If you own a business, I have some good news and some bad news.
First the bad news. Almost all the businesses think they are doing social media marketing when they really aren’t doing it at all. Posting to your Facebook page, Instagram page, LinkedIn Page and so forth is NOT doing social media marketing.

Now, the good news. I’m here to tell you exactly what social media marketing and content marketing is exactly. Let’s talk about content marketing first.

One of the biggest reasons people fail at content marketing is they don’t understand what it is. It’s not just your weekly blog post or your social media updates. It’s everything! It’s your website, blog, newsletters, videos and your social media marketing. If you’re using only one avenue, then you’re missing out on an amazing opportunity.

You can’t just create content and guess the best way to market it. You need a plan that details everything from content creation to promotion. Content should have a purpose- it’s not just material you post because you had a few minutes of spare time or because you hired someone who says they know how to “Create Content.”

Most businesses do what I call, “The Cookie-Cutter Approach.” This is where they realize they need to “post” to their social media pages and then they head over to Instagram, post something and share it to Facebook. (Or vice versa) The business in question will just copy and paste the entire post on both platforms without even understanding HOW the platforms actually works. For example, on Instagram, did you know that you can not place links to click in the copy of the post? You can only use the bio page where it says, “website” to paste a link you want consumers to click.

This leads me into talking about social media marketing. So, what exactly is it? Social media marketing is the process of gaining traffic, engagement, and brand awareness all wrapped up into one. The goal is to produce content that users will share with their networks to help your company increase exposure and broaden your customer base. Social media marketing and content marketing go hand in hand. Without it, all you are doing is just posting. There’s a big difference between creating the content and marketing the content.

And when you don’t really know who your audience is, when they are online, and what type of content they engage with, you generally are wasting your time creating it. You want to understand who your audience is first, then create that content that is going to get them engaged on your social media platforms. There are seven types of content that each business should be creating. They are, in no particular order: Educational, Inspirational, Interactive, Connecting, Promotion, Newsworthy, and Entertaining. When you are creating these types of content, you are in turn engaging your audience, which gets them to like, comment and share your material across the social media sphere. This drives traffic and builds relationships with your customers; which is the ultimate goal of your social media presence.

Are you unsure if you are doing this? Not to worry! I can give you a free social media review and help your business succeed. If you are interested, you can email me at sassybooks07@gmail.com