Digital Marketing Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing: The Complete Guide

Hardly any other marketing discipline has developed as dynamically in recent years as social media marketing. After a few years on the dump, social media have firmly established themselves in the marketing mix of many companies. The social media are not just another channel that is fed with content and advertising, but also a direct line to your own customers.

Social media marketing thrives on the willingness of customers to use the respective channels continuously. Various studies show that the use of social media platforms by consumers has not only increased in recent years, but is also spread across several platforms and, above all, (almost) all age groups. There are now over 38 million people in Germany who regularly use social media. A gigantic value that shows the potential of social media marketing at a single glance!

For companies, social media marketing means, above all, understanding your own target group. This is the only way to identify the relevant social media channels for your own company and effectively integrate them into your own communication strategy .

The next step is to generate content that is tailored to the platform and the target group and to share it continuously. Because just as different languages are spoken in different countries, some social media channels also have their own language! From the point of view of a company, social media marketing is in a certain sense the art of understanding the respective platforms in detail, providing them with content and thus reaching one’s own target group in the long term.

Table of Content

What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing can be seen as a sub-area of online marketing . Social media channels – such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and Twitter – are used to produce content for your own target group. Companies that do social media marketing publish content on the platforms, react to user comments, answer direct inquiries, process feedback and complaints and, of course, interact with the users of the platform themselves. This generates new customers, leads and collaborations. In addition, customer satisfaction is often sustainably improved through direct contact.

“Good” social media marketing thrives on creative content that manages to effectively convey the added value of your own solution (s) to the desired target group. On the one hand, the design of the content plays a key role. On the other hand, the content must be graphically prepared in such a way that it fits both the user behavior on the respective channel and the target group itself. If you manage to combine these factors as a company, your own content is more likely to be heard by the target group.

Social media marketing – a definition

Finding a fixed definition for the topic of social media marketing is difficult because the dynamics around this topic are constantly developing. In the beginning, social media were still a marginal phenomenon in marketing – even labeled as a “trend” by many – they have developed into an integral part of modern marketing.

In this sense, social media marketing is a way for companies to come into contact with existing and potential customers using the most popular social media. The social media give the company the opportunity to publish ongoing content and in this way to communicate with the users of the platform (s).

In addition to sales promotion, companies can also use social media to expand their own reach, open up new target groups and increase the brand loyalty of existing customers. Furthermore, social media can be used to react more quickly to complaints and to convert the feedback from social media into product innovations.

Number of users of the most important social media marketing platforms in Germany

The number of users of social media in Germany has risen constantly in recent years. Especially with new types of social media channels like TikTok , it also happens again and again that the number of users increases almost “explosively”. As a company, these times and platforms should not be underestimated! Because depending on which target group you want to address, the opportunity could open up here to build up a large community on such new channels at an early stage.

There are now over 32 million active monthly users in Germany on Facebook alone . Instagram also has over 25 million monthly active users. YouTube has over 28 million daily users. And even the “new” platform TikTok shines with over 5 million active users per month. Ascending trend! LinkedIn is also relevant, especially in the “B2B” context. Here, too, there are now over 14 million users from Germany.

Social Ads – no successful social media marketing without advertising!

An important – and often underestimated – part of a successful social media marketing strategy is advertising. Without “social ads” it is hardly possible nowadays to achieve the range that you actually want your company to have! The platforms themselves have in some cases severely restricted the organic reach themselves in recent years. In addition, social ads are a perfect tool when it comes to reaching target groups with a clear definition. Scattering losses can be reduced many times over here – compared to many classic advertising media!

In other words : the algorithms work completely differently today – and in the future – than they did a few years ago ! As a company in particular, it is difficult to build up a critical reach without ads.

Even if at first glance it might seem almost “unfair” that more free reach was distributed in the past than today – Facebook and Co. will not change this situation. On the contrary: the range will probably be further reduced in the next few months.

With the social ads it is not only important for companies to reach new target groups and to bring potential new customers into their own “cosmos”. Existing target groups should also always be penetrated with an existing budget. This is the only way to increase the touchpoints with your own company and increase brand loyalty.

Why bother with social media marketing at all?

The search and purchase behavior of consumers has changed significantly in recent years. As a company, it is important to always adapt to these changes. Internally, the necessary steps must be taken in order to stay up to date with these developments and thus maintain the privilege of keeping communication with the (potential) customers of your own company as direct and uncomplicated as possible. As of today, the topic of social media marketing should always be an important part of these considerations!

