Social media marketing in 2024: What is it and how does it work?

Social media is a powerful tool for businesses and individuals that want to connect with a target audience at scale. It has become an essential platform for building brand awareness and driving growth.

In almost every industry, social media has revolutionised the way that companies advertise, how they spend money, and how they engage with their audiences. So, what is social media marketing?

In this article, we’ll explore some of the key concepts, benefits and strategies involved in social media marketing.

Social media marketing: what is it?

We’ve provided some information about social media penetration on our own website statistics page, which gives some context as to how important social media is in the modern world. But what actually is it, and why does it matter?

Social media marketing is the process of creating and sharing content to publish on social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram. Social media marketing also includes the relationship-building aspect that comes with the interactions you can have with users.

The specific goals of your social media marketing strategy will depend on your own aims, but generally, the objective of social media marketing is to drive traffic, convert visitors into customers, and provide timely responses to feedback.

If you want to find out a little more about advertising, why not take a look at our how to market your website page.

Social media marketing benefits

There are a range of benefits that can be unlocked with social media marketing. Take a look at the following sections to find out more.

Expand your reach

Social media platforms are used by billions of users around the world. This means that each platform, or a combination of them, can provide businesses and individuals with access to a potentially vast audience.

Additionally, being able to use social media to market, allows you to attract visitors you might otherwise not have reached, reducing your reliance on marketing processes like SEO and SEM – though those still matter too.

Improved brand awareness

Social media platforms can enable businesses to create and develop a strong brand identity beyond a website or real-life store. By consistently sharing valuable, engaging and interesting content with users, companies can increase visibility and establish themselves as leaders in the space they operate in.

Often, businesses and individuals will operate over multiple social media platforms to improve their potential reach. Bear in mind that your messaging will likely vary between these platforms, even if the core messaging does not.

Targeted advertising

Social media platforms offer sophisticated marketing tools that allow businesses to deliver personalised content to specific audiences. Typically, you would be able to create adverts tailored to people in specific demographics, with relevant interests or behaviours, for example.

This ability to target specific groups can significantly increase the effectiveness of your marketing, though you will need to work at it. Generally, social media marketers will spend a lot of time testing different messages and targeting to achieve the results they want.

Cost-effective marketing

Compared to traditional advertising methods, such as print, radio or television, social media marketing can be much more cost-effective when done well.

Many social media platforms offer affordable advertising tools that make it easier for businesses of any size to present their messaging to a wide audience.

Social media marketing strategies

As well as offering a range of benefits, social media marketing also includes a range of strategies for you to consider. Find out about some of them in the sections below.

Content strategy

Creating high-quality, relevant content is crucial to the success of your social media marketing. The content should resonate with your target audience, align with your brand values, and provide value to your followers.

Content can include text, images, videos, graphics, data, charts and much more. Whatever route you take, the content should be fit for the audience you have.

Many businesses and individuals will build a strong foundation of organic content first and foremost to begin growing their audience. This means creating non-paid content that drives engagement over time. Think about the influencers you know on Instagram or Facebook; though they often use paid-for ads, they will more often rely on a strong stable of organic posts that build their following.

Engagement and community building

Social media platforms allow you to engage with your followers both directly and as a group. A good social media strategy will use this ability to create a sense of community that fosters brand loyalty.

As a business or individual, you should respond to comments, initiate conversations with meaningful content and encourage users to respond and add to the conversation too.

When you take this approach, you should always think about what content makes sense; jumping on irrelevant trends might seem like a good idea, but often won’t provide you with any long-term value.

Influencer partnerships

Collaborating with influencers and experts in your space can help to amplify your brand’s visibility, as well as your credibility.

Working with influencers who have a significant follow and that share the same target audience can help businesses to expand their reach and tap into new markets.

Data analysis

Social media platforms provide analytics tools and data that can offer valuable insight into user behaviour, engagement metrics and campaign performance.

Make sure that you analyse this data to understand what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and what could be improved. This approach can, over time, lead to a much better return on investment, both in terms of your money and time.

Social media marketing best practices

Depending on your brand, and the platforms you use, there are various best practices to bear in mind when it comes to social media marketing. Take a look at the sections below to find out more.

Be consistent

Being consistent is massively important to your social media strategy. Maintain a consistent posting schedule with a clear brand voice that establishes familiarity and builds trust with your audience.

You should aim to share valuable content that keeps your audience engaged and makes sure that your brand stays on their mind.

Choose the right platforms

Depending on your business or website, you will want to be selective with the social media platforms you use. Not every platform will make sense.

You should do research to make sure you understand which platforms your target audience uses, and which they prefer. LinkedIn, for example, might be the perfect platform for a business-to-business (B2B) operation, but is less likely to be effective for businesses targeting consumers.

Focus on quality

It can often be better to produce one high-quality piece of content than ten low-quality pieces. A post that resonates with your audience can drive engagement and traffic, whereas an irrelevant post could put people off.

Communicate

Social media is not just a broadcasting platform – it provides an opportunity for dialogue.

Encourage your audience to respond and join the conversation. Seek out feedback and make sure to reply and engage with it.

Simply broadcasting your message and then not touching it again might not be that useful if your customers or audience sees that their responses fall on deaf ears.

Social media marketing: Final thoughts

Social media marketing has changed the way that businesses connect with their audiences in a huge number of ways.

It offers a range of benefits, from expanded reach and enhanced brand awareness to targeted messaging and cost-effective advertising.

By implementing strategies that align with your audience and your own brand, and by following the best practices we’ve shared above, it’s possible for businesses and individuals to establish a strong presence that people engage with.

Bryn Glover

Bryn is the founder and editor of WebsiteJumpStart. He has worked in the digital field for over a decade and was editor for Startups.co.uk - the UK's leading small business website - and for NerdWallet UK before launching WebsiteJumpStart to help people and businesses get online with ease.

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