What Is The Role Of Social Media In Digital Marketing?
Theoretically, people may not know what Social Media or Social Networks are. But, they surely associate the concept with the functions of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, among others. These make up the universe of interactivity, where content is the key to success.
Social networks or social media, such as online media, are digital spaces where people share common interests. For Dotdash.com, these are “social communication tools”, while for AG Communications Group, they are digital places “where people can talk, participate and share infinite content”.
Its rise, far from leading us to a gradual evolution, has required a scheme of development and rapid growth. The increasing number of people entering social networks is changing the way we interact.
The capacity of the first Blackberrys on the market, to Google or Apple mobiles, has not been the same. Users have a range of technological tools and social networks to manage at will.
They can take them wherever they want to go to share information immediately, before others do it for them.
Social Media as a response to an evolution of communications, gives greater value to the user. Establishes bi-directional communication.
Given this rapid development, the initiative arises to take into account the demands, needs and interests of users. There are concerns about how to reach them and influence their decisions.
Social Media Manager
In Digital Marketing, the figure of the Social Media Manager is to take user’s data into account.
This, with the purpose of making communication and marketing strategies in social networks.
While the Community Manager has the task of executing the strategy developed by the Social Media Manager. This symbiotic relationship is based on the ability to share free and open content, collaborate and converse.
At the heart of the matter is the strategy used to make the contents known. Not all run the same on different platforms.
For example, making a cleaning product visible on Facebook will not be the same as making it visible on a social network like Instagram.
User participation is different and so is their behaviour.
Listening to the Audience
To do this, the Social Media Manager needs to listen to his audience and then talk to them. This management must respond to a Digital Marketing plan.
Planning may include the use of blogs or web portals as tools to reinforce a global message.
Social networks give it all, their typologies make them fit in many social groups and their characteristics.
In this way, there are news and leisure activities such as Facebook or Twitter; professionals such as Linkedin, photographers such as Instagram or Flickr.
However, not all of them fit any brand, service or company, it all depends on where the users talk the most.
For the Social Media Manager, Facebook is one of the most important networks in the world.
However, a new restaurant that wants to make its cuisine known may find its public in Instagram.
Social networks and their characteristics:
- Facebook: People over 20 years old. It is the most penetrating.
- Twitter: Short messaging, used to analyze user behavior and opinions on certain topics.
- Pinterest: To attract the attention of those who are interested in subjects such as fashion, travel and gastronomy. It is known for offering instructional content that invites its users to perform tasks.
- Instagram: It’s for sharing pictures. It is a place where contests to gain followers are very popular.
- Flickr: It’s equally photographic, but it focuses more on the news and anecdotal. It is recommended for professional photographers.
- Google+: Help to position content on Google.
- Youtube: a platform for videos, which has been booming thanks to the entry into the scene of so-called “youtubers”, who make productions
- Blogs: Social media where more content is shared.
Inbound + User behavior
To gain confidence in customers, you must have a presence on most of these social networks. Only by evaluating the behaviour of those who intervene, of the public, is it possible to determine what is most convenient to publish and when.
This will make the Digital Marketing strategies and objectives of the company effective and measurable.
For this purpose, it will be possible to count on resources to do “analyses” and to draw up reports that will bring the Social Media Manager closer to the results of the development of the current advertising campaign, to know who interacts, where they are located, etc.
The goals will always be related to planning, action and promotion or sales; and around them, must revolve the objectives desired by the company brand, because the idea is not to pursue the target audience, but to attract it and that this generates profits.
Consumers, then, move from being passive, to dynamic actors who need to be well known in order to be able to respond to their needs.
The objectives
The importance of setting objectives is based on the fact that they are the essential means of reaching the user, and are classified into specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely.
There can be neither ambiguity and nor unattainable or vague goals, ideally these goals should be measurable and observable.
For example, it is not possible to measure our reach or level of acceptance, but it is possible to establish how many followers you want to get per week, or how many interactions you want to generate based on the content you want to share in a given time frame.
It is vital to study the data previously available on social networks, as these are the ones that will help us to understand the universe that is contained within it.
The Satisfaction
This can help to understand the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of a product or its components, and establish differences or solutions that can be provided and used by the brand.
The wide variety of information available for marketing strategies will be available in product reviews available on the internet, social network reviews or blogs and user statuses on social networks.
Of course, this will apply to those companies and brands that have a presence in social networks, or who plan to do so.
Social media have the possibility of offering amplitude, hyper-connectivity and helping to define an identity, important aspects to take into account because the contents can be infinite and reach countless places without requiring a great deal of resources, strengthening cultural production.
This is how traditional marketing manages to operate through the Internet with the help of Social Media and the use of funnels, which are the processes from conception to obtaining a sale, understanding marketing as a process that understands and satisfies the needs, exploring them, considering them and making decisions.