Social media has become an important aspect of any company’s marketing strategy, which only makes sense when you consider the numbers: 77 percent of Americans have a social media profile, and approximately 2.77 billion people worldwide use social media. No wonder 80 percent of US businesses hire personnel dedicated to tracking, monitoring, and controlling the company’s social media presence.

 Advantages of Social Media for Business Marketing

Marketing with social media offers unique opportunities to develop brand recognition, reach new consumers, and launch new marketing campaigns. An effective social media presence offers multiple advantages, including:

• Increased brand awareness. Social media helps you reach the widest audience with minimal effort and expense. There’s no charge for creating a profile on the major social media platforms, and a well-thought-out social media strategy can significantly improve brand awareness.
• Building brand authenticity. Marketing with social media is all about building your brand. Developing a consistent, interesting online personality shows viewers the attitudes and values of the people behind the company better than a corporate news release.
• Creating a competitive edge. Today’s consumers are likely to compare you with your competitors through online searches. What they find determines who gets their business. A social media presence that offers helpful, relevant information helps you make a strong first impression.
• Engaging with your audience. Social media changes frequently, as new stories trend and go viral. Even the platforms themselves change frequently, as new features are added to increase user engagement. Responding to viral stories and experimenting with social media features provide interesting ways to engage with your target audience.
• Providing support. Customers increasingly look to social media when they need information or run into a problem with a product. By tracking customer comments, your business can respond to complaints or queries quickly, while simultaneously demonstrating to the public the quality of your customer service.
• Affordable marketing. Social media for business marketing offers an attractive ROI to companies who may not have the budget for traditional ad campaigns.

Tips for Marketing with Social Media

Marketing with social media is not without risk: Online audiences are quick to spot signs of inauthenticity and direct sales pitches. A post that’s seen as offensive or in bad taste can negate months of careful brand-building (such as Cinnabon’s disastrous “tribute” to Carrie Fisher when they decided to commemorate the actress’ death with an image of Princess Leia with cinnamon buns in place of Leia’s iconic hair buns). Always think before you post--which is good advice for anyone, but especially valuable for brand building.

 This doesn’t mean you should avoid marketing with social media, only that you need to be aware of the potential pitfalls of online life. Below are six tips for online marketing to help you build an effective online presence.

 Research Your Audience

As with any marketing campaign, social media marketing requires an understanding of your target audience, including their values, age, gender, and other demographic information. Which social platform do they use most?

 Trying to create a business presence on all possible social media platforms is beyond the scope (and needs) of most businesses, so pick the platform your audience is most likely to use. Baby boomers tend to congregate on Facebook, while younger generations are more likely to use Snapchat and Instagram. LinkedIn is well-suited for B2B marketing, while Twitter is ideal for reaching a broad market.

 Read the Terms and Conditions

Few people ever bother to read the terms and conditions when they create a social media profile. If you're creating a business profile, however, it’s important you understand exactly what you can and cannot do when using the platform for marketing purposes. Violating the terms and conditions can lead to the temporary or permanent suspension of your account. A permaban can ruin months of brand building, and force you to start from scratch on another platform.

Mix up Your Content

Experiment with different strategies when using social media for business. In addition to regular profile posts, link to relevant or informative white papers or news articles. Keep your audience engaged with polls and surveys. Create contests where the winners receive high-quality promotional items, such as an attractive piece of branded outerwear. Offer your audience exclusive offers and discounts as rewards for following you on social media.

 The key is to keep your audience interested. One day you might offer a survey, and then post a video of your workplace the next. Varied content keeps followers coming back for more.

 Consider Your Keywords

Social media platforms have their own built-in search engines, so users can search the platform for information. Like Google, these search tools rely on user-created keywords to yield results, so your social media platform has to use SEO (search engine optimization) to ensure users can find your profile and posts.

 Before you start marketing with social media, create a list of keywords customers use to find your website and research your goods and services. Where appropriate, convert these keywords into hashtags to include in social media posts.

 Find Some Influencers

Influencers are online personalities who are considered authoritative and trusted sources by their followers. Linking your brand to an influencer can give you access to their followers, who often number in the tens of thousands.

 Building ties with an influencer in your field takes time. Ask them to review your products or services, offer them a first look at new products, and send them promotional items if appropriate (it’s important you not be seen as trying to “buy” the influencer’s approval, as that damages both your reputation and that of the influencer).

 Combine Social Networking with other Marketing

Marketing for social media rarely takes place in a vacuum. More often, it’s combined with other marketing strategies. Use your social media presence to run cross-promotional ads, introduce promotional gift campaigns, and launch new products in an organic manner that encourages the viewer to take action. For instance, use social media to promote a campaign where consumers receive a free trucker hat with every purchase or provide a preview of your newest service.