What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media for many people is a source of entertainment, inspiration, knowledge about the world, as well as a place where they seek information and opinions about companies and their products or services. According to the report Digital in 2023: Poland, as many as 27.5 million Poles used social media in January 2023 (0.3 million more than the previous year). This is a truly impressive number, as it gives us about 72% of Poland’s population. The ever-increasing importance of social media marketing makes it increasingly clear that brands that are absent from these platforms simply do not exist.

Social media marketing, also known as social media marketing, is one of the pillars of online marketing. It consists of a totality of paid as well as free activities using social media, such as: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. This includes, but is not limited to, advertising campaigns, contests, social media content creation and other forms of interaction with users.

The main purposes for which social media is used in marketing can include increasing brand recognition and building a positive image. In this case, the key is to ensure the frequency of contact between the brand and potential and existing customers. By establishing relationships with the audience and building a community that will interact with our company, we have the opportunity to generate more traffic to the website, and thus increase sales and the number of loyal customers.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms, both in Poland (17.85 million users) and worldwide. For this reason, many companies have their fanpage on it, which in the case of some brands replaces the website entirely. This allows for easier contact at the brand-customer level.

Meta, right after Google, is also the second largest advertising platform on the Internet.

Instagram

Instagram is a platform that belongs to the Meta group. It is a service that focuses on the visual aspect – the basic type of content is posts in the form of photos, as well as increasingly popular video content (Reels). It has as many as 10.4 million users in Poland.

The big advantage of this platform is that users can easily interact with the brand and engage in its marketing activities. Instagram is especially important for those companies that base their communication on graphic materials, short videos and influencer marketing

The platform is a great way to promote the brand’s marketing.

TikTok

It is a relatively young mobile application, founded in 2016, that allows users to create and share short (usually up to 15 seconds) video spots. The portal also allows users to interact with others by commenting on and adding reactions to the videos they watch.

What distinguishes TikTok from other social media is certainly the age range of its users. They are definitely young people, mainly representatives of the “Z” generation and the Alpha generation. However, as its popularity grows (in Poland it has 10.14 million users), more and more older users are also appearing on this platform. Still, considering what kind of audience prevails on TikTok, brands that have a very innovative and creative approach to marketing, as well as those companies that rely on collaboration with influencers, will find it best.

It is a business social network (5.5 million people use it in Poland) – it allows you to share your expertise or make new contacts. It is also an important tool for recruiters, who, through it, are able to reach the right candidates for given positions.

What’s more, LinkedIn also has its uses in marketing – especially when it comes to B2B marketing. It allows you to increase visibility, helps build your brand image as an expert in your field, and works well for getting sales leads

Twitter

It is the world’s most popular microblog, in existence since 2006, which is used for instant communication with others using so-called tweets – these are short text messages to which photos and links to websites can be attached.

In Poland, Twitter has 4 million users. Although it is not as popular as Facebook or Instagram, it is also a great social network. Especially for those brands that do socially engaged or creative marketing (and especially “real-time marketing”).

YouTube

Founded in 2005, the platform allows users to share videos for free, broadcast live (conducting so-called “live shows”), and rate and discuss the published materials.

Today YouTube is the most popular website in Poland. It is used by as many as 27.5 million users. Hence, a presence on YouTube is particularly important for those brands that conduct video marketing activities. It is definitely the platform where you will find the audience most interested in such a format.

Pinterest is a social network that focuses on visual content. However, what sets it apart from the popular Instagram is that the most commonly shared content is photos or videos downloaded by users from the Internet, rather than their own content.

Mainly used by the public (in Poland it is used by 5.42 million people) as a source of shopping inspiration, it will therefore be a good choice for those brands that boast an inspiring and aesthetically pleasing visual presentation of their products in the sector of clothing, furniture, jewelry, ornaments, etc.

Well-run social media marketing can bring brands many benefits in a variety of areas. Some of the primary advantages include:

Wide reach and reaching a well-defined audience

Every day in Poland, social media is used by millions of users. This gives us the opportunity to reach a really wide audience organically. However, on the other hand, thanks to advertising campaigns and precise targeting options for social media ads, we can reach a specific target audience with our message. Thus, you are able to sell your products or services specifically to those customers who are most likely to be genuinely interested in them.

Building image and trust

Through social media, a brand is able to present itself in the way it would like to be perceived by people. Publishing substantive and useful content that positions your company as an expert in its industry works well here. Also, responding to users’ needs and answering their inquiries will also work well here. Therefore, the key to audience trust is well-crafted content.

