Digital Marketing

UNIT-2
Social Media Marketing
Social Media
Social Media is a platform that lets us participate in social networking. We can share
our posts on various social media platforms to improve business visibility. Today it is the
best source for news updates, marketing, education, and entertainment.

History of Social Media Marketing

Social Media seems to be a new trend, but its roots stretch to the beginning of
computer era. What we see today is the result of centuries-old social media
development. Usernets, which was launched in 1979, was the first progenitor of social
media, and the journey from Usernets to Facebook is a long one. Usernets allowed users to
post on newsgroups. It was followed by bulletin board systems (BBS) which allowed users
to login and interact. Online services like progidy were the precursors to BBS. After online
services, internet relay chat came into light which gave way to instant messaging.
In the 90s, dating sites and forums were on peak, which led to the development of
social networks. But they did not let users make friend lists. Six degrees launched to
overcome this feature. It allowed profile creation and listing pears. It was purchased and
shut down after playing for a decade. Blogging emerged in this phase, creating a sensation
in social media. It is popular even today. Other sites like BlackPlanet (African-American
Social Website) and MiGente (Latino) cropped up having provision to create profiles and
add friends.
Modern social networks came into picture post 2000. Apple launched
its Friendster in 2002. It has millions of users. Hi5 and Linkedin were launched in 2003.
LinkedIn is a ground for professionals to reach out to one another. MySpace also originated
in 2003 and became well known by 2006. Similarly, Facebook was launched in 2004 and
surpassed MySpace, Orkut, Multiply, etc., and is still expanding. This decade also conceived
media sharing platforms like photobucket, flickr, youtube, instagram, etc., along with news
and bookmarking platforms like Digg and Delicious.
Since 2000, Social Media has bloomed to horizon and is still expanding limitlessly.
Along with media sharing, many other portals that provide real-time updates were
introduced, for example, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. In 2007, Facebook launched its advertising
system.

Overview of Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is the process of using social media platforms and websites
to promote a product or service. Social media marketing, or SMM, is a form of internet
marketing that includes making and sharing content on social media networks to
accomplish marketing and branding goals. Social media marketing incorporates exercises
like posting text and image updates, recordings, and other content that drives consumer
commitment, just as paid social media advertising. Social media marketing is the activity of
making content to advance business and products on different social media platforms like

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Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The extraordinary content ought to be custom-made to
the particular platform it's being shared on to help support transformations and increment
brand awareness.
“Social media is not just a spoke on the wheel of marketing. It’s becoming
the way entire bicycles are built.”
~ Ryan Lilly, writer and author

Purpose and Benefits of Social Media Marketing

The main purpose of social media marketing is to create content that users will share
with their social networks, increasing the brand’s visibility and reach. This content can be
anything from blog posts, product reviews, and videos to images and interactive content.
Companies use social media marketing to engage with their customers and build
relationships with them.
Social media marketing also helps companies to build loyalty and trust among their
customers. By engaging with their customers and responding to their questions and
comments, companies can show that they are listening to their customer’s needs and
concerns. This helps to build trust and loyalty, which can lead to increased sales and
customer loyalty.
It can also be used to increase brand awareness and engagement. Companies can use
social media to create campaigns and promotions that will be seen by a large number of
potential customers. This helps spread the word about the company and its products and
services, driving more traffic to its website and increasing its sales.

Social media has changed the way in which people communicate, gain access to information, and
interact with businesses. In this article, we examine five successful social media brands in India
Social media are online platforms and websites that enable users to create, exchange,
and interact with information and content. Typically, these platforms facilitate user-
generated content, letting individuals and organisations to share their views, opinions,
images, videos, and other forms of media. Social media platforms have become an integral
part of contemporary communication, connecting people from all over the world and
allowing them to engage in a variety of activities.
Social media platforms offer an array of interactive and engaging features and
functionalities. Users are able to follow others, connect with friends, like, share, and
comment on posts, join communities or groups, and send direct messages. LinkedIn,
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat are among the most widely used
social media platforms.
The social impact of social media is significant. It changed the way in which people
communicate, gain access to information, and interact with businesses. Social media has
created new opportunities for businesses to reach their target audience, boost visibility, and
engage with consumers. It has also provided individuals with a forum for expressing their
opinions, joining communities, and advocating for causes in which they believe.
It is essential to observe, however, that social media also presents challenges and
concerns. Privacy concerns, online harassment, misinformation, and addiction have

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emerged as potential negative effects of social media use. Individuals must use social media
responsibly, monitor their online presence, and evaluate the information they consume.

