual abuse is only one of many issues that SMM has highlighted and ultimately allowed for connectivity and the building of a survivor community.
2.Social Media marketing reaches a large audience
One of the most favorable advantages of using SMM is that digital content can reach millions of people by clicking a button, a share, a like, and it is off. As of 2020, Facebook had 1.82 billion active users, Instagram 112.5 million, and Twitter 330 million. Overall, SMM helps to reach these millions of users in an easy, effective and simple way.
For example, SMM has also allowed many key topics like mental health to spread quickly and reach millions. Movember is one of the most recent digital movements, with millions taking part by growing a mustache and sharing their journeys online through social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and so on. Subsequently, raising awareness of men’s mental health issues.
Additionally, charities such as Pieta house that focus on suicide prevention and mental health campaigns have relied upon digital marketing streams to spread awareness and encourage open conversations. Most recently, launching an initiative during the pandemic of free counseling video services. They used Social media influencers such as Irish blogger -Louise Cooney to spread the message through her Instagram further, encouraging individuals to reach out and seek help when they need it.
Without SMM, these movements and services would not reach the millions they do; it would simply be through traditional marketing or word of mouth. Ultimately, SMM allows businesses, users, and in this case, a movement and charity to reach millions of people.
3.Social Media marketing is cost-effective
Lastly, another distinctive benefit of SMM is the fact that it is highly cost-effective. It is primarily free for companies to reach such a large audience. These days it is almost unheard of to find a company that is not online, especially on social media platforms.
Compared to traditional marketing techniques with costly tv advertisements, billboards, magazines, and so on, this form of advertising is contemporary and budget friendly.
Conclusion
Overall, looking at SMM, it is clear that it truly is the Future of marketing. It provides countless benefits for businesses, users, consumers, and so on; with only the top three above, connectivity and building a community, reading a large audience, and cost-efficiency, there are countless more advantages when using the marketing technique.
To find out more about the advantages of Social Media Marketing see;
–https://coschedule.com/blog/benefits-of-social-media-marketing-for-business/
References
https://hbr.org/2020/01/4-questions-to-boost-your-social-media-marketing
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