Social media marketing is becoming a more mainstream and effective trend among businesses of all sizes, as leaders have proven to be steadfast in these endeavors amid reports that conversions are not as high as in other channels. This does make good business sense, though, as there should never be one solitary goal in an advertising strategy, but rather the objective of gaining visibility, conversions, loyalty, trust and brand stature through several initiatives.
Trends have started to surface in social media advertising, some of which have been a bit more subversive than others, and all should indicate what marketers should be striving for in these strategies. Transformations are taking place rapidly, but keeping ears to the ground and noses to the grindstone will help to ensure businesses keep pace with changes and capitalize on opportunities as they arise.
Organic Rules
Marketing-Interactive recently reported that while many companies have started to use paid advertising tools and services on social media channels, these might not be the optimal approaches at all. As a note, several social media sites are just now beginning to build out their small business marketing platforms, meaning that there will still be plenty of time for these paid ad solutions to improve and progress in the coming years.
However, paid social media might not ever be the best approach to marketing through these channels and platforms. According to the news provider, organic social media branding is currently king in this space, with companies that achieve success in growing their base through smart, engaging and what is referred to as 'earned' strategies outpacing competitors that solely rely on paid ads.
Now, some advertisers might feel as though optimal performances in this particular endeavor are largely based on luck, but this is not the case. Rather, the source pointed out that data readily available for the taking will uncover some of the best practices and potential opportunities involved in organic social media branding, removing guesswork from the equation and allowing firms to strike the right chords from the start.
No Mobile No Disco
Smart Company broke down a survey released by Australian marketing firm Sensis revealed social media marketing needs to be mobile-targeted to be truly effective, and a failure to incorporate smartphone and tablet operating systems into the plans can lead to poor returns. According to the source, nearly three-quarters of consumers on social media websites access their accounts through their smartphones, while 34 percent do so on their tablets.
As such, the news provider argued that social media is essentially a subset of mobile marketing today, and the two will only continue to become more intertwined as time goes on. Additionally, Smart Company cited the Sensis finding that smartphones users overwhelmingly react better to social media marketing apps rather than mobile websites, which could be a helpful hint for small business marketers who are currently crafting a new plan.