Social media plays a crucial role in shaping brands in the following ways:
1. Brand awareness– Social media platforms serve as a powerful tool for brands to increase
their visibility and generate awareness.
2. Customer engagement– Social media platforms facilitate direct communication between
brands and customers, fostering engagement and building relationships.
3. Brand identity and image– social media provides brands with an opportunity to establish
and reinforce their identity and image.
4. Content distribution– Social media acts as a distribution channel for brands to share
various types of content, including blog posts, videos, images, and infographics.
5. Influencer marketing– Influencer marketing has gained significant traction on social
media. Brands collaborate with influential individuals on platforms like Instagram,
YouTube, or TikTok to promote their products or services.
Social media platforms provide brands with a powerful tool to establish and shape their
brand image. Through strategic and consistent messaging, visual content, and interactions,
brands can cultivate a specific identity and personality that resonates with their target
audience.
List of top five social media brands that have been performing well recently.
1. Zomato
With a following of 901k on Instagram, Zomato has stepped up its game with
engaging, catchy, and trending advertisements and campaigns across all social media
platforms. Zomato, a popular food delivery and restaurant discovery platform, has
implemented a successful social media strategy to engage with its audience. Here are some
key elements of Zomato’s social media strategy:
• Customer engagement
• Promotional campaigns
• Brand advocacy and influencer collaborations
• Trendy and engaging content
By implementing these strategies, Zomato effectively engages with its audience, builds
brand loyalty, and establishes itself as a trusted and entertaining source for food-related
content.

2. Mamaearth
Mamaearth, with a whopping following of 1.3 million is a popular personal care and
beauty brand, has employed a successful social media strategy to connect with its audience.
Mamaearth emphasizes authenticity and transparency in its social media communication.
They share behind-the-scenes content, provide insights into their manufacturing process,
and highlight their natural and toxin-free product formulations. Here are some key
elements of Mamaearth’s social media strategy:

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• Authentic and transparent communication
• Contests and product giveaways
• Social listening and responsiveness
• Social impact and sustainability
• Influencer promotional content
Through these strategies, Mamaearth effectively engages with its audience, positions itself
as a trusted natural skincare brand, and builds a community of loyal customers who
resonate with their values and product offerings.

3. Amul
Amul, the well-known dairy cooperative brand in India, has implemented a
successful social media strategy to engage with its audience and has gained a following of
upto 423k. Amul is famous for its creative and witty advertisements, and this extends to
their social media presence. They create visually appealing and humorous content that
resonates with their audience. Here are some key elements of Amul’s social media strategy:
• Creative and humorous content
• Social commentary
• Engaging contests and campaigns
• Visual storytelling
Their creative and humorous approach, combined with social commentary and visual
storytelling, has contributed to their success in leveraging social media as a powerful
marketing tool.

4. Lenskart
Lenskart, a popular eyewear brand in India, with a following of 883k followers, has
implemented an effective social media strategy to engage with its audience. Lenskart’s
social media strategy revolves around showcasing eyewear as a fashion and lifestyle
accessory. Here are some key elements of Lenskart’s social media strategy:
• Lifestyle focused content
• Seasonal and trendy campaigns
• Interactive and engaging content
• Customer reviews and Testimonials
Through these strategies, Lenskart effectively engages with its audience, positions itself as
a fashionable eyewear brand, and creates a community of eyewear enthusiasts.

5. Sabyasachi
Sabyasachi, a renowned Indian fashion designer, has implemented a distinctive social
media strategy to engage with its audience. Sabyasachi’s social media strategy revolves
around showcasing its signature designs, including intricate bridal wear, traditional Indian
ensembles, and luxury fashion. Here are some key strategies are:
• Showcasing signature designs
• Story-telling through captions
• Collaborations with celebrities
• Exclusive previews and launches

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By employing these strategies, Sabyasachi effectively connects with its audience, establishes
itself as a leading luxury fashion brand, and nurtures a community of loyal customers and
brand advocates.
In Conclusion
The success of a brand’s social media presence can be evaluated in a number of ways. It is
important to observe that a brand’s specific goals and objectives on social media may vary,
as may the evaluation of its performance. What constitutes achievement for one brand might
differ from that of another. Ultimately, a brand’s social media performance must align with
its overarching marketing and business goals.

Social Media Marketing Platforms

Social media marketing is becoming increasingly popular for businesses of all sizes,
as it provides an easy and cost-effective way to reach new customers. With the right tools,
businesses can easily create, manage, and track their social media campaigns. Here are some
of the most popular social media marketing tools to help you get started.

