Is social media marketing free?
We also understand that you're probably a little light on the wallet right now. Whether you're bootstrapping or have just closed your first round of funding, most of your available budget has already been used up. Don't worry, there are plenty of ways to reap the benefits of social media marketing without having to dig deep into the till.
Did we just give away the ending? Okay, the short answer to the question in the title is Yes... with an asterisk. And that asterisk says "to a certain extent."
Why are social networks important?
Before we dive into the free ways to do social media, we'd like to make sure you phone numbers philippines have some underlying facts. These facts are the reasons behind the "why" section that follows.
More than 45% of the world's population uses at least one social media channel.
It doesn’t matter who your target audience is. It doesn’t matter if you have multiple different audiences. It doesn’t matter – you can reach anyone through social media. Yes, platforms matter , but the bottom line is that they’re here. You just need to create a brand presence so they know you’re here too.
37 % of respondents found purchase inspiration through social media.
Not only are they here, they're buying too. People are increasingly turning to their favourite social media sites for inspiration or to see what their friends are buying. They also use social media for research, so keeping an eye on what people are saying about you can pay off big time.
21 % are more likely to buy from a company with an active and engaging social media presence.
And finally, an increasing percentage of the public has begun to see an active social media presence as a must-have for the brands they trust with their business. Engaging with your audience on social media shows them that you value their time. They are already on these platforms, so when you show up and share interesting facts , make special offers, and generally engage with them, you show them that you are willing to go the extra mile.
Paid Marketing vs. Organic Marketing on Social Media
The dichotomy between paid and organic marketing is often misunderstood. Just because it's called "paid" doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune, and just because the other is called "organic" doesn't mean it's always free. Let me explain.
Paid marketing on social media
Simply put, this is any post on any social media platform that you spend money on. That Facebook update you posted this morning? It’s not paid. Your announcement about an upcoming special offer that you’ve pushed out to a wider audience… paid.
You don't have to spend a lot to get a good return on your investment. Boosting a post expands your reach outside of your follower list. And for using the platform's algorithms to determine who to show your post to, they charge anywhere from a few cents to many dollars. You decide how much to spend and how far to expand that reach.
Organic marketing on social media
Unlike sponsored or boosted posts, organic social media is everything you post. Every time you engage with a follower by responding to their post or posting a general company update that people like, you're doing social media marketing. Because everything you do to get your brand out there is marketing. And all these posts cost is the time you spend writing and publishing them.
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Social Media Marketing: The Why
Now that we're all on the same page, let's talk about why this is so important for your business. Unless you have a huge list of personal contacts, you'll need people to know about your new company. And the more people you can reach quickly, the better, right?
Brand recognition
The #1 key to marketing a startup is to get brand recognition as early as possible. You don't have to be anywhere near market-ready for this to be worthwhile. The more someone sees your brand, the more likely they are to remember you.
And the more engaging your social media presence is, the more likely they are to follow you and receive any product/service updates you post as soon as you publish them. This is where having a set of brand guidelines comes in handy, as you’ll want to make sure that no matter what platform they discover you on, they’re receiving the same message with the same brand voice and personality .
Attract traffic to your website
From a purely numerical and metric standpoint, your social media brand awareness activities drive clicks to your website. And when it comes to the next point, SEO, this is crucial. Post about your products and include a link to the product page. Next, tweet links to your latest blog post. Next, post an industry update that links to a main page showcasing thought leadership in that industry.
SEO
Google loves an active social media presence. This is the bottom line. You need to consider SEO regardless of the web activity you undertake on behalf of your new business. Google’s latest algorithm puts a lot of emphasis on what they call “domain authority.” While they’re not known for disclosing details about their algorithms, we do know that Google takes into account all of the activity that occurs under your brand name. This includes mentions on major social platforms, mentions on authoritative sites, and content that establishes you as a trusted source of information in your industry.