What is social media marketing? And is it just an extension of content marketing?
A lot of people talk about social media marketing as though it’s an independent form of marketing in its own right.
But that’s not how we see it.
Social media is a great way to get your message out and interact with potential or existing customers or clients. But it’s a distribution channel – a very effective one – rather than a separate form of marketing.
Why social media matters
Social media is an essential way to engage your target audience, show off your expertise and drive the right kind of traffic to your website. It also shares a symbiotic relationship with your overall content marketing plan.
Social media has become one of the most effective ways to distribute your message and content, in the process letting you spark conversations with potential customers and clients. It has also become a powerful word of mouth marketing tool, amplifying people’s positive experiences amongst their network and beyond.
Better still, social media is perfect for targeted marketing because it’s easy to find groups where your intended audience congregates, giving you the opportunity to show off your expertise through intelligent original articles, content curation and commenting.
There is also a potential link between your social media and SEO given the relationship between Google’s search engine and their social media platforms, Youtube and Google.
Depending on what line of business you’re in, social media marketing could be the single most important cog in your content marketing wheel, but it will always remain just that – a cog.
Social media isn’t the only way to spread the word
Social media shouldn’t be your only focus.
It’s vital to produce quality content to send through your social media and other distribution channels, otherwise your efforts will be wasted.
A proper content marketing plan will complement your social media efforts with other forms of content distribution, such as email marketing. It could potentially even include paid distribution channels such as Outbrain, depending on what you do.
And of course, any kind of marketing should be backed by solid analytics to make sure sure you’re talking about the issues that matter to your potential clients or customers and positioning yourself the right way.
Contact Antelope Media to discover how we can help your business develop an effective content marketing strategy.
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Related services: Content marketing, Websites and digital marketing.
