The last decade has taught us that leveraging social media as a marketing tool is no longer a luxury, optional, or a trend but a necessity. The number of people worldwide who are active in social media is expected to reach 2.5 billion in 2018. And to ignore these staggering numbers would be unwise for any business who needs to improve brand awareness and drive traffic to their website in order to increase sales.
There’s a common misconception by social media marketing beginners that social media marketing is simply posting content and waiting for customers to come to you. However, it is far more than that. For those who are only now getting into the game and want to learn how to utilize social media in their marketing strategies, the amount of information out there on the topic can be overwhelming.
First of all, there are different tactics depending on what your social media goals are. While the bottom line will always be to make more sales, social media marketing goals can differ from company to company. One business may be entirely focused on rebranding themselves after some bad publicity while another organization may want to prioritize research and development before they start trying to fill their funnel.
If you’re an absolute beginner and many of the terms we’ve mentioned here are going over your head, fret not. Because we believe so much in the power of social media in helping businesses grow, we’ve put together a list of the best resources to help you learn.
1. The Beginner’s Guide to Social Media
The Moz Pro Beginner’s Guide to Social Media aims to be the most comprehensive social media resources available regardless of what your current skill level is.
2. Social Media Examiner
Social Media Examiner has been helping businesses discover how to best use social media to connect with customers, generate awareness, drive traffic to ultimately increase sales since 2009. Their site offers comprehensive articles that are completely original and include interviews with industry leaders.
3. Neal Schaffer’s Maximize Social Business
Neal Schaffer is a social media speaker, social media strategy consultant, author of Maximize Your Social, and the founder of Maximize Social Business. Forbes lists him as a Top 35 Social Media Power Influencer, Maximize Social as a top 100 global marketing blog.
4. HubSpot Marketing blog
HubSpot Marketing is an inbound marketing and sales platform that helps companies attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers. You’ll find plenty of helpful information on their blog.
5. Social Media Explorer
Social Media Explorer is often confused with Social Media Examiner. However, you’ll find that the SME blog has its own personality and look. They are a professional team of contributors, marketing practitioners, and VIP Explorers that aim to bring you original and insightful content.
6. The Tao of Twitter
Acclaimed marketing expert Mark Schaefer teaches the secrets to build influence on Twitter through real-life examples. The Tao of Twitter contains 22 ways to grow an audience who wants to connect with you along with content strategies, time savers, and other useful tips.
7. How to Use Instagram for Business
The How to Use Instagram for Business ebook guides you through what, when, and how to post on Instagram to get followers fast. It shares best practices for using hashtags. You can then advance to the chapter that will show you how to use Instagram for contests to help you grow your followers.
8. How to Get More Twitter Followers
The How to Get More Twitter Followers kit will teach you how to optimize Tweet copy for maximum return and how to use captivating visual content to engage followers. As with any good Twitter guide, you’ll learn tips on how to grow your followers with the right social media tools.
Fedica is one of those tools. With its Community Build function, you can smartly follow accounts that meet your criteria and increase your chances of being followed back. You can search accounts by their profile description, what they tweet about, and even location. Fedica will then present you with lots of users that are carefully selected by their intelligent algorithm. A simple process will show you who had followed back and what action you can take.
9. The Social Toolkit Podcast
The Social Toolkit Podcast’s focus is to introduce you to the right tools that will help you save time and money. Every week the show features a digital marketing expert who talks about helpful tools, apps, software, processes, and tactics.
10. The Complete Guide to the Best Times to Post on Social Media
The Complete Guide to the Best Times to Post on Social Media is a good start for social media marketers who are just starting out and are surprised to learn that there is, in fact, an optimal time to post on social media.
Fedica knows this all too well and goes much deeper here. Fedica’s algorithm explores your audience viewing habits and finds the best time to tweet. Furthermore it als breaks down the best time to Tweet by geography. Developed by data analytics and AI scientists, Best Times to Tweet is another element in Fedica’s all-in-one, data-driven Intelligent Publishing, helping you to find the relevant content,the best time to engage your audience and automate the whole process.
11. How to Attract Customers with Facebook
How to Attract Customers with Facebook offers practical tips for building your Facebook audience and knowing what content to create and share on Facebook to attract customers. It also includes tips on how to optimize your Facebook posts to gain the most interaction and how to maximize reach and lead generation by using Facebook ads.
The more you learn about social media marketing, the more you will also recognize the need for continuous learning. Social media platforms haven’t stopped evolving since they were first created. Facebook alone has been through many changes – from their Facebook ads to the algorithm that determines how users see their feed.
To be successful in social media marketing, it’s crucial to first learn the basics. And once you have, don’t become complacent and think that there’s nothing new to master. To remain competitive and stay relevant, you need to be alert, keep up with new trends, and stay tuned for announcements on updates by social media platforms.