Archive for the ‘Social Marketing’ Category

27 Best Social Media Marketing Platforms for 2022

The number of global social media users has been increasing for the past decade and the number is predicted to reach almost 4.4 billion by 2025. Leading social networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. have reshaped the lives of people at large. The way we communicate, exchange content, and spend time on the internet have changed significantly.

Marketers found a new channel to connect and engage with their target audience. Businesses use social networking sites to promote their business and products. There are more than 200 active social media websites and its a challenging job for businesses to maintain their presence on all the leading social networking sites actively. Even if a business wants to use only a few social networking platforms (the top 5 ones), its still a big task. For this reason marketers and businesses often turn to social media marketing platforms. With the help of one of these tools, you can make your social media marketing more effective and profitable without you having to sacrifice your own social life.

Brandwatch is a social media marketing platform that offers a 14-day free trial of its Essentials plan (targeting single users and small teams) and suggests larger companies with multiple teams and markets request a demo of the Full suite. It offers weekly training sessions and real-time in-app chat, email, and telephone service. Brandwatch offers dedicated support on your daily workflows or social media strategy.

Its hard to manage multiple social media accounts on all the top social networking sites. Hootsuite solves this issue by letting you manage all the social accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Pinterest) from a single dashboard. Instead of visiting all the social networking sites individually, you can log in to your Hootsuite account and manage all of them. This includes creating posts, scheduling posts, content curation, account management, and more.

Key Features

It is another brand reputation management tool that is specifically designed to work with social networks. Brand24 tracks your brand mention on social networking websites, notifies you immediately, and lets you analyze how satisfied your customers are.

It is a multi-purpose social media management tool that does a lot of things. Sendible lets you manage multiple social media accounts, collaborate with your social media marketing team, and monitor brand mentions.

Founded in 2013, NapoleonCat is trusted by the likes of Allianz, OLX, and the WWF and boasts glowing reviews on review sites like GetApp and Capterra. After youve viewed its interface, youll understand why. It just looks better than youve probably grown used to. Though, its not all about looks and when it comes to user experience, it also delivers. Getting started is straightforward and its Social Inbox will blow you away. Here, youll find everything youll need to streamline customer engagement and care.

Agorapulse is another social media management tool for marketers that comes with a lot of features and is suitable for businesses of all sizes. You can use it to manage all social media accounts, communicate with your followers, engage, and increase your followers. Its built-in CRM is a perfect platform to understand and engage with your followers.

Iconosquare is an analytics tool that also caters to social media management, monitoring, and scheduling. As a result, Iconosquare delivers some of the most in-depth analytics we have ever seen. The main differences between its three pricing tiers (Pro, Advanced, and Enterprise) relate to the number of social profiles you can monitor, the number of hashtags and competitors you can observe, and the number of team members who can access your account. The higher plans also add a few additional capabilities, such as custom dashboards and PDF reports (company branded in the case of Enterprise).

If you want to create infographics, presentations, GIFs, charts, or any other type of social media graphics, Visme is the best social media marketing platform tool for it. Visme comes with a simple dashboard, templates, and a huge library of graphics and photos to make your life easier. The best thing about Visme is that it lets you create infographics even if you arent a designer.

Audiense lets you understand your audience better and is similar to Socialbakers. However, its Audiense Connect is the Twitter marketing platform that is specifically developed for social media marketing. It lets you connect, manage, and grow your Twitter community. The insights will help you improve Twitter performance significantly.

Trusted and loved by 5+ million users, Planoly is a comprehensive platform that you can use to plan and schedule your content on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. As an official Pinterest and Instagram partner, its especially useful if you mostly post on these two channels.

Key Features

A social media scheduling tool is one of the most essential tools for social media marketers. You have to make sure you post the right content at the right time and this is what Buffer does exceptionally well. It is a social media scheduling tool that lets you publish, interact, and analyze social media progress for all the leading social platforms.

If you are using Buffer, you must use Pablo. It lets you create photos in 30 seconds that you can share via Buffer. It has a drag-and-drop user interface that has a lot of templates to help you get started. The best part: You can convert text to an image with a single click.

Although ContentCal initially began as a social media marketing agency and then developed a platform focusing on scheduling and publishing, it has since extended its focus to planning, collaborating, analyzing, and storing content. It includes in-built approval flows to help streamline the process and avoid bottlenecks. It is affordable, with plans ranging from $37/mo or $30/mo when billed annually.

Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management tool. It offers you several features to understand and reach your audience and to engage with your followers. Sprout Social supports Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. It has a social CRM tool that helps you manage the relationship with your followers.

