What is social media marketing (SMM)?

5 pillars of social media marketing

When developing marketing programs, marketers care especially about how to deliver their messaging. Social media helps spread those messages to the right people at the right time, through both free and paid means. Social media gives brands insight about their audience's personal, geographic and demographic traits, setting a foundation for delivering personalized messages and content that increases engagement.

There are five pillars of SMM that support a successful program.

1. Social strategy

An appropriate strategy should be laid out in advance. Organizations need to determine program goals, what channels will be used and what types of content will be shared. Here are some examples:

• Determine goals. Using social media for marketing should align closely with business and other marketing program goals. Success measures might include brand awareness, website traffic, lead generation and revenue.
• Select social media platforms. It doesn't make sense for businesses to use all of the many social platforms available. Choose the platform(s) that best fit the targeted demographic.
• Content mix. Brands need to identify which content -- including video, imagery, links and direct messaging -- is a good fit for their marketing persona and likely to boost engagement.

New strategies now focus heavily on satisfying audience preferences for short-form video content, personalization and interactive experiences.

2. Planning and publishing

After establishing a strategy, begin publishing. This may involve a new blog post, promoting an upcoming event, or sharing a new product video. Being consistent is important in an SMM program. To build an audience and keep them coming back for more, organizations must update their page frequently.

Content that organizations feature on social media should align with other marketing promotions. Tools such as Hootsuite, HubSpot and Sprout Social can ensure content goes live at the appropriate time. While consistency remains necessary, new trends suggest that, increasingly, quality is valued more than quantity. Algorithms now prioritize engaging, shareable content over sheer volume.

3. Listening and engagement

Businesses that leverage social platforms typically see growth in interactions and conversations about the brand and products. Users will comment on and share posts, tag the company in their own posts, and even use instant messaging features. Such interactions are ideal because social media managers receive notifications. Their responses represent good customer service, enhancing the customer experience.

People on social media might also discuss a brand, product or service without tagging or speaking directly to a company. There are several social media listening tools available to stay plugged into the conversation, such as Brandwatch, NetBase Quid and Sprinklr. These tools now offer AI-driven sentiment analysis and competitor benchmarking, giving users deeper insights into audience perceptions.

4. Analytics and reporting

To measure performance continuously is required for performance improvement. Questions to ask include the following:

• Which posts are getting the most engagement?
• Where are a brand's followers coming from?

Analytics output is fuel to help a marketing team make smart decisions on future campaigns and build on what works.

Each social platform has its own analytics data, but other tools can collect data from many channels into one location. This enables marketers to evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns holistically.

Real-time analytics tools now integrate machine learning to predict trends and offer actionable recommendations, empowering brands to become or stay competitive in dynamic markets.

5. Advertising

Much of SMM is free, aside from the costs of resource time and specialized tools. Building an audience and publishing content on free social media sites is a great way to achieve marketing goals, but as the program grows, so does the budget.

Paid marketing features can be quite valuable. With this approach, companies can target their advertisements at audiences, or use retargeting, based on many factors, including demographic information and behaviors.

There are tools to help manage SMM at volume, but organizations can get a good start with native or "out of the box" functionality. With the basics, they can issue and promote posts, capture leads and ensure their messages reach the right audience.

Augmented reality (AR) ads and shoppable content are growing rapidly, offering immersive and frictionless shopping experiences directly on social platforms.

Emerging trends in social media marketing

The social media landscape evolves constantly, driven by changing consumer preferences and technological advancements. Key trends shaping the future of SMM include:

1. Short-form video dominance

Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have established short-form videos as the most engaging content type. Brands that master storytelling in under 60 seconds often see higher engagement rates and broader reach.

2. AI-driven content creation and personalization

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Canva's AI design features enable brands to create personalized content quickly and efficiently. AI also enhances audience targeting by analyzing user behavior and preferences.

3. Social commerce expansion

Social platforms now routinely offer e-commerce features, such as in-app storefronts and shoppable live streams. This trend blurs the lines between content consumption and shopping, offering seamless purchasing experiences.

4. Influencer marketing evolution

Micro- and nano-influencers are gaining prominence as brands prioritize authentic, community-driven engagements over large-scale influencer campaigns.

5. Focus on community building

Brands are shifting from broadcasting messages to fostering communities. Features like Facebook Groups, Discord servers and Twitter Communities allow for deeper connections and loyalty.

Advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing

Social media marketing has embedded itself into every organization's sales and marketing roadmap. It is an additional channel to distribute content and messaging to a significantly larger audience than a homegrown database of contacts. These efforts have advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of social media marketing include the following:

• Reaching a wider audience. There are more than 3.6 billion users across all social media channels. A single post share can exponentially increase brand exposure.
• Improving customer satisfaction. Organizations don't just market to customers on social media, they also interact with them. This can improve customer service and create one-to-one relationships.
• Cost effectiveness. When executed correctly, the cost of managing a social media program can be low. Once the knowledge, team and program strategy are in place, marketing teams find it easy to use with very little overhead.
• Boosting website traffic. Social posts are a great way to drive traffic back to a brand website. Promoting blog content, landing page offers and more can entice users to click through and engage further with a brand.
• Gaining better insights. Using the analytics and reporting features from each social media platform gives insight into who page followers are, what content they are interested in and how they like to engage with a brand.

