You are busy capturing moments from various events as part of your company’s digital marketing strategy, and do you start hearing these?

“Hey, you were the event photographer last week, weren’t you?”

“All you do is post photos? Easy job”.

Do these sound familiar to you? Or, you, as a marketer, assume, “I have taken photos of the event; let me post them on our social media platforms. Then, that’s my  job done.”?

Let me tell you–capturing, documenting, and publishing photos or videos from one event is not social media marketing. Of course, you are allowed to have these illusions as a viewer. But if you adhere to this principle as a marketer, stop what you’re doing now! Take a deep breath and understand the purpose of social media marketing. It may be anything, but it will not be inundating your business page with photos because you have them.

Keep apart the Likes we gain from “family and friends”.

What makes a stranger Like a business? Or even break it down, WHY does one Like an ad or any update on a business page? It’s the purpose or objective behind the update, isn’t it? With putting yourself at the mercy of a prospect’s fingertip, your sole idea should be demand generation. Then, as a marketer, you need to look at the content that piques your audience’s interest, making them like the update; you tend to look into HOW a viewer would pause that scrolling and be part of it or purchase it. This process leads to the bigger picture of drawing the prospect to the website- your mission and vision- the WHAT part of the business. So, an update should have the AIDA model imbibed into it.

The standard age-old rule of marketing principle which still holds good is the AIDA model: Awareness–Interest–Desire–Action.

Of course, the Action could be direct sales, filling a form, or website visits. So, does your update have a clear CTA- Call to Action? In a nutshell, your social media marketer should be creative and align the updates with the vision of your business. But a marketer’s job doesn’t end here. Once a customer is willing to be part of this business with the Awareness paving way to creating Interest, your targeting techniques should make the prospect understand the gap that your product could close with a  Desire that results in an Action/Purchase.

Strategic digital marketing techniques imbibe and help in pivoting Relationship marketing manifold. Another facet of digital marketing is email marketing, which, done with attention to detail, helps gain repeat customers. Social media marketing helps reach customers’ networks or create lookalikes for you to target. Now know that social media will start reaching out to people with similar interests or demographics. Your efforts will help your money go further, with your customer becoming advocates for your company.  How fabulous! So, ensure your advertising tactics make your customers feel a sense of pride in introducing this business to their contacts. As a marketer, it is your responsibility not to let them down. Your updates should have a meaningful purpose paving the way for delightful purchases and after-sales experiences. 

How do you build a lifetime relationship with a customer, and how can you still interest the existing customer to follow you and make them repeat? Not by filling your page with photographs because you have them. Post with a purpose.

Every post should address a viewer’s pain point or create a genuine interest in the update. Any social media update should be about customers’ needs, NOT what we sell or have to offer. It’s not about your business; it’s keeping a customer’s needs and wants as the point of engagement. Your updates should create a demand.

Now, bring your WHO-HOW-WHAT into a more profound understanding.

This Golden Circle Theory proposed by Simon Sinek has yielded excellent results. 
Hear it straight from the horse’s mouth in detail:
https://simonsinek.com/golden-circle/

Social media marketing is not to show your graphic,  editing, or photographic skills. The sole purpose is to address a customer’s pain point, respect their choices and adhere to their anticipation about what they may like about your business. Remember, it only takes a fraction of a second to unlike or unfollow the business page, but to make them hit that Like initially may have taken days, if not months. 

Also, different social media platforms have different needs- images, videos, text, or ideas. Once you plan your content, put relevant text, photos, and video content based on this principle that suits your business’s platform. Not to forget the #hashtags. The research that one puts in using the right hashtags gets more bang for your buck. Note that not all platforms are suitable for your business; don’t be eager to be on them all. Make sure you will have the content for regular postings.

 One needs to have analytical skills to design marketing strategies. Every social media platform provides marketers with analytics that help them better understand customer demographics and provides data with deeper insights into our business prospects. A seasoned strategist allows businesses to study emerging platforms’ demographics and suitability for their companies. 

Social media marketing is a good mixture of science, art, and psychology. It is the foundation for a successful business. But, it demands patience and vision. It’s more than being a photographer. 

Social Media Marketing is the heart of the modern business.

To me personally, deploying these techniques over time resulted in more page likes and follows consistently:

_{One example of steady, consistent Facebook marketing}

An efficient social media marketer must have a calendar and a plan with updates that suit the business and customer needs. The effort should close the gap between a prospect and the company. 

Social media marketing offers marketers tools to analyse, evaluate and improve. Social media platforms are growing, providing businesses with various platforms and ever-changing algorithms by Google, etc. An efficient (digital) marketing specialist helps harness analytics and target the organically and paid market segment in the best way that suits your business. 

Happy Socia Media Marketing.