SMM social media marketing: why business needs it

Good afternoon friends!

Let’s talk about such an important tool as SMM (Social Media Marketing). Want to know what it is and what it is eaten with? And why, in general, is it needed? Is it really necessary for business, as SMM-specialists say? Maybe they just do not want to sit out without work and therefore thicken their colors?

Let’s get it right.

SMM What is it and what are its goals

If you want a potential customer to take certain steps on the path to purchase, you need to show how to make them. From the book “Hard SMM: Squeeze the maximum out of social networks” by Den Kennedy

SMM is one of the ways to promote goods and services online, using social media structures. Its goal is to increase brand awareness, interest as many people as possible in the product, and maintain a decent level of communication with existing and potential customers.
Or maybe just post pictures with cats, ask friends and acquaintances to help with likes, reposts? The answer will afflict. It doesn’t work that way.

Programs that calculate activity in a group in this way are not inflated. But you don’t need it. Do you need really interested and loyal visitors? Only they will help to stay afloat in the media space.

In a few words, smm promotion is:

Daily and unique content.
Tracking the negative and working with it.
Always online.

What is unique about my product? What is unique about my work? What is the uniqueness of the services that I offer? What industry standards can my company break or overcome? What is the uniqueness of my personality? What is my story? Who or what do I consider my “enemies”? What is the uniqueness of my best customers? From the book “Hard SMM: Squeeze the maximum out of social networks” by Den Kennedy

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Pros and cons of SMM. What can be promoted with him, and what better is not necessary

Let’s start with the cons:

Not fast. There are no direct sales and explicit advertising, the promotion is designed so that people will begin to actively share positive information about the brand in their social environment.
As already said, a constant presence on the network. Every day – publications. Stable quality.
It’s hard to calculate a budget. It is necessary to constantly show flexibility and monitor the mood of the audience, to provide relevant content. It’s difficult to predict the exact amount.
There is no guarantee that you will achieve all the tasks. Hidden advertising is unpredictable.
Google and Yandex are leading in search queries; social networks are not so popular yet.
It’s hard to earn a reputation, but it’s easy to destroy one awkward post.
Regular visitors to social networks have learned to easily notice veiled ads in posts.
Services, manufactured goods and B2B with a creak are promoted through SMM.

But the fat pluses outweigh all the flaws. Otherwise, SMM has not gained such popularity.

This is what makes him good:

The supply of material, without the urge to buy something, is credible.
You can reach the target audience from different countries, regions, cities.
Information is provided only to interested users.
The price of advertising is lower than television.
Communication with customers helps to instantly adapt the conduct of an advertising company, taking into account the reaction of users.

Have difficulty creating high-quality and stable content? Physically not enough time for independent brand promotion? Or have a poor idea of which side to approach?

It makes sense to seek help from a specialist, SMM-manager.

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SMM manager. What specific questions does he solve

The main thing that a social marketing specialist should do is increase sales and make the brand recognizable.

And here are the skills and professional qualities that a good SMM manager should have:

The ability to plan and implement these same plans.
Knowledge and clear presentation of the target audience. Understanding where to look for her.
Ability to speak the client’s language: understand the problem and propose solutions.
Steel nerves and tact – customers come in all sorts.
Understanding the features of the submission of material in different social networks. On Instagram, these are photographs and stories, and on Facebook already, catchy posts.
Literacy and sense of humor. People do not take descriptions with a bunch of mistakes seriously, and even cause rejection, negativity to the product.
And in time, a good joke said can resolve many conflict situations.

To the question of negativity. Potential customers remember one bad review about a company better than a dozen advertising messages.
The SMM manager tracks negative product reviews. He solves issues in a way that does not just smooth out the effect, but translates it into a positive plane.

A simple example. Recently on Facebook, a girl sold a smartphone. He did not meet what was stated in the description, and it is logical that an indignant comment arrived. Feedback collected thousands of likes, reposts. People wrote the girl words of support and sympathy. The company was lucky – they had an SMM specialist. He quickly resolved the issue: he apologized, replaced the smartphone and made a gift – a cover for the phone. After which the client wrote another post. This time about what wonderful people work in the company, there was a usual misunderstanding. The image of the company was not just saved – sales grew.

IMPORTANT Positive feedback under negative always has a strong effect: the company cares about customers and quickly extinguishes conflicts.

But do not think that the SMM manager will do everything for you. Before inviting a specialist in social marketing, you must clearly articulate your business objectives. Why do you specifically need SMM promotion and what goals do you pursue? Without answering this question, you will not get what you are waiting for.

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“Easy! I’ll do everything myself ”, or“ It’s hard, but I can do it ”

Better to have 500 passionate supporters than 10,000 indifferent followers. It is necessary to attract exactly those people who pay as much as you cost. Remember … From the book “Hard SMM: Get the Most Out of Social Media” by Den Kennedy

Don’t you see the point of taking a new employee on the team? Or, in general, do business yourself and have plenty of time? Are you on the Internet more often than on the street?

Then I have some useful goodies for you.

What and when to publish posts by day of the week:

Monday. A hard day after the weekend, ahead is the working week. Serious information does not enter. Do not ship.
Tuesday. The people are activated, included in the workflow. Inform – it’s time.
Wednesday. Practice has shown that competitions and sweepstakes on this day gain the largest number of participants.
Thursday. Ahead of the weekend and recommendations for content are the same as on Monday.
Friday. Weekend-bound content is most interesting. Useful and easy posts will not be superfluous.
Saturday and Sunday. You can relax. Mostly users are offline.

Some other helpful tips for promoting:

Add no more than three publications per day. Break them into rubrics and tie them to the days of the week. An original approach to business will bear fruit – there will be more subscribers.
There should be reposts. If they are not, then something is being done wrong. Analyze.
Social networks are not for sales. Let there be a link to the company’s website or landing page, but it’s better to promote the brand on the page, making interesting content. People will cross over and buy everything themselves. If they are loyal, it remains only to push them a little in the right direction. In social networks, it’s like home, in a cafe, in a club: people communicate, relax, share photos. If you sell directly, you run the risk of being rude.
Think and build communication with users.

IMPORTANT If you have employees who have indicated your company as their place of work, follow their accounts. Their activities affect the image of the company.

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Finally

What can I say … SMM promotion is clearly important for brand promotion. But the process is energy-consuming and needs to be devoted to it all the time. And where then to find a moment for business development?

I recommend to contact a specialist in this matter. But nothing stands still: social networks are developing – social marketing is developing. Look for those who are working now and are aware of all the innovations in their field of activity. Those who worked a couple of years ago may not give the desired result – because they themselves will have to learn.

On this note, you can finish the article, but I’ll leave the question open: what do you think of SMM? Need such a profession? Maybe share the responsibilities of an SMM manager between employees? Or should everyone do their own thing?

And I say goodbye, meet for a new reading.