Are Digital and Social Media Marketing Essential to Business?

This is a question that is often asked, and the answer is always the same. If you want to be able to grow and reach your consumer base easier then digital and social media marketing is an essential component of your business.

The key component is understanding the different types of digital marketing that can occur, and what is the best mix for your particular business. Are you an online-only business and are looking for traffic to come to your site and convert into sales? Or do you have a physical presence, and social media channels might be more relevant with offering an online channel for communication with your customers?

Finding this right balance is critical, and it is best to have a wide mix of both digital and social media marketing, and as you review the results with your local expert, you can tweak your overall strategy as needed.

Digital Marketing

This area covers both inbound and outbound marketing strategies that have simply gone digital. Your key focus here should be preparation and planning on what your overall budget should be with what your target is.

There is no one size fits all, and it is always best to consider using a wide array of tools and marketing practices.

Biddable Media

This is what can be considered the most traditional form of digital marketing, where your primary focus is on Google Adwords, or social media boosting. It is based on selecting the right types of keywords and phrases and ‘bidding’ on them.

This is a great way to generate brand awareness and some initial traffic to your site but can get costly over time, as you pay per click and campaign usually. Social media boosting works in a similar fashion, becoming a paid advertisement on major platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The same model of pay per click applies as well. Both of these platforms help digital marketers by helping them grow the right type of traffic, not just sending their message out to the world.

Email marketing

When someone signs up for a newsletter or opts in to receive communications from a business, this comes in the form of converting those physical mails in the post, into a digital format. These can be promotional communication offering the latest and best deals available, and there are many tools out there to build up customization, and target market groups.

SEO marketing

One of the most underrated forms of marketing that needs to have some attention given to it. This is based on correctly setting up your site with the right tagging and consistent tagging. If done properly, your site will be found automatically and for free when people search for it on common search engines such as google.com.

This is a great way, after some effort, to reduce your other forms of digital marketing budgets, when your target customers can already find you.

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Social Media Marketing

This form of marketing is all about building communication and fostering it openly. It is about engaging with your customers directly and providing them with your digital presence.

Over half the population globally uses social media for around 2 hours a day. This means that you can have direct access to your clientele base on platforms that they are already on, and it is simply about developing the right type of presence. Social media is where the clients come to you.

Facebook / Instagram / Whatsapp

Building up your Facebook page is one of the first items you should do on your social media marketing journey. It is where you can establish your business, have your friends connect, and begin slowly promoting yourself with some brand awareness targeted marketing. It is low to no cost, and as people find your business, they will easily head over to your Facebook page and like it, which allows for them to follow your business and catch any posts and updates you have.

Instagram expands the Facebook platform to showcase your services, through pictures and short videos. You are looking to generate consistent content and buzz, and this will slowly lead to more followers and likes, which will help get the right targeted people to you.

Don't forget their communication tool, WhatsApp for business, which offers you a great and free way to communicate to your customers globally. You can offer products, payment options (in certain countries), and bucket your client communications into different categories. It is a great way to provide customer support and help expand your social media community.

Tiktok

Whereas your website generates photos and blogs, Tiktok is your content-rich video arena. This can be utilized as a great way to generate a following, and are great for those businesses that are truly visual. People can easily like and follow your future videos, helping you grow your following.

Youtube

This is a great platform to promote your products or services, especially if you have a complicated product and you want to educate your customer base. YouTube is an excellent platform to post your content with the mindset of empowering your customer based on what their questions might be.

How to Increase your social media presence

After your friends and family follow your social media, and you do some great initial campaigns, you might not see those huge follower increases. There are many ways to increase followers, but it requires a focused and targeted approach.

Working with a specialized social media company

It is critical to work with people that will be dedicated to expanding your social media presence. They will build out a content calendar, and connect and follow other social media channels for some cross-pollination of services. It is essential to keep your presence as live as possible, so answering any customer queries, or building up ways to engage the community is essential. In the early stages, social media boosting (advertising) will be essential and should be tied with campaigns and offerings to generate those early day followers.

Influencer Marketing

Another great way is to partner with an influencer or an influencer agency and piggyback off their already large following. The right mix of micro to mega influencers is critical so that you can get as wide an audience as possible. They are the modern-day promoters of your company and products and should help provide healthy boosts to your social media numbers every time you utilize them.

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A Few Final Thoughts for Digital and Social Media Marketing

Think of digital marketing as getting through the online noise and showing people that you exist, while social media marketing is about building your online community and village after you are able to be found.

Social media marketing is something that requires consistent expert attention and content. If done correctly, and you start to grow that online following, your business itself can be a digital influencer, and many of these platforms actually offer an incentive to you for having so many followers, generating an additional and unexpected revenue stream.

The key here is about finding the right partner to help you understand the differences between digital and social media marketing, which platforms to be on, what budgets to consider, and what strategy, content and messaging should go out there for the world to see. Otherwise, you run the risk of spending a lot of time money and resources with minimal results.