Disadvantages of social media marketing include:

• A time-consuming process. It takes a lot of time to ensure social media campaigns are effective. Marketing teams must constantly fill the calendar with new content and respond to inquiries. Small marketing teams might have trouble tapping into the full capabilities of SMM.
• A need for qualified resources. It takes the right person or team and knowledge to run an SMM program. Entry-level employees are not well-suited to the work. Slow path to ROI. SMM is a long-term investment. Social media platforms yield a high ROI, but not immediately. The success of an SMM program isn't determined by one piece of content, but rather several over long periods.
• Advancing a competitor's market research. Everyone, including the competition, can see social media content. There is no workaround for this.
• Brand reputation risks. SMM can expose a brand to public embarrassment and bad press. Negative reviews can be plentiful as customers take to social media to vent frustrations. Anything a company says or does will be seen and reacted to. Companies should expedite response times to mitigate this risk and work to ensure their responses restore the shine on their brand.

How to create a social media marketing strategy

Here are the steps a company should take to build an effective SMM strategy:

1. Identify social media goals that align with business goals

Set goals that will guide social media use and offer a performance benchmark. Use a SMART goal format targeting growth in areas like these:

• Website traffic.
• Lead generation.
• Revenue.
• Audience size.

2. Research and define the target audience

It's important to know who the target market is, what they care about and why they need a company's products or services. Social media platforms are rich with data about users, so this exercise can occur without a substantial market research project. Knowing demographic information and who follows the social channel are great starting points.

It's also important to know that different platforms attract different users. Knowing what social channels a company's target audience is on enables them to choose which channels to invest time and resources into.

3. Perform a competitive assessment

Knowing what the competition is doing enables marketing teams to identify what is working well and what is not for the competition. This industry insight can be helpful in bringing a product or message to market. Social listening tools can also help brands set up different monitoring streams for competitive content and industry keywords.

4. Create and curate relevant content for the channel

Knowing the goals, audience and competitive landscape will help determine the type(s) of content brands need to create. Engaging content comes in different forms and media. It can be company generated or curated externally. It might share industry news or thought leadership pieces.

Businesses should publish content frequently and consistently to develop an engaged follower base. Brands can promote posts to increase engagement. They can also create posts that show a more relatable, human side to the organization.

5. Be timely with posts and responses

Posting when convenient for a business isn't always best for customers. Taking advantage of optimal times to post for engagement is information companies can glean from analytics. Then organizations can schedule posts to targeted times. Keeping content fresh is also important; the news cycle moves fast.

Response time is also key. If customers engage with a brand on social media, they expect a quick reply. A brand can build authority and respect with its clientele by meeting expectations for these one-to-one relationships.

6. Gain buy-in and support from others in the organization

Marketing departments need to engage other departments and stakeholders within their company. Marketing can learn a lot from sales to inform future social campaigns, but sales can also benefit from marketing's reach. Sales and marketing alignment is great, but senior stakeholder support is also a necessity.

Supporting other departments' efforts is a common sign of a strong social media program. Every department in a company can benefit from social support, but HR is an especially great group to partner with. Social media can be a recruitment tool and brand builder for prospective employees.

7. Measure and optimize

The last element of building a successful SMM program is to measure what works and what doesn't. Organizations should monitor the following:

• Posts that get top engagement.
• Followers that continue to buy.
• Ads that yield the highest ROI.

Businesses that benefit from SMM

Organizations that roll out an effective SMM campaign will see many benefits. Here are some businesses that can benefit from SMM programs:

Small businesses and startups

SMM is a great tool for small businesses and startups. It is a way for new businesses to build awareness around their offerings. Using social media to sell products and services to a new market can be an entryway into building a customer base.

Direct sales companies

Businesses like category founders Tupperware and Mary Kay are entrepreneurial and grow through communities. Social media can help build communities, tapping into friends, family and more. Social media apps are paving the way for a new generation of direct sales companies, such as LuLaRoe and Thirty-One Gifts. Party hosts no longer must host parties in their homes. Instead, they can host virtual parties using social media apps where consultants can show off their wares.

Real estate

Real estate companies benefit from social media by promoting open houses and showcasing images of properties for sale. Features such as Facebook Live and Instagram stories show video footage of these properties in digestible formats for users to consume.

B2B companies

B2B marketing teams can identify readily who their target prospects are -- and when their social media campaigns are done correctly -- can show up in the right person's newsfeed.

The data presented about users on social media platforms helps paint a picture of who the audience is. Using social media advertising tools, businesses can get the right message in front of the targeted decision-maker at the right time.

E-commerce brands

Social commerce features like Instagram Shops and Facebook Marketplace make it easier for e-commerce brands to showcase and sell products directly through platforms.

Learn why you should cut down on cliches and add opinions to achieve successful online engagement and build lasting relationships with your social media marketing strategy. Also, explore e-commerce marketing strategies for your business.