1. Facebook
With more than 3.03 billion active users Facebook is one of the widely used social
media marketing platforms. It is the first choice for promoting any content as here you target
a large number of people that too of different age groups, locations, gender, behavior,
interests, etc. On Facebook, you can also create a custom audience list and reach out
directly.
Facebook Ad Manager – Facebook Ad Manager is a powerful tool to manage, create, and
track your campaigns on the largest social media platform. With this tool, you can create
targeted campaigns, optimize your ad spending, and access detailed insights into the
performance of your campaigns. Additionally, you can use Facebook Audience Insights to
gain valuable insights into your target audience. Finally, Pages Manager allows you to easily
manage your Facebook page, including posts, messages, and reviews.

2. Instagram
Instagram is a visual platform that has more than a 2.4 billion monthly active users
and also allows you to surface your business to a large audience. Although it does not allow
links within the posts yes you will be provided numerous access for showcasing your
creativity to the target audience.

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Instagram Ads Manager – Instagram Ads Manager is a great tool for managing, creating,
and tracking your campaigns on the world’s most popular photo-sharing platform. With
this tool, you can create targeted ads and access detailed insights into the performance of
your campaigns. Additionally, you can use Insights to gain valuable insights into your
target audience. Finally, Creator Studio allows you to easily manage your Instagram page,
including posts, messages, and reviews.

3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is also a nice platform for promoting your business where you can connect
with various business partners, recruit new members as well as share your own creativity.
Also, it is a good choice for B2B social media marketing. LinkedIn has been ranked as one
of the best websites for generating professional leads.

LinkedIn Ads Manager – LinkedIn Ads Manager is a great tool for managing, creating,
and tracking your campaigns on the world’s largest professional network. With this tool,
you can create targeted ads and access detailed insights into the performance of your
campaigns. Additionally, you can use Analytics to gain valuable insights into your target
audience. Finally, Publisher allows you to easily create and manage content on your
LinkedIn page.

4. YouTube
It is one of the best social media platforms for highlighting about your company, its
culture, products, and other important highlights. YouTube has almost 2.7 billion
registered users so if you think that your company can create something creative which can
be promoted on YouTube then you can definitely use this great platform for promoting your
company in an effective way.

5. Twitter or X
As we know that Twitter is a fast platform where things can get instant reach as here
users keep on visiting for new updates. Hence, it makes a good marketing platform where
if you keep posting regularly you create a good reputation in the industry where people
will come to your page and crave new things. On Twitter, one can easily share blog links,
posts, and pages and promote numerous things very easily.

6. Pinterest
Pinterest has over 482 million monthly active users, and it’s a social media platform for
sharing products.
If you have an eCommerce business, Pinterest is a MUST for you. 87% of pinners
have purchased an item because of Pinterest. You can upload individual photos alongside
short descriptions and links to the product page. Pinterest also has a built-in shopping
feature that makes it easier for businesses to promote their products on their site.

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The marketer can use rich pins to give context to a product, article, recipe, and app
pins, and use their advertising options to reach more users. It gives marketers an easy way
of directing traffic to their product pages and connecting with potential customers.

7. Reddit
Reddit has more than 430 million monthly active users.
It is a good platform for audience or content reach and interacting with niche
audiences. Reddit provides users with similar interests with a platform where they can
share ideas. The users can share links, content, or ask questions on topic groups known
as subreddits. The good thing is that there are subreddits for nearly any topic.
Marketers can use Reddit as a research tool to know what their audience is talking
about and then create content based on that. Other than research, Reddit provides its users
with advertising options to help them get their businesses in front of interested users.

8. Snapchat
Snapchat has more than 406 million daily active users.
It is a good platform for sending real-time updates and promoting events. Snapchat
allows its users to post photos and videos that remain active on the platform for 24 hours. It
makes it good for businesses that need to promote timely events, like product launches or a
conference.
It also allows marketers to create custom, branded geotags to promote events in
particular locations during a particular period. Snapchat is a well-known platform for an
audience that skews younger, making it the best platform to target college students.

9. WhatsApp
Most of us have used WhatsApp at some time in our digital lives—after all, it’s the
number one messaging app in more than 100 countries. However, despite its enormous
popularity as a personal instant messaging app (boasting over 2.78 billion active
users worldwide) its value as a marketing tool is often underrated by brands and
businesses. What many don’t know is that, in addition to instant messaging, WhatsApp has
a lot to offer its business customers, and is investing heavily in growing the marketing
functions of the app.
Use in digital marketing
If you’re hoping to use WhatsApp to boost your digital marketing efforts, then you
need to get acquainted with WhatsApp Business. WhatsApp Business is a feature-packed
app for the small or large business owner that enables a brand to personally connect with
their customers, create catalogs of available products and services (which can be highlighted
and promoted individually), and enable support staff to answer customer queries while
they shop. The app also offers companies the option of sending relevant and important
notifications directly to their customers’ devices.

