Social Media – What Is It?
Social media is a specific term that describes both applications and websites that encourage and facilitate the creation and sharing of content among different users. All of the content that makes up what is shared across social media comes in different forms. These forms include but aren’t limited to videos, photos, and text. The content that is created by the users is posted and distributed in real-time. This content can be published publically or to a specific group or network depending on privacy settings.
Friendster was the original social network and it was launched as early as 2002. This was a website that was designed to connect friends, hence the name. It was originally launched in 2002 and it generated as many as 1 million users in a short amount of time. However, one of the earlier things that led to the creation of modern social media platforms was the bulletin board systems (BBS) that allowed different users to log on and connect using personal computers. If you are looking for a digital marketing agency then would I would recommend doing is typing on Google digital marketing agency near me or digital marketing agency and your location area e.g. digital marketing agency Surrey.
More Info About Social Media and Brands
Social media was originally a place that was designed for communication. It was a place where people could go to provide updates to their networks to keep them abreast of their life events. The individual form of social media was much more individualistic. It was meant for people to connect, learn about what their friends were doing, and more.
However, as it continued to gain popularity and become more and more ingrained into the fabric of society, more businesses pounced on the opportunity that presented itself. Brands saw social media as a way to connect with their audience and to engage with their followers in hopes to create more brand loyalty and increasing brand awareness throughout the marketplace. In 2008, MySpace surveyed its users and found that as many as 14% of them believed that brands on the platform appeared to be much more personable, creative, and friendly.
One of the earliest adopters of modern social media was McDonald’s. McDonald’s came out with their “Big Mac Chant” campaign from 2008 that tasked users with remixing one of their most popular songs used in Big Mac ads at the time. The campaign ended up generating 1 million unique page views within 3 weeks of launching using MySpace banner advertising on various users homepages and the music page.
From there, more and more data began to pour into social media. Social media platforms like MySpace and Facebook took notice. Mark Zuckerberg understood all of the potential for monetisation there was with the data they were collecting. It was in 2006 when Facebook took its initial leap into the digital ad space by partnering with JP Morgan. This is when they began to serve display advertising to the platform’s userbase.
Following the success of the partnership, Microsoft ended up wanting in on display advertising. They ended up purchasing a 1.6% stake in Facebook for $240 million. However, they did so under one condition. This condition was that they would become the sole provider of banner advertising and sponsored links across the platform. It was in 2007 when modern Facebook Advertising was born. Since then, social media marketing hasn’t been the same.
What Is Social Media Marketing?
It is the practice of leveraging social media and its platform(s) to connect with your audience and market to them. The purpose of social media marketing is to generate sales and increase revenue. To achieve success with social media marketing, a brand has to focus on crafting high quality and relevant content for its audience. Likewise, they need to be good at tracking analytics and pivoting based on what it’s telling them.
Previously, brands solely used social media marketing to drive more traffic to their site. However, social media profiles are much more than that in today’s digital marketplace. Nowadays, they are seen as extensions of a brand’s website. Because of this, brands need to create content specifically for social media and work to drive traffic to their social media sites to generate more awareness and maximise engagement.