Direct customer contact

Social media definitely facilitates contact at the brand-customer level. The possibilities for communication are truly numerous, from private messages, to comments under posts, to encouraging contact through websites.

It’s worth remembering that recipients are also your brand ambassadors. They can share and share the content you post, increasing the reach of your profile in the process. However, in order for this to happen, you need to make sure that you regularly interact with your customers on your profiles.

Effectiveness analysis

Statistics that are available on the company’s social media profiles allow us to easily monitor the effectiveness of our actions and modify them in those aspects where it is needed. In addition, thanks to social media activity, we can better understand the current trends, and thus better adapt our marketing strategy to them, but also our offer.

Grow your Social Media with us!

We know from experience how important it is to have a social media presence, so we will create a strategy for you that will attract attention, engage users and strengthen your brand on every platform.

Social media marketing, regardless of exactly which social media sites you decide to appear on, is governed by its own rules. Therefore, if you want to run your social profiles, you should keep in mind some important points.

Selecting the right platforms

Many brands believe that there is a need for a company to have a presence on all possible social networks. This is, unfortunately, a fairly common mistake. Your brand should be present in those places where your customers are. Therefore, when choosing a channel, it is worth defining your target audience at the beginning, so that you can choose the right socials based on it. It is also worth remembering that it is better to be active on several portals than to be present everywhere possible, but at the expense of regularity.

Identical names and profile pictures on all accounts

An identical name across all social media allows users to find your brand and identify it more easily. Also, no one will spend extra time to make sure who is behind a particular account. The same principle applies to your profile picture. Most of us are visual people, and it is most often by a given logo that audiences search for brands.

Size graphics to fit your website

The vast majority of social media users first pay attention to the visual creation and then to the content of the post. Therefore, it is very important that the size of the graphic or video meets the technical requirements of the particular site.

Each portal has different recommended dimensions for graphics. Below I will present the most popular of them:

Facebook:

Profile photo – 170 x 170 px
Profile background photo – 820 x 360 px
group background photo – 1640 x 856 px
background photo of the event – 1200 x 628 px
horizontal post – 1200 x 628 px
square post – 1080 x 1080 px
stories/reels – 1080 x 1920 px
vertical post – 800 x 1000 px
video post – 1920 x 1080 px

Instagram:

Profile photo – 110 x 110 px
horizontal post – 1080 x 566 px
square post – 1080 x 1080 px
stories/reels – 1080 x 1920 px
vertical post – 1080 x 1350 px

LinkedIn:

Profile photo – 400 x 400 px
background photo (private profile) – 1584 x 396 px
background photo (corporate profile) – 1128 x 191 px
horizontal post – 1200 x 627 px
square post – 1080 x 1080 px
vertical post – 768 x 960 px
graphic for article – 744 x 400 px

Current social media monitoring

The key to running your social media accounts is to systematically check mentions of your brand. I don’t just mean monitoring activity only on your profile, but also what’s happening outside of it. You can use popular tools like Brand24 or SentiOne for this, or you can check on your own the reviews, comments about your brand that users leave outside your socials. Such actions will allow you to react quickly to possible crises, and will also make it easier for you to communicate with users.

Interact with users

As I mentioned a moment ago, it’s worth talking to your watchers. By doing so, you can get information about what your customers like and what needs possible improvement or enhancement. If they are not very active, you can start a conversation with them yourself with a well-chosen CTA. You can ask them a question, ask for feedback, give them a choice of what you want the new product to look like, etc.

You must also remember to respond to users’ comments, including negative ones. This will make your brand more credible, trustworthy and you can gain a better image in the eyes of observers.

Summary

Social media marketing undoubtedly gives us plenty of opportunities. What we need to keep in mind is that before starting any activities, it’s a good idea to prepare a proper brand communication strategy at the very beginning. After all, effective social media marketing requires not only time, but also effort – planning, promoting, measuring the effectiveness of activities, studying the competition are just some of the activities that are needed to achieve success. However, in the long run, this investment can prove to be extremely profitable.

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Aleksandra Wrońska

She has been involved in internet marketing for two years, but despite her relatively short presence in the industry, she has already conducted advertising campaigns for small and large companies, both on the Polish and foreign markets. He treats digital marketing not only as a job, but also as a passion, which is why he tries to expand his knowledge and skills every day. She joined Up&More in January 2023, where she manages projects in Facebook Ads, Google Ads and Apple Search Ads.

What is Social Media Marketing?

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