Understanding the power of integrating social media marketing into marketing strategies

Notice

With an average of over 900,000 new social media users every day, social medial is increasingly becoming the channel of choice in terms of use as a marketing tool.

Information and Implications

Social media facilitates interaction between businesses and consumers, and consequently, has seen rapid growth as a communication channel in South Africa.

The report published on the website https://datareportal.com reveals that social media is one of the biggest platforms amongst internet users in South Africa for people to discover new brands and products.

The statistics shows social media is an exceptionally powerful platform for advertisers. With massive numbers, social media can provide advertisers with extensive reach.

The 5 most important social media platforms for business are:

Facebook:
Facebook’s paid advertising is the cheapest among all social media networks while it offers the most advanced targeting capabilities.

Instagram:
An ideal platform for brands to showcase their products. Content that works best on Instagram is photos, unique designs and engaging videos. You should prioritize Instagram if your target audience is under the age of 40 and you run a business that heavily relies on visual marketing such as a clothing, lifestyle, photography or hospitality.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the world’s number one networking social media platform for professionals. In recent years the platform has become more than just about recruiting and hiring top talent. LinkedIn has become a forum where experts and businesses share industry related content to establish their thought leadership and authority in their industry. If you consider using LinkedIn for business, you’re going to need a different approach.

Twitter:Twitter is used by businesses of all sizes, journalists and celebrities. What makes twitter stand out from all other social media networks is that it has a strong emphasis on real-time information. This makes it an ideal platform for sharing company updates, news, entertainment, sports, and even politics. If you’re going to be using Twitter as part of your social media marketing strategy, make sure to be concise, interesting and informative in your tweets. Twitter is best for companies that frequently share daily or hourly updates and want to build industry authority.

YouTube: Since YouTube is owned by Google, it has access to Google’s advertising platform. So, if you rely on video content to market your business, you definitely should be running Ads on YouTube. Besides running Ads on the platform, publishing consistent valuable content will enhance your business’s reach. YouTube has gone from being the 3rd most visited website in South Africa to being second only to Google.

Context for the beginner

Read more about the numbers Here.