Social Media

What is Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

This refers to the practice of using social media to market your business, broaden your customer reach, engage with existing clients and customers, and strengthen your brand identity.

Why should I use SMM?

Social media is an essential component in establishing an online presence for your business. You should use SMM to accomplish at least one of the following objectives: improve customer services and relations, establish and broaden brand recognition, and generate qualified leads.

What are the most popular social media platforms?

Facebook is the most popular with 1.415 billion users.
LinkedIn has 347 million accounts.
Google+ and Instagram each boast 300 million users.
Twitter follows closely with 288 million accounts.

How many social media accounts should I have?

Quality over quantity. It’s best not to spread yourself too thin. Plus, not all social media platforms will be suited for your company. A good strategy is to start by concentrating on only one or two accounts – three at the most – and developing a respectable following with relevant content.

How do I know which social media platforms to use?

This requires some basic research. Take a look at the top contenders and who is using them. For example, though Facebook is still the most popular SM platform, it may not be best suited for you. Currently, its biggest demographic includes women, seniors and teens, and your activity on this platform should involve lots of engagement and interaction. By contrast, Twitter is most popular with millennials, and has a larger male than female demographic. Its 140-character limit restricts your interaction.

Can I use the same updates/posts for all of my social media accounts?

This is not the best strategy. Most people use different SM platforms for a variety of reasons. Each platform offers its own options, features and unique attributes. Each of your social media accounts should reflect this. This is another reason it’s not a good idea to create several SM accounts.

How often should I post on social media for my business?

This is somewhat subjective. But which social media platforms you are using plays a large part as well. The following is a very general guide for some of the more popular platforms.

• Facebook: 3 – 10 times per week, no more than 2 posts per day
• Google+: 3 – 10 times per week, no more than 3 posts per day
• LinkedIn: 2 – 5 times per week, no more than 1 time per day
• Twitter: at least 5 times per week, 3 posts or more per day
• Instagram: 5 – 10 times per week, 1 to 2 times per day

How much time will I need to spend on SMM?

This depends on you and your company goals. The number and type of social media platforms you are updating also impacts your time commitment. You or an employee are likely to spend anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour a day on your SMM campaign.

How effective is SMM?

SMM has a very low performance rate for generating leads and converting prospects into customers. However, this is only a small reason for using SMM. Creating and managing one or more successful social media accounts has some important benefits:

• Enhanced customer insight, providing you with valuable consumer information
• Improved customer service and customer relations, which leads to repeat and referral business
• Content distribution
• Brand recognition and an authoritative voice
• More traffic
• Better SEO rankings
• Cost effective marketing

What does “going viral” mean?

Most content posted online doesn’t garner too much interest. However, in some instances, a post, article, video or image may generate massive interest and reach an immense audience. This is called “going viral” and can last mere days or several weeks. This is not a realistic goal for SMM. Instead, it’s more important to concentrate on quality content that has relevance for your audience.