7 Most Effective Types of Social Media Marketing

On average, people spend two hours and 27 minutes per day on social media. That’s why social media is such an effective channel for reaching new customers and increasing sales. However, what’s the most effective way to market your business on social media? 

Here are the seven most powerful social media marketing methods that you should be using. 

1. Paid Ads

Paid social media ads are incredibly effective and offer a high ROI when used correctly. Since social media has become more competitive, getting your foot in the door can be difficult. It can often be hard to gain traction and get enough followers when just starting out with a new social media profile. 

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Many small businesses find their new profiles languishing with few followers. Unless you already have a sizable email list or a website with a lot of daily visitors, getting new followers and likes can be challenging. 

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That’s where paid ads come into the picture. Using ads on Facebook, Twitter, and other networks, you can accumulate new followers, get more likes, and gain exposure. 

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However, getting likes or followers isn’t the only goal you can target when running paid campaigns. You can also drive traffic to landing pages and sales pages to collect leads and increase sales. 

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It’s important to manage your budget. In the beginning, you may find yourself spending more than expected, but as time goes on, you will be able to optimize your campaigns and improve your ROI, getting more results for the same amount of money. 

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A/B split testing can help you optimize your ads. Try out different versions of an ad – for example, switch up the image or change the call to action. Then, see which version brings you better results. You can also play around with the audience you are targeting a bit. 

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That’s another reason paid ads are so effective. Facebook allows you to get really specific when creating a target audience. By targeting the right demographics with specific interests, you will be more likely to get conversions. 

2. Organic Posts

While paid ads are incredibly effective, it’s important not to rely on them exclusively. At the end of the day, when running paid ads, you need to keep spending money continually. Even if you have a great ROI, it doesn’t compare to free, organic social media traffic. 

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Use paid ads to build up your page, but don’t forget to publish organic posts that have the potential to drive organic traffic. 

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So, how can you increase your organic social media traffic? Here are some tips: 

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• Publish high-quality posts regularly. Create a posting schedule and stick to it. You should be publishing new posts at least a few times a week. 
• Try out different posting times to see which ones get the best results. Depending on your audience, your followers may be online at specific times. 
• Always use original, high-quality media (not free stock images). 
• Provide quality content in your posts, such as tips, how-to advice, industry news updates, company news updates, and anything else your audience will value. 
• Use hashtags to increase exposure. 
• Encourage followers to engage by liking and commenting. Try to encourage a discussion in the comment section by asking people their opinions about interesting topics. The more comments people leave, the more organic exposure you will get. 
• Engage with other people’s content to increase exposure to your page, but don’t be spammy. Contribute to discussions in meaningful ways. 

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It takes time to build up an organic social media following, so be patient and consistent. Dedication is key, but combining organic posts with paid ads will help speed things up. 

3. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a great way to increase exposure. It involves paying influencers to give you a shout-out. 

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Depending on the nature of your business and the influencer in question, they may feature a product of yours or simply mention or tag you in a post, driving traffic to your page. 

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It’s important to focus on influencers who are relevant to your niche and whose audiences will be interested in your products and services. That’s why I recommend working with micro-influencers instead of random celebrities. 

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Micro-influencers may have smaller audiences than prominent celebrities, but the people who follow them tend to be more targeted to your business. For example, if your blog focuses on wine tasting, you might work with local wine tasting enthusiasts with sizable Instagram pages. 

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Their followers may have stronger relationships with them compared to the followers of large celebrities, who may have hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers. Furthermore, famous celebrities often have a high percentage of fake or purchased followers. 

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Besides, micro-influencers tend to charge less, so they are more affordable to small business owners. 

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The exact amount they charge will depend on the specific service, though. For example, an Instagram post that stays on the account’s page permanently may cost more than one that stays up for only a day or an Instagram story (Instagram stories only last for 24 hours). 

4. Sponsorships

In addition to paying influencers for shout-outs, you can also sponsor them by giving them free products or services. However, sponsorships are not limited to influencers. 

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For example, you can sponsor a local school or charity to get exposure. If you want to establish yourself in your local community, you can also sponsor local community events. That could lead to news articles being written about you, so it’s also a great way to get local backlinks. 

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There are many ways to sponsor events and charities. You can provide free services (such as free catering) or financial support. 

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You can also sponsor celebrities or other important people. For example, you can sponsor a motivational speaker or someone well-known in your industry to come and give a speech or host a meet-and-greet. 

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The important thing is to make sure that the sponsored organization, individual, or business promotes the news of the sponsorship on their social media page. That is what is going to give you the extra exposure and brand awareness you are looking for. 

5. Social Media Marketing Tools

Social media marketing tools help you increase productivity and get better results from your campaigns. Here are some of the best tools you should use: 

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• Hootsuite: Hootsuite is a post scheduling tool that lets you schedule your posts in advance, allowing you to save time and keep up a consistent posting schedule. 
• Buffer: Buffer is an excellent alternative to Hootsuite. 
• Hashtagify: This tool lets you do hashtag research for Twitter, so you can choose the best hashtags for the most exposure. 
• SocialPilot: In addition to post creation and social media management, SocialPilot provides powerful analytics to help you supercharge your campaigns. 
• Semrush Social Media Toolkit: This tool helps you analyze your and your competitors’ campaigns. 

6. Outreach Campaigns

Social media outreach should be an important component of your marketing campaigns. It’s not to be confused with influencer marketing. Instead, it focuses on increasing collaboration with other important bloggers in your niche. 

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There are several ways to strengthen your relationships with other bloggers, such as by sharing their posts. Don’t expect them to share your posts in return automatically, but it might happen. Simply following other influential people in your niche can get you more exposure, as they may follow you back, and the algorithms may start recommending you to their followers. 

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If they follow you back, that will also give you an extra authority and credibility boost. 

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A very effective way to collaborate with other influential people in your niche is to do live streams together covering specific topics or invite them to join you for an interview on your podcast or for a live Q&A session. The more followers you have, the more likely they will be to agree to come on, as it will increase exposure for them as well. 

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If you have a lot of knowledge to share, you can also offer to be a guest on their podcast or YouTube channel to enrich their followers’ knowledge. 

7. Forum Contributions

Being active on forums is another way to get more followers. Explore forums in your niche and subreddits that are popular among people who fit your target audience. Join these forums and post there regularly. Again, make sure not to spam but to contribute to discussions in valuable ways. 

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In your profile, link to your social media accounts if the forum’s rules allow it. You may even be able to post links to your social media posts or accounts in comments you leave on threads, but not all forums will allow that. 

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You can also answer questions on Q&A sites like Quora or Yahoo Answers. 

Conclusion

Social media marketing is critical for increasing exposure, establishing yourself as an authority in your niche, and even boosting your SEO rankings. Start by creating a publishing calendar and posting informative content regularly. If your budget allows, use paid advertising to get more immediate results, and collaborate with influencers and other bloggers to expand your network. 

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