Social media marketing is the online usage of various social media sites and platforms to advertise a product or service, typically with the help of a company. While the terms' digital marketing and e-marketing are more often dominant in academic circles, social media marketing has become increasingly popular for researchers and practitioners alike. The advent of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn opened up a wealth of opportunities for businesses large and small to create a presence and fan base on a variety of social media sites and platforms. Companies can use social media marketing to gain exposure and brand recognition, as well as to attract new customers.

The initial stages of implementing a social media marketing strategy will probably focus on creating a presence on these sites. This initial presence should be concentrated on the most popular ones, such as Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, and should subsequently be augmented with further focus on more obscure or less popular ones. Ideally, you want to build a large number of contacts, as well as a significant following within the network of your chosen social media site or blog. Your strategy should also include some type of discussion or feedback feature, so that users can voice their opinion or discuss recent happenings within the company. This way, your audience gets a chance to engage with you directly, which increases the likelihood that they will be interested in what you have to say in the future. Of course, this type of engagement can only be really developed if your content is of high quality and relevant to the audience.

Once you have an established audience or base of contacts, your social media marketing strategy can progress by exploiting the increased reach that social networks offer. One popular strategy is to use social networks as a tool for audience measurement, such as determining the response rate to particular pieces of marketing content and determining the percentage of site visitors that come from search engine results. Other methods can include the use of "likes," which provide a tracking measure for internet users interested in a brand or product. Finally, social networks can be used for direct customer contact, such as providing access to a phone number or address. The ultimate goal of any campaign, regardless of whether it is for traditional marketing or social media marketing, is to increase awareness of your brand among a targeted audience.

Any social strategy should start by defining and detailing your goals. For example, what are your company goals? Are you hoping to build a strong customer base? Or are you trying to establish an online presence to generate sales leads? The more specific your goals, the easier it will be to determine the most effective social strategy for your needs. For example, if you are an insurance firm that is looking to promote its website, then you probably want to look at using a social media marketing strategy that has the potential to generate traffic and generate leads.

When creating a strategy, be sure to keep track of how often you are using social media marketing. Social strategies are not effective if they are not used regularly. If you are not incorporating the strategy into your marketing practices, then chances are you are falling behind other companies who are implementing this strategy. Remember, no strategy is effective if it is not being used by the organization.

Another thing to consider when creating a social strategy is the demographics of the user base. If you want to make the most of digital marketing, then you should be using the digital channels available to your target audience. These social networks are especially useful for organizations that are not located in your local area. However, if you want to use social media marketing to expand your business reach, then you should definitely consider using the major social networks available online. By utilizing the social networks, you can reach a global audience, which is invaluable to any advertising campaign.