The Art of Digital Marketing

Chapter 6Social Media Marketing (Part 1)

An Introduction

Find me on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter. Check out my blog. Ten years ago these phrases meant nothing, yet now they are part of everyday speak. More and more people are connecting through social media—to stay in touch with friends, to date, or to interact with brands and businesses. Which is great news for digital marketers like you.

This is no time to be a wallflower. Because in order to survive and thrive, you will need to be active on the main platforms, competing in an online popularity contest with other companies.

Welcome to social media marketing (SMM).

Formal definition of SMM: A form of Internet marketing utilizing social networking sites as marketing tools, thereby gaining traffic, brand exposure, and interaction with customers through social media.

Informal definition of SMM: Flirting with your biggest fans!

Process

This chapter begins with an overview of the SMM landscape before exploring the goals it can help you achieve and the channels you can use. In Chapter 7 you will see how to implement and analyze your social media campaigns.

The four stages within the iterative process are shown in Figure 6.1; the first two are described here:

1. Goals. The chapter kicks off by explaining social media formats and how you can choose the best ones to achieve your objectives. You will also learn how to form an effective SMM strategy by setting goals—because even though social media is reactive, your strategy still ...