What is Social Media Marketing?

I have been working with Social Media for three years now, but I've lived with Social Media since I was a teenager. Facebook first came into my life when I was a sophomore in high school, and it has always been (and always will be) a way for me to stay connected to the people I care about and the topics that interest us. 

So many social marketers are focused on the numbers. What is my engagement rate? How many impressions have I earned? How many followers did I gain? You get the idea. But social people are focused on something entirely different, and social marketers need to remember that. 

If a marketer wants to hit their numbers, they need to remember that their customers' first desire on social is to interact. The purpose of social media is to find and share common interests with people we've made connections with. The burden of a good social media strategy is that you must, while operating as a company, have the company behave like a singular person. It is very, very easy to forget that. Advertising on social is, obviously, acceptable and doable. It should not, however, be the only thing a company does.

If you're going to foray into the social world (and you should), be social. It's a chance to talk to your customer. To have them lay out everything they want from you so that you can strive to give them what they need. Comment on relevant posts in relevant groups, reply to them on Twitter, repin their favorite pins and give your opinions on their LinkedIn posts. Create and share content based on trends that they can't turn away from.

A good social strategy that focuses on the customer and not the product will lead to increased engagement and impressions. Organically or paid, posting more and having high-quality design will mean nothing if your customer doesn't feel like their interests or opinions matter. Find ways to put yourself in front of your customers and then talk to them to keep their attention. That is what social media marketing means.

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