Fuel Communications FAQ: What Is Social Media Marketing?

As Fuel Communications are a full service marketing agency, we have a number of frequently asked questions within all areas of marketing. Today we are taking the time to answer a FAQ that is: What is social media marketing? Well, simply put social media marketing (SMM) is the use of social media networks to market a company’s products and services to an audience. However, there are many different streams and techniques to social media marketing that as a social media agency we are always exploring and refining.

There are key social media networks that you should be aware of, these are: Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Tik Tok, Pinterest and Youtube. Each of these social media platforms have different aspects to them that make them different from each other. Within each of these platforms, you have the ability to push both organic and paid social messages. For example, Facebook ads allow you to add a budget behind a message and push out to an audience of your choice. Within this audience you can select: age, gender, interests and job/ job status. Paid social media campaigns are a great way to build upon your following, increase brand awareness, whilst promoting a product or service.

However as a social media agency, we understand that there is more to social media marketing than simply having a presence on different social media platforms. They are numerous strategic elements that come into play when it comes to social media that should be taken into consideration, rather than simply pushing content out to your organic audience.

Building Trust

Social media marketing provides an excellent platform to build trust with your target audience. This entails posting different content based around your brand but also engaging with other businesses and current affairs. This allows your target audience to see that there are people behind a reputable brand. Here are some of Fuel Communications top tips when it comes to building trust through social media marketing:

• Share high quality content
• Welcome customers / clients to review your company
• Make sure that your branding is consistent
• Provide user generated content
• Build brand advocates over time

Perception

Perception of your brand is extremely important in the nature of today’s society, because if your audience does not fully stand by the values and ethics of your brand they simply will not buy into you and therefore will not purchase a product or service from you. Building a good perception takes years to build and potentially just one post to destroy, therefore it is vitally important that you stay consistent with your brand values and how you would like to be perceived by your audience. Here are some of our top tips on how you can influence brand perception on social media:

• There are several networks out there. Don’t try to master all of them. The best social media network is the one which makes you feel comfortable and is most suitable for your business.
• Build a strategy and be consistent. If you are present on social media platforms only from time to time and most of all, only to promote yourself without caring about your targeted consumers’ needs, I doubt that you will succeed to have a positive brand perception.
• Be as visual as you can. People love visual ads therefore use this to your own
• Put your end user in the middle of your social media strategy.

Authenticity

By definition, authenticity is being real, or genuine. This is definitely what you should be trying for on social media. You can build a reputable brand on social media by using paid social, influencers and giveaways ect – but building authenticity on social media can be slightly more challenging, however here are some SMM techniques that should be considered when building authenticity…

• Be honest and transparent – lets face it, we all come across botched content online from photoshopped images to fake news. As brands, stay as far away from dishonest content as possible, get honest and real about your product or service whenever you can. Go behind the scenes and humanise your brand with your social media content. This could be achieved through live videos on social media, or behind the scenes shots.
• Not every post needs a call to action. Now, don’t get us wrong it is important to have these incorporated into your content, however too much doesn’t always reside well with a customer.
• Clickbait is a thing of the past. Take the time to put together a well-planned social media content calendar, and make sure all your posts will resonate with your audience. Remember each and every post should be worthy of being permanently attributed to your brand. Your social content is deeply ingrained in your overall brand, so make sure it’s great.

If you need any assistance with any social media marketing, be sure to contact a member of our team on 01752 987909 or email alem@fuel-growth.com