This is inevitably related to the fact that social media are now firmly established in our everyday lives. Communicate briefly with friends and family on Facebook. Quickly upload a picture to Instagram. Look for new recipes on Pinterest. Pass the time during your lunch break with TikTok.

Also, check LinkedIn for articles worth reading regarding an internal company problem. All of these exemplary activities within social media are not uncommon, but an absolutely integral part of our everyday life. More and more people spend more and more time each day on social media !

Companies that do not recognize this development threaten to disappear completely from the scene in the medium to long term. Because if a company does not manage to position itself where people today get their information and solutions to a problem, then it is obvious that more and more decisions are made in favor of their own competition – if they are present social media are!

Arguments against social media marketing

Implemented in a sustainable way, the discipline of social media marketing has absolutely the potential to increase the sales of your own company. However, despite the relevant arguments “pro” social media, there are at least as many reasons that speak against integrating social media marketing measures into one’s own company.

So “time” is usually the first limiting factor. If your own company simply doesn’t have the time to interact with users on the platforms, social media marketing just doesn’t make sense. Because that is precisely the core idea behind multi-way communication between users and companies .

The integration of this sub-discipline can also be critical if the team’s conventional day-to-day work is permanently disrupted or the effort for content production is not proportionate due to the lack of skills. If you don’t have the financial means to hire someone to do this, there are many arguments against social media marketing. Because without appealing content, your company’s goals can usually not be achieved on social media.

Arguments against social media marketing? Is there! As a social media agency, we give an honest assessment of the exact reasons!

Possible advantages of social media marketing measures

Social media marketing – once integrated into your own strategy – offers your own company many advantages. To be fair, however, it should be mentioned at this point that most of these advantages only occur if your own social media measures are in constant use over a longer period of time. Because there are no abbreviations in this marketing discipline either.

The benefits that social media marketing can offer include the following:

The opportunity to reach new audiences in a cost-effective manner
Increase reach within existing target and customer groups
Sustainably increase the brand loyalty of existing and future customers
Initiate product innovations through direct feedback from your own community
Collect new content ideas and integrate your own strategy
Improve the complaint management of your own company
Communicate directly and personally with your own target group
Implement, evaluate and optimize advertising campaigns effectively and inexpensively
Sustainably increase the company’s sales

Of course, the sub-area of social media marketing is also not a “big boob”. In this area, too, you need a holistic strategy, exciting content and a precise understanding of the needs of your own target group. If you combine all of these sub-areas – and on top of that, it is not too bad to constantly question and readjust your own strategy – this sub-area can become a very profitable one. Here, too, you have to earn the success!

What should you watch out for in social media marketing?

Good social media marketing lives from creativity, intuition and of course continuity! However, this does not mean that creative content alone is sufficient to achieve sustainable, relevant success. In this sub-discipline of modern marketing, too, there are some points that must always be observed.

Probably the most important one: every social media platform speaks its own language! It is important to be prepared for this, otherwise your own content will most likely come up against silent recipients!

Create a post for Facebook and then simply post it on Instagram, Twitter , Pinterest, TikTok and LinkedIn using “Copy & Paste” ? Such procedures must be avoided in any case – even if at first it looks like this will save you a lot of effort per week!

Check every social media channel for its usefulness on a case-by-case basis!

Just as one shouldn’t treat every platform equally, it is at least as important to evaluate each channel individually, with a close look at the target group of your own company. Statements like “ Facebook is dead! “,” Instagram is only suitable for B2C! “And” TikTok is only used by children anyway! “Should not be blindly projected onto your own social media strategy.

Because these statements often conceal generalizations that, in the worst case, hinder the growth of their own company. If you want to get ahead with your social media marketing, you should always have your own picture! Better safe than sorry!

Develop a social media marketing strategy – the focus is on the user

When developing your own social media marketing strategy, several facets play a key role. However, the focus should always be on the added value that is generated later on for the user via your own content. Because these ultimately give your own social media presence the right to exist and ensure that real successes can also be recorded in this discipline.

Bringing the needs of your own target group in line with the content, your own goals and the overarching approach is the great challenge that every social media marketing strategy faces. It is also decisive for the later implementation ability that no strategy is developed here that looks good on paper, but cannot be implemented permanently for various reasons. The view of the team, its capabilities and its availability should not play a small role in your own (preliminary) considerations.

Define social media marketing goals – this is how goals are chosen correctly

The goals of social media marketing can be varied. As a rule, slightly different goals for this sub-discipline of marketing are recorded from company to company. It is important that you find the supposedly “right” goals for your own company!

