Social media marketing is often seen through individual methods depending on who is doing it at their desk. Social media marketing can be campaigns on brand channels, continuous content production and influencer marketing, or it can serve as a performance-based marketing channel.
Social media offers marketers a versatile way to communicate and reach different target audiences depending on what goals and resources the brand has. In this article, we open up the range of social media marketing tools and its opportunities as part of marketing communications.
Read also: What is social first marketing? Read the article about it.
If a brand wants to create a large impact in a short time – for example, to increase brand awareness – the best way to do this is often a social media-first planned advertising campaign. A large part of Finns use social media, so through a few weeks of campaigns, a brand can get the desired message quickly to a wide target audience.
Traditionally, social media has served as a distribution channel for advertisements produced in other channels. If ads are not planned for social media first, there is a risk that campaign messages are overlooked and the desired impact fails to materialize. In social first thinking, creative advertising content is planned according to social media conditions, but it can also be rolled out outside of social media. The key is that the focus shifts from traditional channels to social media.
Social media's versatile advertising solutions also enable more experimental storytelling, where the boundaries between advertising and traditional content become blurred. One way to approach social media marketing is to implement, for example, brand entertainment, which is distributed through paid advertising. Content planned for the channel stops and creates, at best, viral phenomena.
@caverionfinland ASMR-Marko helps you fall asleep in a minute 😴 If this video doesn't put you to sleep, what will? Gn! 💤 Although our staff benefits unfortunately don't include ASMR sessions or galaxy lights every Friday, we do offer staff acquisition benefits, staff club activities and other benefits. Did hypnosis work, apply to work with us and read more about our staff benefits👉 https://rekry.caverion.fi/toimii #asmr #toimii #toimivanelämäncaveri #toimivanelämäntekijä #caverion #huoltoasentaja ♬ original sound - Caverion Suomi
Social media platforms have become one of the most significant channels for content marketing and building communities around a brand.
The core of continuous content marketing is to create attractive, target-group-specific and brand-consistent content. It is essential that content is produced regularly and consistently so that the audience and algorithms learn to recognize what content the brand offers. When the audience learns to understand the value and differentiation of the content offered by the brand, it is possible to build a committed community around the brand's own media.
Although social media occasionally creates viral phenomena, it is important to note that in the current social media environment, you can't succeed with organic visibility alone. It is increasingly important for a brand to support valuable content investments with paid advertising as well. This ensures sufficient reach and repetition in the target group.
@segafredosuomi To the coffee shop! 📣☕️ Check out how a stranger reacts when a table is set up in front of them. 🤭
♬ original sound - Segafredo Suomi
Influencer marketing enables brands to reach influencers' own committed audiences across different distribution channels. Influencer marketing is often used as part of campaign initiatives, but in recent years, strategic and ongoing influencer marketing has grown in importance.
More and more brands are acquiring their own brand ambassadors, who produce content consistently around the brand, products or services on their own channels. Long-term influencer collaboration is more credible than individual posts according to research, and it helps build a trustful relationship between the brand and the target audience. The core of long-term work is careful planning of influencer strategy and concepts.
Influencers are often used in Finland as part of brand marketing, but it is also possible to implement it supporting short-term sales. Through influencers, links can be shared, for example, to an online store or offer consumers discount codes. On the other hand, well-known influencers and public figures are increasingly used as advertising faces, which helps enhance the attention value and effectiveness of marketing.
If a company's goal is to achieve short-term sales results, performance-based advertising or performance marketing is often the best solution for this. Social media advertising solutions enable highly precise targeting based on interests, location and demographic information. Paid advertising can support online store sales as well as generate leads for B2B sales.
Social media platforms offer ways to measure precisely the cost of customer acquisition or leads. By integrating advertising tools into an online store, it is possible to get accurate information on how paid advertising directly impacts sales.
In addition to direct commercial objectives, social media can be used to build employer image and recruitment. On the other hand, an increasing number of experts in their field use LinkedIn to build their expert brand and as a sales tool. Politicians and activists also use social media platforms for social impact.
The gap between social media and traditional media has narrowed. Social media offers at best the opportunity to create phenomena that traditional media also pick up – often news is found first on social media, from where it ends up in news headlines.
Want to hear more about the possibilities of social media? Contact our team: business@troot.fi