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10. TikTok
Describing itself as “the destination for short-form mobile videos”, TikTok is a
relative newbie to the social networking scene, having officially launched in its current form
as recently as 2017. Despite its reputation as a social media platform for younger
generations, with 1.677 billion active users worldwide, the impact of the site should not be
underestimated; TikTok actually ranks higher than both LinkedIn and Twitter in terms of
users.

Use in digital marketing

As a creative and collaborative space, TikTok offers plenty of opportunities for
marketers to connect with younger audiences on their own turf. It may be famous for dance
challenges and lip-synching but there’s plenty of educational and inspirational content on
there too.
Here are some ways to take advantage of TikTok for marketing:
• Work with influencers to create content
• Create a branded channel
• Build a TikTok advertising campaign

Features or Characteristics or Advantages of Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms play a significant role in marketing by providing businesses
with a powerful means of reaching and engaging with their target audience. They offer a
range of benefits, including:
1. Increased Brand Awareness: Social media platforms allow businesses to
showcase their brand, products, and services to a wide audience. By consistently
sharing valuable content, businesses can increase their brand visibility and reach
potential customers.
2. Audience Engagement: Social media enables direct interaction with customers
through comments, messages, and discussions. Businesses can engage with their
audience, respond to inquiries, provide customer support, and build
relationships, fostering loyalty and trust.
3. Content Distribution: Social media platforms are effective channels for
distributing and promoting content such as blog posts, videos, infographics, and
other valuable resources. This helps businesses drive traffic to their website,
expand their reach, and generate leads.
4. Targeted Advertising: Social media platforms offer sophisticated targeting
options to reach specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. Businesses can
create highly targeted advertising campaigns to reach the right audience,
increasing the chances of conversions and sales.
5. Influencer Marketing: Social media influencers have significant impact and
followers in specific niches. Collaborating with influencers relevant to their
industry allows businesses to tap into their reach and credibility, leveraging their
influence to promote products or services.

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6. Customer Insights: Social media platforms provide valuable data and analytics
on audience demographics, engagement, and preferences. This data can be used
to refine marketing strategies, create targeted content, and better understand
customer needs and interests.
7. Reputation Management: Social media allows businesses to monitor and manage
their online reputation. They can address customer feedback, respond to reviews,
and address concerns publicly, showing a commitment to customer satisfaction
and building a positive brand image.
8. Competitive Advantage: Having a strong social media presence is increasingly
important in today's digital landscape. Businesses that effectively utilize social
media platforms can gain a competitive edge by staying connected with their
audience, adapting to trends, and staying top of mind.

Overall, social media platforms offer businesses a valuable opportunity to connect with
their target audience, increase brand visibility, drive engagement, and ultimately
achieve marketing objectives.

Creating and Optimizing Social Media Profiles

Need of Social Media for Your Business
If you have a business that sells a product or service, it’s essential to build brand
awareness through social media marketing. Not everyone loves social media and it can
be a daunting task to get started. But it’s the best way to connect to new customers and
with people who already love your company. Customers are more likely to buy from
companies that have active social media accounts so it’s not something you should take
lightly.
The big four social media platforms are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and
LinkedIn. There are others that many people use but may not be relevant to your
business like YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat and Tik Tok. These four are for
entertainment or education purposes and could help introduce new customers to your
brand.

How to Set Up Social Media Profiles

It’s easy to create accounts on social media, but there is a bit of planning that
goes into making your profiles successful from the start. Below we share with you the
basic steps and important considerations on setting up social media accounts for your
business.

Step 1 — Create Your Account

Most likely you already have social media accounts for personal use. You’ll need
to decide if you want to continue using your personal accounts for your business or
start new profiles. Most probably you’ll do the latter and create new accounts so you
can start fresh. But with some social media like Twitter and Instagram, several types
of businesses can easily tweak their personal accounts to represent their business.

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For Facebook and LinkedIn, you’ll create a “Page” for your business so you can
keep it separate from your personal profile. For Instagram and Twitter, you can “Add
an Account” to your personal account to make it easy to switch back and forth between
each from one login. Check this article to get help setting up each of your accounts.

Step 2 — Choose a Profile Photo and Banner Image

Your profile photo is going to grab the attention of those scrolling through social
media so make sure to choose a great photo. It could be your logo, a headshot or a photo
that represents your business. Then you’ll need an eye-catching banner image on many
social media platforms to make your profile complete and stand out.
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube have banner images across the top
and each has specific size requirements. If you need help creating beautiful images for
each social media platform try Canva. Even if you aren’t a graphic designer, Canva has
templates in the correct size so designing graphics is a snap.

