What is Social Media Marketing?

‍Customers are becoming increasingly active on social media, and brands cannot afford to miss out on this platform.

Despite its popularity, the concepts of social media marketing are still often misunderstood. What exactly is social media marketing? How can you plan an effective social media marketing campaign? This article will help clarify these questions.

Learn more: Definitions of Social Media by Cambridge University and Dr. Tracy L. Tulen

Social Media Marketing vs. Digital Marketing: Don't Get Confused!

According to Philip Kotler's 2015 publication at Northwestern University, Digital Marketing encompasses a wide range of marketing activities across various channels, including websites, email, on-ads, podcasts, webcasts, SEO, SEM, mobile marketing, and social media. Therefore, Social Media Marketing is a subset of Digital Marketing.

Social Media Marketing - How to Do It Right?

Theo định nghĩa của tiến sĩ Tracy L. Tulen, trong cuốn sách Social Media Marketing

According to Dr. Tracy L. Tulen, in her book Social Media Marketing, this strategy involves leveraging social media platforms to create activities, foster interactions, and deliver messages that align with branding and communication goals.

"Strong ties take time. Social media marketing is relationship marketing in social spaces."
(Ph.D. Tracy L. Tulen)

The distinctive feature of social media marketing lies in the very nature of the social media environment. Unlike traditional marketing, social media is designed for users to communicate and share information within their online communities. It is user-driven and developed.

Brands cannot abruptly intrude into these spaces with conventional advertisements. Users dislike interruptions in their conversations. Instead, social media marketing focuses on building relationships with customers, becoming a genuine part of their communities, and engaging in topics they care about.

The goal of social media marketing is to create a perfect intersection between customer needs and the business objectives of the brand.

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The Portrait of Social Media Users

• They consume information in a different way; they follow trending news on Facebook and pay more attention to stories shared within their online community (micro-community).
• They research products through social media and trust product feedback from their online community more than brand advertisements.

• They are very intelligent, sensitive to spam, seeding, and forced advertisements, and only accept information that is truly relevant to them, meeting their needs at the right time.
• They expect brands to always be present and listen to all their feedback quickly on social media, whether it is positive or negative. They want fast responses from brands; otherwise, they will switch to a different brand and share their negative experience with their online community
• They want customer service departments across all channels to be well-informed about their purchase history, preferences, or interests from previous interactions and provide personalized advice tailored to their needs.

In summary, social media users are only interested in information that is relevant to them and their online community, and they always want to be heard. Therefore, brands need to put in significant effort to connect with them and earn their trust.

See more: How is social media segmented differently from traditional segments?

Listening and Understanding: The Key to Winning Over Social Media Users

As mentioned earlier, social media marketing is about creating the perfect intersection between customer needs and brand business goals. Therefore, understanding customer needs, recognizing the topics they care about, and the focus of their online communities is crucial for a successful social media marketing campaign.

According to Buzzmetrics' research on social media growth, social networks are attracting more users, with individuals increasingly willing to share. Buzzmetrics estimates that in 2017, the willingness of social media users to express themselves increased by 50% compared to the previous year.

This surge in user-generated discussions presents vast opportunities for brands to tap into and leverage.

• The ability to spread information has surged, both in terms of speed and influence.
• Consumers are increasingly willing to share feedback about products and services, offering marketers a golden opportunity to understand their audience better by listening to valuable discussions on social media.

• However, challenges remain, such as the rapid spread of negative information.
• Additionally, the ever-changing and unpredictable nature of user interests can be difficult to grasp.

Listening to and understanding users on social media is a crucial step in successful social media marketing. The LARA Model (Social Media Marketing, Ph.D. Tracy L. Tulen) provides an ideal framework for marketers to follow when building a social media marketing campaign:

• Listen to consumers through their discussions.
• Analyze these discussions to gain deeper insights.
• Relate these user insights to business objectives.
• Act on the intersection of consumer needs and business goals.