Social Media Marketing: Are You Doing It?

In the digital world of 2021, social media is everywhere. It’s what provides hours of entertainment and connects millions from across the globe with the touch of a few buttons (or a screen). Social media isn’t just used for entertainment or communication with your friends and family. It’s now used by over 90% of marketers in the US. This is in comparison to around 86% back in 2013. 

It’s no surprise that social media has massive potential to enhance any business. It can help to generate more leads and boost sales for brands within pretty much any industry. Over half of consumers learn about new brands through social media, meaning businesses can significantly grow their customer base by jumping on a few social media platforms. 

But it doesn’t stop there! 

The benefits of social media extend far beyond just boosting revenue. It provides a space for brands to communicate with their target audience on a human level. It allows them to have genuine interactions and authentically build relationships with their customers. 

Types of Social Media Marketing

There are two major categories of social media marketing – organic and paid. As a brand, it’s important to focus on both of these tactics at the same time. Using organic and paid concepts maximizes the chances of reaching a wider audience and generating more sales. Each method offers its own advantages and drawbacks, and taking a holistic approach balances the pros and cons nicely.

Organic Social Media

Organic methods of social media marketing refer to anything free. Organic content is simply posting whatever you want on any platform, whether a photo, article, or video. This is Facebook’s “What’s on your mind?” or Twitter’s “What’s happening?” 

When brands post organically on social media, whether a post on their main feed or a story, it will reach a small percentage of their followers. Even though you’re at the mercy of each platform’s algorithm, there is still a great opportunity for your business to stay connected with your audience this way. The use of organic social media can help brands manage their reputation by controlling their interactions with their audience. Speaking one-on-one with your audience gives your consumers a voice and permits you to gain valuable feedback directly.

The obvious advantage of organic social media marketing is the cost. There isn’t one! It is completely free to post organically on any social media platform. From this, you can gain new followers and increase your brand awareness. 

Since this method is free, it comes across as less ‘salesy’ to customers. Instead, it appears more authentic and genuine, establishing a more trusting relationship between your brand and your target audience. 

Unpaid social media enables businesses to tell their brand stories and bring their customers on a journey with them. It also encourages user-generated content (UGC), which is content produced and posted by the brand’s customers. UGC encourages consumers to become more involved in the brand and increases the social proof of the business. 

Unfortunately, organic reach is extremely inconsistent. As more and more brands jump onto a particular social media channel, the organic reach on the platform decreases. This is where paid methods come in! 

Paid Social Media

As the name suggests, paid social media marketing involves paid advertising, where a brand can create specific, target campaigns to run on their social media channels. More and more retailers are investing in social media advertising because of its potential to significantly increase their reach, generate leads, and drive sales. 

Paid social media may cost you more, but it can be used to enhance your organic marketing methods. The most common paid social media marketing method is pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. It involves creating an ad whereby the brand pays when a consumer clicks on the ad. In simplest terms, it means you can reach thousands of people without paying for every view. 

With 64% of people saying that they use social media to discover new brands to purchase from, paid ads can boost sales substantially. Because the ads are targeted to the right people, most consumers who see the ads will be highly receptive to them.