Social Media Marketing: Don’t Forget the Message

In today's digital age, an increasing number of businesses are utilizing social media marketing services to help bolster their brand’s online presence. However, without an integrated social media marketing strategy that includes online content, the likelihood of success on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and the countless other platforms sprouting up will only get more difficult. Social media marketing alone is not enough to really connect with your target audience. To do so, it requires an extremely important element: a relevant message.

An Integrated Social Media Marketing Strategy

It seems like the Internet has been around forever, but in the realm of technology, it is still somewhat in its infancy. Just like an infant, the Internet is constantly changing and evolving, sometimes daily.

Social media has become both an extension of this - a symbol for it. Thanks to the likes of Facebook and Twitter, the Internet -- and the world of marketing -- has changed in ways that no one could have predicted. It is no longer sufficient for a business to promote with newspapers, magazines, fliers left on car windshields, and television commercials. Rather, businesses must also employ an integrated social media marketing strategy that not only exemplifies their business goals, but speaks to the wants and needs of their target audience.

Creating That Perfect Message

It's all about the message. Each business stands for something. It doesn't matter if you're involved in the world of banking, film production, or underwater basket weaving, you must create that perfect message if you can ever hope to connect with your audience in a meaningful way.

For this "message creation," you have to take a step back and look at the big picture. You need to focus on what you would like your business to achieve and the types of consumers you are trying to reach. Your company's online message is defined by its online content. This content must reflect both your business goals and the demands and desires of your target audience.

Once you’ve crafted online content that accomplishes these two fundamental things, you are ready to construct an integrated social media marketing strategy that will efficiently and exponentially promote your message.

Promotion, Promotion, Promotion

When it comes to promoting your message, social media is an extremely powerful business tool. Before the advent of social media, promotions such as discounts and contests had to be waged on a smaller scale thanks to the logistical and cost limitations of the various offline channels. In those instances where a promotion could extend to a larger audience, the cost could be quite high and the time involved in coordinating and/or producing the message prohibitive.

With an integrated approach to social media marketing, however, promoting your business' message is much easier to accomplish. Social media allows a business to not only reach what might be considered a countless number of potential customers, the time and cost involved in doing is much less. In the past, an organized promotion might take several employees to pull off. Now, a single person or a small group can run a rather involved social marketing promotion to great effect.

The Bottom Line

Without the proper messaging, your social media marketing risks having a context-less, two-dimensional feel to it. By taking an integrated approach to social media marketing that infuses online content relevant to your target audience, you give context and meaning to your message, providing the best return on your social media investment.