If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the past year, it’s not to underestimate the power of the World Wide Web. For a large part of the population worldwide, the internet was a lifesaver (literally and metaphorically) during this pandemic, enabling them to maintain some sort of work routine even under the harshest of restrictions.
That’s why we’re pretty sure that now, with the world slowly but steadily coming back to life, things are not going to be the same. A lot of activity that has moved online, is probably going to stay there, including a large portion of marketing and advertising budgets – with a natural focus on social media hotspots such as Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
Does this mean that your business needs to do some rethinking? Should you hire someone to plan a special digital strategy for your product or service – or even do it yourself? How much money should you invest in it? Let’s try to understand who can benefit from a social media marketing strategy, and in what terms.
Why Social Media – and Why Now?
Campaigning on social networks is not a new trend, it has been around for years. However, it is ever evolving and adapting to reality. Also, there are a whole lot of viable options in terms of platforms, target audiences, and budget compatibility, making it ideal even for smaller or more local businesses.
Is now a good time for a social media campaign? We asked Johnathan Greenwood from Crystalead, a world-renowned digital marketing firm, and this was his answer: “In a time of financial uncertainty, social media platforms are ideal because they provide commitment-free solutions for longer and shorter terms. Your campaign and its goals can easily change according to the winds blowing in every morning.”
But Wait, There’s a Downside
One of the biggest disadvantages of marketing on social media is that it can’t be done directly. People don’t log onto Facebook, or onto any other social media platform, to look for your business, but rather to scroll their feeds and see what their friends are up to. This is in contrast, for example, to Google Search advertising, where there’s a big chance that the user is looking for what you have to offer (based on their search keywords).
This means that if you’re planning on advertising on social media, you need a strategy. This strategy should include a path to your end goal, meaning a clear plan of how you are going to sell something at the end of the process. For that purpose exactly, there are different models, which determine a social media ad’s part in that chain. You might know these models as terms like CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per thousand impressions), CPL (cost per lead), and CAC (customer acquisition cost).
How Do I Choose the Right Model for Me?
“This is where it gets more complicated,” explains Greenwood. “The method you choose has to fit your product.”
“We at Crystalead specialize in lead generation marketing, and that’s the model I recommend today for small and medium scale businesses. This basically enables the process of campaigning to start online, but to be completed via a phone call, for example – more personal and directed. However, this model does have its flaws since it requires multiple marketers, putting in their efforts both online and offline.”
(Don’t) Do it Yourself
Overall, online marketing on social media is not something that should be done halfheartedly, otherwise you probably won’t get the desired results. That doesn’t mean you have to pay large sums for it, though. Strategic planning can pay off, so hiring an in-house marketer to take care of it may be a wise choice, but hiring freelancers to do the job on the other hand also has its advantages. One way or another, you must make sure you carefully plan out the budget you intend on allocating to that cause, and that you stick to it as much as you can.
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