Social Media as part of Digital Marketing

What originally began as a channel of communication between friends is now a multi-billion dollar platform, that has an incredible influence on people's lives (DMI, 2020). The 2020 Global Digital Overview found that active social media users have now passed the 3.8 billion mark, and this will increase more and more each year; with so many people on social media incorporating this channel into your digital marketing strategy is essential.

Marketing guru Neil Patel defines social media strategy in businesses as a tool to drive user engagement, but it's essential to align your overall business goals, and objectives, when you're looking at what engagement you want with your potential audience. Once you have your audience and personas set, you know where they spend their time on social media platforms, it time to create content.

Creating a content calendar allows you to manage your time and think strategically on what information you want to give to your audience, for example a dental surgery might talk about mouth wash, why it's important, why our gums need to be taken care of and what happens if we don't. The next few days you could show real images of healthy gums and gums that need care and provide tips, offer a chance for your followers to talk to you ie whats the best mouthwash to use. The more engagement you have, the more people will be clicking through your posts and on to your website, there you could ask people to set up a free online consultation with a hygienist and from there make a sale. Of course, not every post should look to make a sale or else you'll lose people's interest very quickly, but by creating a content calendar with blogs, videos, before and after pictures etc you can assist a customers journey to a sale without being overbearing. 

The aim of social media is to build a community because let's face it, I don't want to hear from my local dental surgery that they're the best in the industry, I want to hear from their patients how good they are and how they found their appointments; when you build a community around your brand your community will do all the talking for you!

Creating a good social media strategy and knowing which platform work best for your audience allows you to tap into a potential goldmine of new customers, repeat customers and patrons for your business.


1). DMI, 3 Trends defining the future of social media for business, 2020.
https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/en-ie/blog/3-trends-defining-the-future-of-social-media-for-business

2) Patel, Neil, "Social media marketing made simple: A step by step guide".