Step 3 — Write a Compelling Profile Introduction

For each social media platform, you will need an introduction or a blurb about
you and your business. Each platform has its own look and character requirements.
Write on a saved document a short intro of 160 characters, a medium-length one, and a
longer bio so you have these on hand and can tweak them as needed. It can be hard to
say everything your customer needs to know in a short profile intro so be succinct.

Step 4 — Create Posts and Schedule Them

The content you create for each social media platform will vary, as it isn’t
recommended to post the same things to every platform. They all operate in different
ways and have different requirements for images and posts. For instance, Instagram is
more image and video centred and has no clickable links, while Facebook does let you
share links to content. To save yourself from looking at social media every single day,
you’ll want to use a scheduling application that will post things throughout the week
for you.

Optimizing Social Media Profiles

Increasing engagement and turning your audience into paying customers
doesn’t just happen. Business have to work for it. Specifically, they have to optimize
social media pages to reach more people and increase brand awareness. Here are 10
ways to do so for better reach, improved engagement, and higher conversion rates.

Need of Social Media Optimization

Today, over 88% of businesses market on social media. This means two things:
First, you can’t not do it; and second, you can’t do a horrible job at it.
With millions of brands competing for audience attention on various social
media platforms, you can’t stay passive and wait for them to come to you. You have to
step up your game to get noticed. One of the most effective ways to do this is to optimize

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social media accounts. Just make sure you have a firm understanding of cybersecurity for
social media to protect yourself! Here are a few tips to help you get started on the right
foot.
How to Perfect Social Media Optimization
1. Identify Your Social Media Goals
The first part of the process is to identify what your ultimate goal is for building and
optimizing social media accounts. Once you’ve done this, you can start to list the steps that
you have to take.
For instance, if your goal is to utilize your social media accounts to boost sales, you will
have to take the following steps to increase it.
• Improve audience reach.
• Increase engagement and gain more prospects.
• Generate leads.
• Convert leads to paying customers.
Having an end goal in mind will guide you in figuring out the smaller milestones you need
to hit in order to get there.
Don’t forget to make your goals specific and give them numerical values (example: to
increase online sales to $10,000/month) so that you’re able to measure your progress.

2. Fill Out Your Profiles in Their Entirety

Our second tip — and one of the essentials you should cover when optimizing your social
media pages — is to fill out your main profile pages front to back.
What is your page all about? In order to reach your target audience, you have to make your
profile visible in search results. When optimizing it, remember to cover the basics.
Upload a High-Quality Profile Photo
Your brand’s image matters. Thus, you need a good profile picture so people will
immediately recognize you. For businesses, using your company logo is an excellent option.
Let People Know What Exactly It is You Do
What kind of company are you? What types of products or services do you offer?
Your profile is supposed to give people insight into who you are and what you do, so allow
them to know you. Fill out the information fields with your details, provide them
information on what your business does, and so on.
Include Keywords
If you want people to find you easily, then you have to do keyword research and include
the high performing ones in your profile. This increases your chances of getting seen.
Add Your Location
Providing your business’s location makes it easier for people who are looking for your
products or services nearby to find you. This move can provide you more chances of
appearing in local searches. Google loves it.
Determine Your Store Hours
This is more important — yet often overlooked — information. Setting store hours allows
your audience to know when to expect a reply from you for their direct messages.
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3. Use Hashtags
Hashtags are essentially SEO of social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Adding
hashtags to your captions increases your chances of exposure. Please take note, however,
that they’re not as effective on Facebook.
One thing you should remember when utilizing hashtags is to optimize them for the the
social media account to which you’re uploading the content. Your hashtags for Instagram
won’t look the same as Twitter. Knowing how to use them right will help you succeed.
Here’s how to use hashtags for social media.
Twitter
Twitter Hashtags are used primarily for searches. For instance, if you want to see tweets or
conversations, all you have to do is to search for the hashtag in Twitter’s search bar.
Adding one or two hashtags per tweet is best practice. In fact, studies show that tweets with
only one hashtag generate the most engagement.
Instagram
Instagram uses hashtags to group images together. This platform allows up to 30 hashtags
per caption, but most experts agree that limiting it to 11 relevant hashtags per post is ideal
for the best engagement. (Hint: eClincher can help you determine the best hashtag strategy
for your brand.)
Other creative ways to use hashtags is in Instagram and Twitter contests and other
campaign promotions.
4. Create Valuable Content That Solves Your Followers’ Problems
Content is the key to your social media marketing success. It’s what draws your audience
to you. People love things that provide value to them. Thus, your content, whether created
or curated, should not be limited to plain promotional materials.
Furthermore, they should help your followers overcome an obstacle they have.
Here are a few ideas:
Infographics
They’re informative, visually appealing, shareable, and people love them.
Posts That Evoke Emotion
Emotions are an effective way to make people take action. This is the reason why posts that
stimulate one’s emotions get a lot of shares, comments, and likes.
News
Sharing news is another excellent strategy on social media. People love to stay in the loop
of the latest happenings.
5. Use Images
The right images can make a person notice you. This is something all brands need in order
to increase engagement, especially with the enormous (and growing) amount of content
lining up in every user’s feed, fighting for attention.
But with the number of images popping up on feeds, how do you make your content stand
out?