If you are just starting out with the topic as a company, the point “consistency” – i.e. the regularity of your own posts – can also be a valid social media goal. There is also a big difference between whether you as a company simply want to achieve more reach and brand awareness via social media or whether you are only interested in increasing your own sales with the help of conversion campaigns. Both (partial) goals need their own strategy.

Effective goals for your own social media marketing can be:

Increase in range
Increase page likes on Facebook
Giving practice a face
Increase brand awareness
Address new target groups
Increase sales / conversions / new customers
Gather feedback
Increase customer loyalty
Increase customer satisfaction
Lower ad spend costs
Employer branding
Find cooperation partners
Increase the number of reviews
Increase findability and improve your own SEO
Place new products and services

Measuring success in social media marketing

Once the goals for social media marketing have been defined, the next step is to measure success. Each team has to decide for themselves what can be recorded as success in relation to their own activities. Some strictly measure the reach that is achieved with their own contributions and compare them with the numbers of past, classic marketing measures. The others make the success of their social media marketing dependent on a positive ROAS on Facebook or Instagram.

Depending on how the focus of your own company is structured, various social media activities can be relevant . It is important to continuously measure your own progress. This is the only way to keep track of the constant changes and adjustments.

The social media marketing editorial plan – a very helpful tool

The editorial plan belongs in every “tool box” of a social media marketing team. An editorial plan ensures an overview, order and continuity. The latter point in particular is extremely important for the success of your own measures in this area! However, continuity can only arise where content is no longer published “spontaneously” and according to one’s own intuition. Because the result of this approach is usually that the frequency of one’s own contributions decreases with increasing stress in other areas.

A properly maintained editorial plan helps your own company to keep everything on track. For this reason alone, the editorial plan should always be stored centrally and easily accessible to all people involved. In this way, relevant changes can be implemented promptly and “flashes of inspiration” can be entered in the editorial plan. Nothing goes under!

The editorial plan itself should always be adapted to the needs of your own team. New columns can be added. Ideas that do not hold up are deleted. Of course, there should always be rules regarding the work in the editorial plan itself. The more people work on a document, the more important this point becomes. A “chaos” in the plan – followed by unfinished business – can usually be avoided by simply assigning special colors to each person!

Social Media Marketing B2B

Social media marketing in B2B? Does that fit? Of course! Social media are also playing an important role in the business-to-business sector. Not only because there are many other companies on social media, but above all because the employees of these companies also use many of the social media channels privately.

Depending on which solutions, products and services you are trying to sell as a company – and depending on what your own social media goals look like – the content strategy in B2B also varies. Is it about selling a complex IT solution? Then it can make sense to work through the USPs of your own offer clearly, supported by graphic material, and to present them on social media. In this way, the advantages can be explained quickly and the potential customer’s attention can supposedly be won more quickly.

The strategy could look different when it comes to generating contact requests. The aim here is to quickly attract attention and to get it to the target page as quickly as possible with well-placed “ call-to-actions ”. Even if the communication is partly structured differently, social media marketing also lives from the published content in the B2B area. These must have the potential not only to reach the desired target group, but also to stay in their heads!

Social media marketing B2C

Social media marketing has meanwhile become “the” way for customers to get in touch with the company of their choice quickly and easily. Gone are the days when (dissatisfied) customers had to dial through telephone hotlines for ages. Nowadays you can hardly get an answer faster than when you contact the company of your choice via their social media presence. From the point of view of companies, social media marketing also means that direct communication with your own customers can be intensified.

In the “B2C” area too, your own presence lives from the content that is regularly published on the platforms. In this case, the content itself takes on several roles. On the one hand, your own products are made more tangible or explained to the target group. On the other hand, content – correctly implemented – helps to give your own company a face. However, in this case too, a holistic content strategy is required and less thinking from contribution to contribution. Otherwise the desired effect is rarely achieved in social media marketing.

It should also not be forgotten that effective social media marketing in B2C can lurk many advantages for your own company. In this way, the feedback from the community can be implemented directly and converted into the development of product innovations. In addition, the regular exchange is very likely to increase the brand loyalty of users. A point that is becoming increasingly important in view of the current online competition! Last but not least, the fact that you can react quickly to negative feedback can mean that bad customer experiences can be converted into positive ones more effectively and more quickly.

Social media marketing channels

The number of social media marketing channels has grown steadily in recent years. Some new platforms, such as TikTok, were added. Others – just think of Vero – disappeared from the scene just as quickly as they came. Social media marketing is always about choosing from the existing range of social media channels and integrating the (supposedly) right ones into your own strategy.

