Kherz’den Humphrey
Editor-In-Chief
In an era of technology, one of the most popular ways to advertise is through social media marketing (SMM). Now more than ever, social media is being used to promote, advertise and create awareness about businesses, events and even people.
Social media marketing is “the process of creating tailored content for each social media platform to drive engagement and promote your business.” Explains Gary Henderson in an article on Digitalmarketing.org. Although SMM is mainly used by businesses, social media can be used to advertise anything. Including, events, organizations, sales, groups, products or just bring general awareness to something.
Many schools will use SMM to bring attention to events happening both on and off campus, for students and locals, Crowder College included.
When it comes to events that Crowder is hosting, advertising on social media plays a large role in letting everyone know what is taking place. “We do a lot of promotions with social media, as well as we’ll send out a press release to all area media.” Cindy Brown, Director of Public Information for Crowder explains. Crowder Sentry News itself also uses SMM to help advertise sponsors of the paper, ranging from ads in the paper to posting on their social media platforms.
SMM can be beneficial for businesses in many ways. Businesses can connect with customers, create and shape their brand image, learn about competitors, attract a larger customer base and promote their products/events. When businesses use social media such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, it gives customers an opportunity to learn about any information they need prior to going to or doing business with them.
In general, when someone wants to know more about a local business, they will first check for a Facebook page. This means that the look and management of their social media could be the deciding factor for new customers. Businesses should have a well managed and easy to navigate page so that both new and existing customers can find out information on events, sales, or even general knowledge like location and hours.
There are many different tools and applications available to those who run a social media platform that will aide them in managing all aspects of the site with ease. One of which is Buffer, an intuitive, streamlined social media management platform. Buffer is an official marketing partner with Facebook, Pinterest and even Linkedin. It’s easy to use and helps businesses and individuals manage their social media in an effective way.
Aside from using an app or another website to help with SMM, businesses and individuals can hire a social media manager. This is someone who helps represent the company across all social media platforms by managing communication, advertisements, creating content and compiling campaigns in order to keep the social media image looking pristine. Social media managers are responsible to developing different marketing strategies in order to bring new customers in, and keep current customers coming back by maintaining the brand online and keeping up with customer engagements.
Although SMM can be very beneficial to businesses, there is of course a downside. Social media pages need to stay consistent and relative and should be actively managed in order to stay connected to the customer base. There are also risks of negative comments or harassment on social media towards the business or even to the customers. The largest risk is potentially getting the platform hacked, which can lead to false information being shared or information about the business being leaked. However, these are risks that anyone takes when choosing to run a social media platform, wether it be for personal or business use.
In the end, without SMM, businesses may fall behind or miss out on new customers. Many people rely on social media when choosing to go to a business and not having a well managed page, or not having one at all could result in a decrease in customers. Using social media to advertise and connect with the general public can ultimately increase traffic, interest, customer base and awareness of the business.
With society largely revolving around social media, and many people even relying on it, businesses should begin to adapt as well. Big or small, local or chain, social media marketing is an important factor for all businesses.
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