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Studies confirm that each platform has a different preference when it comes to social media
content. What may garner a lot of attention on Facebook may not necessarily receive the
same response on Instagram.
Test out different approaches and use a tool like eClincher to see which posts garner the
most attention.
6. Include Calls-to-Action
Calls-to-action (CTAs) encourage your audience to respond to your content. They helps
boost engagement and convert your audience into leads. Below are a few tips to make the
most out of your CTAs.
Make Offers That Your Audience Wants
This a popular and effective strategy for increasing engagement. Giving away eBooks and
other resources in exchange for their information is an excellent way of converting leads.
Be Specific
Do you want your visitor to like you on Facebook? Sign up for your newsletter? Enter your
contest? Tell them exactly that.
Make Them as Simple and Short as Possible
Don’t make people work too hard to accomplish your CTAs — like by asking for a ton of
information. CTAs should be quick and straightforward.
7. Use Attention-Grabbing Headlines
Headlines matter and can make or break it when it comes to getting your followers to stop
for a second look.
Here are some tips.
Start With Numbers
According to Moz, headlines that start with numbers resonate most with people. An
example is the title of this article: 10 Ways to Optimize Social Media.
Don’t Be Afraid to Go Negative
Using negative words like “worst” and “never” can sometimes have better results compared
to positive words. So, titles like “3 Things You Should Never Do On Social Media” may
receive more engagement.
8. Be Active on Social Media Sites That Add Value to Your Business
You don’t have to be present on every single social media platform to increase awareness
and promote your brand. You need to choose only the platforms that will benefit your
business. Now, the question is, which platforms should you utilize?
Below are some recommendations for each social media platform.
Facebook
With over 2.27 billion monthly active users, Facebook is undoubtedly one of the leading
social media platforms today.
Every business should have a Facebook account regardless of what industry they belong to.
Why? Because search engines consider Facebook as a local SEO signal. They check your
profile when filtering out their local search results.

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Therefore, if you want to be more “searchable” when users include the area where you do
business in their search, then you have to have a Facebook business account.
Instagram
Instagram is a great social media platform for businesses that can gain a lot by relying on
visuals. Examples are fashion, travel, and food.
Twitter
Twitter is perfect for news and information, but it can also be utilized for your company’s
support or customer service.
Pinterest
Did you know that 87% of Pinterest users purchased a product because of the platform? It’s
one of the social media platforms with the most successful conversion rates.
Ideal for businesses that deal with arts, crafts, and events, Pinterest is an excellent platform
for brands that have visual products. (To be clear, though, you can be outside of these
industries and still see massive success on the platform.)
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the platform that’s most ideal for B2B, or business-to-business, transactions. If
you’re selling products that are targeted to other businesses, it’s recommended to include
LinkedIn on your list of main social media platforms.
Only choose the platforms that can help you best promote your brand, products, or services
so you can focus your attention on the things that matter for your company. Choosing only
two or three that perform well is better than having five that don’t.
9. Optimize Your Posting Schedule
If you’re posting high-quality content but you’re still not getting results, then one of the
possible reasons why is your posting schedule. You have to schedule your posts during the
time when your audience is most active online.
This will be different for each brand. Furthermore, it can differ from one platform to the
next. The best you can do is test different times and measure the results.
eClincher will measure the engagement of every post you share, so you can determine the
best times of day for your brand on each platform.
10. Track Your Progress
The only way to see if your social media accounts are properly optimized is by tracking
your progress. See how much engagement you’re getting. Take note of the number of times
your post was shared, the number of comments each post received, the number of likes, etc.
before you change any part of your strategy.
This will help you determine the strategies and methods that work for you and those that
don’t. eClincher’s analytics will help you with every piece of these.
Once you have credible, data-backed information, you’ll be able to make better decisions
and more effectively optimize social media accounts.
What social media optimization strategies have you tried so far, and which ones worked
best for your business? Share your experience with us in the comments.