A channel becomes “correct” and relevant when its own target group is on it. Since the target groups usually differ from company to company, there is no such thing as a “one fits all” social media marketing strategy. When setting up your own strategy, a company is always forced to take an individual look at your own circumstances and examine the requirements of your own strategy in detail. The final selection of the channels is ultimately always based on a wide range of factors and lines of thought.

Choosing the right social media platforms – basic strategic ideas

The question of all questions is of course: which social media platforms should our company choose?

The short answer: it all depends! The somewhat longer answer is that general statements can rarely be made in this regard. On the contrary! We regularly advise against this, as a tailored social media marketing strategy can only be created with due consideration of all relevant points. In addition to your own target group and its user behavior, it is also important to take a look at the various content forms of the platforms. This is the only way to create a targeted strategy that is scalable and with which you can also address your target group.

The most important social media platforms for companies currently include:

However, the channels themselves should not simply be classified into categories such as “B2C” or “B2B”. As a rule, a lot of potential is lost! The classic boundaries between such simply imagined classifications have long since disappeared.

As a rule, a user is on social media in both a private and a business environment. The challenge of reaching this user in both areas with interesting content for your own solutions is not a question of the platform, but a question of the content. Because everyone who is on business is also receptive to solutions in their private lives that have the potential to solve major problems in business life.

Here, however, your own “wording” must be adapted and the content changed. Because what changes with regard to the user is his “mindset” with which he is on the move on the channels. And the mindset alone determines how receptive the user is to our messages. It is important to adjust to this – and to use all suitable social media channels effectively!

Social media marketing content ideas

Your own social media marketing strategy stands or falls with the content ideas of your own company. Because presences on all conceivable social media platforms are of no use if you do not reach the target group with your own content. Only when the (desired) target group of your own company understands the regularly published content – and reacts to it accordingly – your own strategy can bear fruit accordingly.

The word “content” has a very broad meaning in the field of social media marketing. This is not about “the one” form of content. Rather, all possible forms of content are hidden behind this one word. Pictures, videos, blog posts, podcast episodes – all of this falls into the “content” category.

It is important to identify the types of content that are most likely to be perceived by your target audience. The contributions of one’s own company are usually noticed when they offer added value in some way for the target group. In this part of social media marketing in particular, it is important to know your target group, to continuously test new content and to generate content that triggers the desired effect in the target group of your own company.

Also Read: Social media content planning: save time and stress

What is actual influencer marketing? An important part of any social media marketing strategy!

A guide to social media marketing would not be complete if it didn’t mention anything about influencer marketing. In recent years, this topic has pushed itself too much into the focus of the local social media landscape. Not only have the sums invested by companies in influencer marketing increased. Influencers are also getting better and more effective when it comes to delivering leads to the commissioning company and introducing them to new target groups.

In influencer marketing, a company relies on the “followers” of the selected influencer. Influencers are proficient in building a large community that interacts with their own content. It is precisely the keyword “interaction” that makes influencers so interesting for companies. Because a good influencer has a lot of influence – the English translation of the word “Influence ” – on his community. The assumption in this context is that the influencer’s request to buy one’s own company’s products leads to increased sales and new fans.

While this sounds simple and plausible, the selection of the supposedly “right” influencer is a tougher problem. It is not only important to analyze the number of followers and the composition of the influencer’s target group. The interaction rate and the authenticity of the followers should also be checked. Last but not least, it is of course also about finding clever content ideas that the influencer can use to creatively stage their own products. So it is no coincidence that there are now influencer marketing agencies that deal exclusively with these topics!

Outsource social media marketing to an agency – when does it make sense?

It can make sense to outsource the topic of social media marketing to a social media agency . But only if the framework conditions are right! Because even an agency will not be able to take social media activities to the next level if it does not receive content, information and “insights” from the commissioning company. Social media marketing is seldom the “sole savior”, but rather a piece of the puzzle in a holistic (online) marketing strategy.

In cooperation with a social media agency, the task is to define precise tasks and processes. This is the only way that the commissioning company is actually relieved and actively supported in everyday life. In the case of a monthly collaboration, working with an editorial plan is essential. Upcoming posts as well as open points or content that has yet to be delivered are defined here.

It is also advisable to choose a central location for collaboration. Dropbox, for example, is ideal for this. Here, too, standard processes are usually defined. The social media agency knows that new image material can be processed in the “Ideenkiste” folder without any queries about content.

