Types of Social Media Marketing

What are the types of social media marketing?

Types of social media marketing include social networks, media sharing sites, image sharing and messaging sites, social news and blogs. The purpose of a social networking site is to provide users a platform to connect with others and share content. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are examples of social networking sites that have features allowing users to post, share and respond to content.

Another type of social media marketing is media sharing. Sites such as YouTube and Vimeo are great options for media sharing.Features of social media marketing through media sharing include the ability to create profiles, upload images or videos, commenting on content and sharing content. Currently, YouTube is the most well-known media sharing platform in the world.

Media sharing and social networks work well together because videos can be uploaded to media sharing sites and shared on social networks to boost engagement–a great combination for social media marketing.

Digital marketing is currently dominated by visual content. As a result, social media marketing based primarily on images has emerged. Image sharing platforms are a prime place to promote user-generated content through branded hashtags. Image sharing sites allow users to show off photos, with the goal of purely sharing content. An advantage to using image sharing sites for social media marketing is that it provides users a break from lengthy content and traditional written blogs. Implementing these types of social media marketing is a sure way to boost engagement and bring awareness to your organization

Why is social media marketing important?  

Social media marketing is important because engaging in social media gives brands the opportunity to gain exposure while building trust with their audiences and potential employees. Social media marketing also provides brands with a way to engage with existing customers or members, which ultimately drives traffic and increases exposure. It is important to have an effective social media marketing strategy, because without one, your brand will not get the website traffic needed. With at least two-thirds of internet users on social media, social media marketing is an important strategy to use when it comes to reaching an audience. Social media marketing helps brands connect with audiences all over the world, and it is important to use the best social media platform for your audience.  

Choose a social media platform based on the audience you’re wanting to reach, what the platform was created for and the content that does best there. While there are many things to consider when selecting your social media platforms, including whether the platform’s demographics match your intended audience, the following provides a general overview. For workforce development, many organizations have begun using Tik Tok, a platform popular among Gen Z, to promote job opportunities and to share videos about what it is like to work at their company. Facebook is great when connecting with and recruiting the Gen X, while LinkedIn is best for business-to-business audiences and recruiting higher level employees. When journalists and elected officials are the intended audience, Twitter is the ideal platform.

It is also important to consider the functionality of each platform. Facebook is great for allowing organizations to connect with their followers one-on-one through a high-functioning messaging platform. Facebook also offers high-quality video streaming, like live video. If your goal for social media is posting visually compelling posts and creative short videos, Instagram is a good option for your strategy. For long-form written content, like blogs and connecting with a business-to-business audience, LinkedIn is best; for real-time conversations, short updates and alerts, Twitter is recommended. Depending on your goals for social media marketing, make sure to research the best strategy for each platform you use to get the most out of your social media marketing efforts. The platform you use and content you post is very important, and can make or break a social media marketing strategy. 

What are examples of effective social media marketing?  

When creating an effective social media strategy, it is key to define your audience and competitors. Once your audience and competitors are defined, focus on where they are - literally geographically (you may consider geofencing as part of your campaign) as well as where they are online – as in, which social media apps they’re using the most. For example, if most of your audience is on Facebook, it may not be a good idea to prioritize Instagram in your social media strategy.  

Success in social media marketing is a matter of consistently posting content that is engaging and compelling to your audience. Not only is regular posting effective for your social media marketing strategy, but it will also help to make your business dependable and show you have timely knowledge to share and be present in the conversation with your audience. Regular posting on social media is a great example of effective social media marketing, as the practice helps your content show up on newsfeeds, which is where all content is displayed on social media platforms. Relevant and consistent content will show up in newsfeeds and ultimately attract followers to your page.  

Another example of effective social media marketing is prioritizing quality posts over quantity. Often, people think that posting several times a day across all platforms is an effective way to expand reach, but this is not the case. Instead, it is a good idea to focus on delivering consistent, quality posts for an effective social media marketing strategy.  

Developing a social media calendar is critically important for your marketing strategy. Calendars can help to plan posts in advance while helping you to stay organized and true to your social media marketing strategy.