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Social Media Content Strategy
Social media content strategy is the process of planning, creating, and implementing various
types of content on different social media platforms.
A documented content strategy is indispensable for an organization’s social media
marketing initiatives to be successful. Also, social media is itself one of the most effective
platforms for posting content online in order to capture the attention of your audience.
Many B2C and B2B businesses don’t have a documented content marketing strategy, which
is why their presence on the social media channels turns out to be of little value.
Need of Social Media Content Strategy
If you are still wondering why you need a social media content plan, here are a few reasons
to consider:
Þ It Saves Time
Some marketers mistakenly assume that preparing a detailed strategy means spending a lot
of time. But in reality, not having a social media content calendar is more costly in the long
run because at some point, you are at a loss of what to post next.
There is also an opportunity cost gone into posting randomly without a methodology to
follow. A well-delineated strategy saves time and moves you towards your goals.
Þ It Supports Business Objectives
When you are in the process of planning social media content, you automatically
understand the target customer as a key part of the content strategy. Knowing them and the
platforms they use are secrets that ultimately turn social media into a revenue generating
machine.
As the strategy focuses on your end customer, it ends up driving ROI for, especially,
ecommerce businesses.
Þ It Provides Measurable Results
Social media reporting or social monitoring is a significant part but also a pain point for
many marketers. There is no particular way of knowing whether you are achieving your
goals.
But with a robust social media content strategy, it is easy to define most of the important
metrics, including those that confirm if the strategy is paying off. Ecommerce marketers also
get a way to prove which topics and formats are doing the best so that they can create more
of those.

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3 Best Examples of Content Strategy for Social Media Marketing
1. Gillette
The men’s skincare and grooming brand showed that a social media content strategy is not
always about marketing a product. In 2019, they came up with the YouTube advertisement
video, ‘The Best Men Can Be’.
The ad brought forth cases of men questioning and struggling with the conventional concept
of masculinity. It acknowledged that every man is not the same and that men should hold
each other responsible for setting good examples for the next generation.
The brand took advantage of the #metoo movement and sent a thought-provoking message
to the society. The video was extremely successful with over 30 million users.
2. Apple: #ShotOniPhone
Apple had introduced the #ShotOniPhone as part of one of its social media campaigns and
since then, it has become a major part of all the Apple iPhone launches.
The hashtag is used to discuss camera features, improvements, and different functions of
the camera app while also encouraging the customers to add more content across the
different platforms. Apple successfully used content to achieve long-term solid results with
minimal effort.
3. Loot Crate
Look Crate does an amazing job with its social media content strategy by knowing who
exactly the audience is. It is a subscription service that sends a box to you. Even with its
apparently scattered Instagram feed, the customer targeting is on point.
This is probably the first and the most important thing that one needs to get right when
launching a social media content strategy and the brand does it right.

Social media advertising

Social media advertising is a type of social media marketing where you use paid
media to promote your business on any of its many channels. This media comes in many
formats and placements and supports a range of creative, from images and video to
immersive experiences.
It’s also referred to as paid social. Whereas with paid search where you target
keywords and terms, on social, you target audiences, interests, and behaviors. Social media
ads are also generally more visual and branded, and quite native to the platform—so much
so that they can sometimes be hard to identify as ads.
Benefits of social media advertising
As with any PPC strategy, social media advertising has lots of benefits for businesses.
Here are some reasons to advertise on social media:
• Cost-effective: PPC in general yields an average 200% ROI. In addition, paid social
is a lower-cost alternative to targeting your competitors' audience on search.

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• Brand awareness: Not only are social media networks vast, but also, the visual ads
allow you to customize them to your branding and style.
• Engagement: In addition to ad clicks, users can interact with social media ads by
liking, sharing, and commenting.
• Formats: As mentioned above, social media ads support a wide range of formats
and media types
• Targeting: Because users share detailed information about themselves on the
platforms, social media ads allow for granular targeting.
• Not disruptive: For the most part, social media ads are often hard to distinguish
from organic posts on the platforms, making them a less disruptive way to reach your
audience.

A Facebook ad for Tiktok advertising...how meta...

Social media advertising stats

To give you a sense of how big the social media ad market is, let’s take a look at a few stats:
• Social media ads are the fourth biggest source of brand discovery and the second
most popular channel for online brand research.

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• Social media advertising is the second biggest market in digital ads ($153 billion in
2021), after search advertising.
• Google controls 28.6% of global digital ad spend, while Meta (Facebook) is not far
behind at 23.7%
Most popular social media advertising channels
The most popular social media platforms for advertising are, unsurprisingly the
same as those for organic marketing.
These include:
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
These are also popular platforms:
• TikTok
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Snapchat
• Quora
• Reddit

Working of Social Media Ads

As mentioned above, while search ads operate primarily on keyword targeting, social
ads are based on audience targeting. Each platform has its own features, settings, and
formats, but they do share some general traits:
• Auction style: Just like the way Google Ads works, social ads are an auction-style
of PPC where an algorithm determines placements and costs based on a number of
criteria—including ad quality, maximum bid, and past performance.
• Campaign objectives: For most platforms, the first step in creating a campaign is to
choose an objective. Usually there are three to represent top, middle, and bottom of
funnel.
• Reach/awareness
• Leads/engagement
• Conversion/sales

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• Targeting: You’re able to target users on each platform by demographics, interests,
and behaviors as well as create retargeting and lookalike audiences. Every platform
is different, but this guide to Facebook audience targeting can help you get an overall
grasp.
• Account structure: While naming conventions vary for each platform, each one has
an account structure that allows you to organize ads into groups and then organize
groups into campaigns.

