Is Social Media Marketing Effective?

Social media marketing is pretty self explanatory, it is the act of producing campaigns and adverts for different social media platforms, sounds straight forward right? Well, there is a lot of scope to go wrong. With 2.3 billion users on Facebook, 2 billion users on YouTube and 1 billion on Instagram the targeting opportunities are wide and varied but that’s a lot of people to screw up in front of. So, the big question is: Is social media marketing effective? 

Social media marketing can be incredibly effective, a well thought out strategy can boost businesses and companies into the limelight of an ever emerging and responsive audience. By understanding campaign objectives, target audiences and the obscurities between platforms, advertising on social platforms can be the solution for many. These may seem simple but lacking on any aspect could greatly impact the performance of campaigns. One study on the effectiveness of social media marketing highlights how brand personality and informative content can be utilised by advertisers to enhance results. This emphasises how different dimensions of advertising need to be taken into account and applied appropriately throughout social media campaigns. Taking the time to come up with a solid strategy before anything is implemented helps guarantee a successful campaign.

Contrasting this, strategies which are not thought through or non-existent can have detrimental effects on campaign performance. Campaigns that are poorly placed and poorly targeted end up costing without the results to justify that cost. Advertisements that are seen as getting in the way, irrelevant, and forceful are not going to have positive effects on users. Strategies that take into account campaign objectives, who the customer is, when they will most likely interact with ads, where they are and how to advertise to them, are the ones that are going to be most successful.

The right message, to the right person, at the right time, on the right platform.