When does outsourcing to a social media agency make little (or more) sense?

Quite clearly: if the capacities are available in your own team, it is always advisable to do the social media marketing yourself. After all, no one can better communicate the identity of one’s own company than the team of one’s own company itself.

Of course, external impulses from a social media agency can also be useful in this case. In this way, an objectively thinking “sparring partner” can not only question things in joint brainstorm sessions, but also provide new ideas for content.

It can be just as useful to outsource the parts of social media marketing that are important and “eat up” a lot of time. This is where topics such as image editing, graphic creation and social ads come to mind. If there is a lack of internal “know-how” on individual subject areas, a social media agency can provide productive support without the company having to completely give up the helm – a real “win-win” situation!

What should you watch out for when choosing social media marketing workshops and training courses?

Of course, it can also make sense to book workshops and training courses on the subject of social media marketing as a team. These are also a good way to be kept up to date on developments within social media channels and to receive creative impulses from outside.

When selecting the workshops, the price aspect should not be the top priority. Experience has shown that other parts are much more important – especially when the contents of the workshop want to be sustainably integrated into everyday company life!

The aim here is to find workshops that have a high practical relevance. After all, you can read theoretical knowledge yourself within a few hours. Especially in social media workshops that you take part in as a team, several parts of the workshop should consist of active collaboration. The most positive – and most lasting – effect is achieved as a team in such training courses when you actually work out strategic sub-points. In addition, this usually increases the drive of the entire team! A very positive “side effect” with a view to future implementation.

Successful entry into the marketing discipline “Social Media Marketing”

Even when entering into social media marketing, the popular phrase “less is more” is true. Because especially for companies that have not yet had any contact with the world of social media marketing, the mass of new information can quickly become overwhelming. Instead of concentrating on all possible social media channels and wanting to use them with an extremely high frequency, it makes sense to first select a maximum of 1-2 channels. Building on the experiences – and successes – with these channels, your own ambitions should then be expanded.

Especially at the beginning it is important not to set any wrong or unattainable goals. A comparison with competing companies that have been active in social media marketing for many years is also not very helpful. After all, they primarily have more followers and “likes” by post because they have built their own loyal community. Not overnight, of course! Just because your own community is initially smaller and you generate fewer “likes” with the painstakingly created content than desired, that doesn’t mean that social media marketing doesn’t achieve the desired effect. The ROI should also not be questioned this early!

Social media marketing achieves the best results when investments are made in this marketing discipline in the medium to long term. Instead of measuring misleading numbers right from the start, the focus should initially be on your own continuity. Because this is a factor that can actually be influenced by oneself. Only with the development and expansion of your own social media marketing activities should the focus be placed on new, number-driven goals!

Social Media Marketing – Reasons for Failure!

As a profit-oriented company, you naturally want to get the most out of every area. So also from our own social media marketing activities. Despite this positive attitude, companies still find (the same) reasons again and again to negatively influence social media marketing in the company. As a result, this sub-discipline is often “pulped” again, despite the enthusiastic start. This step backwards small “tricks” could be avoided.

First and foremost, it should be mentioned in this regard that social media marketing will only be successful if the topic is instructed from the highest level and lived throughout the company. If the build-up is initiated by the intern who leaves the company in a few months, the social media presence is usually about to end.

Likewise, the lack of an editorial plan and content means that motivation in the “social media team” is quickly lost. Thinking from post to post can still go well in the initial phase. But at the latest when the first ideas run out, the initial enthusiasm also evaporates. Anyone who thinks ahead, prepares and plans their content carefully, sets the course for successful social media marketing at an early stage.

Last but not least, your own company must be ready to invest in social media marketing. This applies not only to the content to be published, but also to the important sub-area “Social Ads”. Without advertising, there is little reach on most platforms these days. So here it is “pay to play”. If this is ignored, it always hinders the growth – and the success – of one’s own company. Companies that want to achieve success with their social media marketing go the right way from the start – or let it stay completely!

Social media for companies – these are the reasons why most of them fail !

Social Media Marketing Books

Books are a good tool to take your social media knowledge to the next level – or to get into the topic at all. Much more important than individual tactics, tricks and “hacks” is first and foremost the basic understanding, which one should undoubtedly develop for this sub-discipline of marketing.

Compared to classic marketing instruments, social media marketing is a completely new way of communicating with your own target group. The added value that is generated through one’s own posts is in the foreground. It is important to internalize these core ideas. The social media marketing strategy is built around these pillars.

Social Media Marketing: The Complete Guide