Social Media Marketing: What Does it Do? In a Nutshell.

A friend of mine, David Stucker asked: what does social media marketing do? (Follow David Stucker on Twitter) Why is it so great or effective? And I had to step back for a moment, because the advantages seem so clear to me.

Social Media Marketing Definition

From Technopedia: “Social media marketing (SMM) refers to techniques that target social networks and applications to spread brand awareness or promote particular products.”

Why Is Social Media Marketing Effective?

Social Media Marketing is effective for many reasons:

• SMM can be used to target a particular demographic
• Business owners can spend nothing (but their time) on up to millions of dollars to create brand recognition
• Cleverness is rewarded
• You can increase leads
• Let potential customers know about events
• Increase brand awareness

For instance, if your business is targeting people who fish in the state of Minnesota, it’s possible to find that audience through social channels.

Is Social Media Marketing Better Than Traditional Marketing?

SMM can definitely be more targeted. For instance, if you’re in the construction trades, you can follow others in the construction trades and then market to them and also share their posts, since your target markets will probably overlap. Or, if you’re a brick-and-mortar store, you can follow those in your immediate area. A billboard might hit some of the people in your target market, but not with the precision of SMM. Also, you can’t engage with a billboard, whereas with SMM, you can definitely engage.

Benefits of SMM Over Traditional Marketing

Now, I’m not saying people should give up on traditional marketing. But they should definitely know what the benefits are of reaching people electronically.

• SMM is more targeted
• Engagement is greatly increased with SMM
• Bigger reach with SMM
• Much better ROI with SMM (excellent article with chart from The Social Observer).

Why Do You Use Social Media?

If you prefer social media over traditional marketing, let me know. If you don’t, let me know that, too! And thank you for stopping by!