3 Top Social Media Paid Marketing Techniques For Small business
Humans’ proclivity to share their joy and grief complemented by the advancement in digital technology, led to the birth of social media sites. As I write this, the world population is inching towards 8 billion with nearly 4 billion of them using social media. The number is proof enough to describe the ubiquity of these sites. Facebook, alone, has nearly one-third of the world’s population subscribing to it. Youtube and Whatsapp have also crossed the 2 billion mark.
Talking from a business perspective, the huge consumer base of these social media sites can be taken as a heterogeneous market. In this heterogeneous market, there are different groups of people with homogenous needs. In marketing lingo, this is called a segment. Businesses capitalize on segments that align with their product.
TARGETING THE SEGMENT ORGANICALLY: A SHOT IN THE DARK
So can you try to target your desired segments on social platforms organically?
Of course, you can. In fact, social media platforms owe a lot to their democratic nature for their immense popularity.
But will it reach your target audience?
Maybe or maybe not.
There is no clear answer to that. The capricious algorithm of these sites can take your content to your audience or bury it to death. Scary isn’t it? This is where paid marketing comes to your rescue. You can just appear in front of your target audience without catering to the whims and wishes of the algorithm. Moreover, it also gives you a shot at redemption. Retargeting. You can re-target those people who came to see your offering but did not make it to conversion.
Let’s look at three techniques to build an efficient social media mix that will not only guarantee quality traffic for your new business but will also maximize the return on investment in this pursuit.
CREATE A BUYER’S PERSONA
You might have the best product among your competitors, your tagline might be the most catchy, you might be giving exorbitant discounts but any of these will not bear fruits if your customers do not need them. Or maybe you are targeting the wrong audience in the first place. Therefore, knowing who your customers are and what are they looking for is paramount.
What is the most efficient way to do so?
Buyer’s Persona.
It is an imaginary being with all the traits of your ideal customer. By tailoring the ads to this fictional character, marketers save time, attract quality traffic, turn them into customers, and eventually into loyal ones.
So how to make one?
Research, interviews, and surveys of your current as well as potential customers.
The deeper you dig, the better it is.
Apart from the typical information like age, gender, marital status, educational qualification, or job, go the extra mile and research their aspirations, motivations, triggers, pain points, and
turn-off points. Once you have all the data, try to find trends or commonalities from the raw data and develop a primary persona around it.
Give it a name.
There you have your buyer’s persona.
Let’s have a look at a B2C buyer’s persona for a home decor business.
Simple Simran
Age: 28-30
Location: Mumbai
Educational Qualification: B.A. Hons English
Marital status: Married
Income status : >12 LPA
Personal Information: Simran and her husband are well settled in their job. The couple is looking to renovate their apartment.
Goals: Simran wants her interior walls to be painted with simple and soft pastel colors like baby pink, mauve, or light blue.
Turn off: Simran is reluctant to dark shades on the interior walls.
Challenge: Simran is not able to find a properly soft and light shade for her house as the majority of them are either too dark or too light.
By creating this persona, the company now knows what age group to target, what is the income range of the target group, and what are they actually looking for. They will tailor their ads to show moderately light shades of wall paints to that target group.
DONT EXHAUST YOURSELF: CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS WISELY
Running a business, especially a new one, can be extremely tiring. More often than not, you are running short of two resources: Time and Money. Therefore, over-ambition can wreak havoc. Do not try to be on every social media platform out there. You will end up wasting both.
Different platforms serve different purposes and different demographic. So, narrow down your platforms to those that fulfill your objective as well as have your target audience.
For instance, if you are someone who wants to reinforce the loyalty of your existing customers, Facebook should be the place for you owing to its huge consumer base.
If your product is visually appealing, such as Clothing lines, food or art, Instagram (and not Facebook) would be a perfect fit. If you are offering a service delivery to other businesses, check out Linkedin. Lifestyle or Educational content is best promoted on Youtube. Similarly, different age groups can be targeted on different platforms. Looking for adults? Try Facebook or Youtube.
Want to reach the young blood? Instagram or Tik Tok would do.
MICRO-INFLUENCERS: A SHIFT FROM CELEBRITIES
A decade ago, influencer marketing was the prerogative of renowned celebrities be it, actors or players. With an individual celebrity promoting a range of products, the authenticity was somewhere lacking. From this gap developed a new breed of influencers called Micro-influencers. These influencers having a following in the range of 1K TO 100K have credibility in a particular niche. This means the followers are a homogenous bunch of people who have a passion for that niche.
The social proof generated when a micro-influencer of your desired niche promotes your product can increase your business manifold. Moreover, you need not worry about the managers of the celebrities who keep stalling your meeting date, the skyrocketing fees, and their innumerable whims and wishes.
There are four steps to a successful plan with micro-influencers
- Discovery- Search for a suitable influencer from a relevant niche.
- Negotiate- Discuss the fees. A little bargaining can help.
- Create- Collaborate and create the content with them.
- Check- Analyse the success of your campaign.
Conclusion:
Organic Reach is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Pay-to-play is soon going to become everyone’s go-to strategy. Therefore, the paid industry is also going to be highly competitive.
To stand out, you will have to understand your customer’s needs really well, choose the right platform and promise authenticity.
Hope you loved the information. If you reward us for this, please share it to help others. Stay tuned to SCORSH
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