Social media marketing is one of the fastest growing digital marketing channels. Social media companies in the US, for example, experienced a 95 percent compound annual growth rate in revenues between 2011 and 2015, marking one of the fastest sector growths in history. The question for small businesses is whether it is possible to engage in effective social media marketing on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram without ads. After all, ads cost money.
Just as with search engine optimization methods, there are two general channels through which your business can gain exposure on social media platforms: paid or organic.
Paid social involves paying the social media platforms for advertising space on users’ feeds. For instance, if you have a video that you’d like Facebook users to watch, then you can bid against other similar advertisers for space on users’ screens and pay Facebook for each view that you receive. Facebook’s advertising works on a “cost-per-click” basis, meaning that you pay each time a user engages with an advert (whether they end up buying from you or not).
Organic social is a different animal. Here you don’t pay social media platforms directly, but instead try to boost engagement through the tools at your disposals, such as sharing and liking. Organic social is great IF you can build a community around your product or service, but doing that can be a challenge. Building things up organically often takes much longer than doing so through paid advertising. But if you can get it right, the results can be extraordinary.
Most small businesses go down the route of paid support on social media – at least initially. The reason is that building up an organic following often takes many months, if not years. What’s more, it can be difficult for some businesses to generate a buzz at all. After all, some products aren’t all that interesting to users, especially when those users inhabit an online environment which has so many exciting entertainment options vying for their attention.
Social media paid marketing is surprisingly effective. The reason for this is that it allows businesses to target people based on their self-identified interests. People tell social media platforms all sorts of things about themselves that marketers can then use to their advantage. For instance, a person might reveal in their list of interests that they love cycling. That’s essentially an open door for all manner of cycling companies to target them with custom advertising messages that try to sell their equipment.
Facebook, like Google, offers remarketing facilities. Remarketing is a tool that will redisplay marketing messages to customers when they visit other websites, outside social media platforms.
Remarketing is necessary to drive business results because it helps to engage customers on multiple occasions, reminding them of your services.
So in conclusion, it’s highly likely that your business will have to engage in some kind of paid social media marketing, at least to start. Engaging in effective social media advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter can be a challenge, so get the help you need from Pivotal New Media – experts in paid social.
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Local SEO is a critical component of digital marketing for small businesses that primarily serve a specific geographic area. By optimizing your online presence for local search, you can increase visibility, attract more customers, and stand out from the competition. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover the essential elements of mastering local SEO for small businesses, including local listings, on-page optimization, content marketing, link building, reviews, and more.
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