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Social Media Analytics

Social media analytics refers to the collection of data and metrics that help you measure
your overall social media performance. This helps marketers understand which types of
social media content best resonate with their audience so they can shape and adapt their
strategy accordingly. Reviewing social media analytics reports empowers teams to make
data-informed decisions about how to transform their marketing efforts and grow their
businesses.
Marketers can conduct social media analysis natively on platforms such as Instagram,
TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter). Marketers can also use social media
management software like Sprout to dive deeper into the numbers.
Social media analytics acquires and evaluates data from different social media platforms
such as Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, and more. Without a social media
analytics system, it is difficult to track, monitor, and make sense of the information spread
out in comments, posts, shares, and promotions.

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Benefits of social media analytics
From identifying market trends to making processes and products efficient, there are
numerous reasons businesses use social media analytics.
1. Identify market trends
Collect information from different social media channels to analyse customer
behaviour and illustrate industry trends.
2. Gauge customer engagement
Analyse how social media users engage with the marketing material and understand
if your campaigns are churning to their full potential. Allow customers to engage with
your brand through their questions and other online discussions.
3. Study the demographics
Social media statistics help businesses analyse which customer demographics support
or purchase a product or service. Using this information, marketing specialists can
improve or change their strategy.
4. Detect inefficiencies in the company or products
Monitor the customers’ opinions about your products and services and use these
insights to improvise. Know why people like a specific brand and how you can align your
other brands accordingly.

Direct benefits of social media analytics

Social media is a powerful tool to boost sales, increase brand awareness and trust, and
increase customer satisfaction. The goldmine of online information helps you achieve
these direct benefits –
1. Measure social media ROI
Agencies can directly showcase their value to brands. One of the direct value outputs
of social media analytics is the ROI of campaigns. Brands can use the ROI analysis to
further invest in targeting more customers and bringing them to the website.
2. Refine your social media strategy
Use analytics to understand which marketing strategies are working better than the
others. Focus your efforts and money on those that deliver actual value and improvise on
those that do not.
3. Get a better understanding of the audience
Most people have a digital footprint, and that provides valuable information about
your needs and preferences. Marketers can use this information to engage with the
audience in real-time.
4. Benchmark against competitors
Use social media analytics to identify competitors. Know what they do well and
where their social media gaps are. Using this information, you can align your campaigns
for greater competitive advantage.

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6 Metrics you can track with social media analytics
Social media analytics provide specific and targeted data about the audience using these
key analytics.
Performance metrics
Know where your strategic efforts are successful and where they need improvement.
The most important performance metrics to track social media analytics are –
1. Growth pattern in the count of followers.
2. Click-through rate on the links in posts.
3. The number of effective interactions across platforms.
Audience Analytics
Businesses want to create and distribute content that solves real-life problems for
their audience. By knowing what answers your audience is searching for, you can provide
relevant content and improve their experience.
Competitor Analytics
This helps businesses understand how their online presence is. Competitor
analytics compares two or more businesses, assesses the relative effectiveness of their
campaigns and suggests areas for improvement.
Paid social media Analytics
Advanced analytics tools tell marketers which campaigns will work better than others.
This reduces your spending on risky and less productive campaigns. The following
metrics help you achieve this –
1. Cost per click.
2. Cost per engagement.
3. Number of active ads.
4. Cost per purchase.
5. Number of clicks.
6. Total ad expenditure.
7. Cost per action.
8. Click-through rate.
Influencer Analytics
Get precise metrics for successful influencer campaigns. Some influencer analytics
businesses can use are –
1. Engagement per thousand followers.
2. Size of audience and most useful hashtags.
3. The number of posts per day/week to gauge the influencer’s engagement power.
4. Influencer’s prior engagement with brands.
Sentiment Analytics
It is a crucial analytics tool to know if your campaign is succeeding or failing. It
can help identify potential issues with customer experience while the campaign is
running. Monitor interactions and engagement rates over time for healthy growth.

From the desk of Mr. Manjunath Balluli, Dept. of CS Page 22 of 22