Not only can you use OnlyPult to post on social media platforms, but you can also use it to post to your blog as well. It includes an extensive collection of well-integrated features, and we can only touch the surface in this post. Plans start at $10.50/mo., but they offer a free no credit card 7-day trial. OnlyPult is a quick and easy-to-use tool with more features than your average social media marketing software

If you are a fan of Instagram, youll love using Later. Though it works for other social networks too, Instagram marketing is its core specialty. You can visually plan and schedule Instagram posts. It has a powerful organizer that lets you organize your Instagram photos and posts.

If Twitter is your companys primary social network, dont miss Followerwonk. It has multiple tools to supercharge Twitter marketing for your business. It helps you find appropriate Twitter accounts, lets you compare accounts, and analyze followers.

Tailwind is a social media marketing app that works for Pinterest and Instagram. It is primarily used as a scheduling app, but it has other features too. For instance, it helps you find the best time to post on Instagram with its SmartSchedule feature.

Tagboard is an interesting and useful tool for social media management and marketing. You can find social media posts that can be aggregated and curated easily. A simple hashtag can reveal several social media stories that are all public. You can then republish them on your social media account.

BuzzSumo is an awesome tool that helps you find popular content thats trending on social networking sites. You can identify trending content that people like and share on your preferred social network and recreate it. It also helps you find influencers who publish or share content thats relevant to your business.

Social listening goes hand in hand with social media marketing. Mention is the best tool for managing your brands reputation by actively listening to what people are saying about your business on social networking sites.

Socialbakers is an AI-powered tool that helps you understand your audience on social media. You can use insights to create better content for your audience. It offers multiple solutions and advanced features that significantly improve social media marketing.

If you are struggling with Twitter marketing and find it hard to grow your followers, you should use Tweepi. It is a perfect tool for businesses that want to engage with their Twitter followers. It uses AI to find tweets and accounts that are more likely to engage and follow you.

Feedly keeps your information organized. You can add sources that you are interested in. The rest will be handled by Feedly. It will make it super-easy to read and share relevant material. This helps you in finding, organizing, and managing content for social media. You can share new content every single day with your audience with the help of Feedly.

Video content works best on social networking sites especially if you are using Instagram. Lumen5 is a great tool that helps you create videos with its straight-forward dashboard. There are tons of templates to help you get started immediately. You can create a video in less than a minute from any blog post you have. The video format, length, and dimensions are set based on the social network you create it for.

How could you miss Zapier? It is a simple free tool that automates workflows by connecting and integrating apps. You can connect your CRM, lead generation tool, email marketing software, and other tools with social networking sites for automating several tasks.

Canva is a free drag-and-drop design tool that is a must-have for marketers and businesses. You can create professional images for social media posts. It has a huge library of templates, photos, icons, shapes, graphs, and more that can be used by anyone to create a perfect social media post.

Social media marketing platforms help your business in several ways, but you have to understand that it isnt all about tools. The way you use these tools is important. Having a lot of tools in your marketing stack doesnt ensure success. A robust social media marketing strategy is whats essential for success.

These are the 10 most popular social media platforms:1. Brandwatch2. Brand243. Sendible4. Visme5. Audiense6. Buffer7. Pablo8. Sprout Social9. Hootsuite10. Agorapulse

These are the top 5 social media platforms you should care about:1. Brandwatch2. Brand243. Sendible4. Visme5. Audiense

Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world with more than 2.6 billion monthly active users in 2020. Nearly every social media user is on Facebook, so its a great market for your products with a big audience. Instagram and TikTok are also popular platforms with a big audience.

TikTok is an up-and-coming social media platform with a growing audience. The social media platform is useful for brands with lots of video content that want to stay relevant with their social media strategy.

TikTok is the fastest growing social media network of 2020. Its actually one of the fastest growing social media networks of all time. Its now available in more than 150 countries with more than 1 billion users.

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27 Best Social Media Marketing Platforms for 2022

Social marketing – OpenLearn – Open University

Cost Social marketing programmes can cost considerable amounts of money. Criticisms of these expenditures are heightened as they are often financed by public money in times of resource constraints and therefore have a high opportunity cost. A related issue is that of the problems involved in assessing the success of these programmes. The long term nature of behavioural change and the difficulties in establishing causeeffect relationships add to the fuel for the critics.

Misconceptions and negative attitudes about marketing As most introductory marketing text books relate, marketing is often equated with selling and persuading people to buy things that they do not really want. Interestingly, when people are asked if they have been persuaded they usually say no. Today's adoption of marketing principles and techniques (for example, market segmentation, market research, branding) by the banking sector is now evident. It was not too long ago, however, that bank managers were describing such activity as nauseating, odious and irrelevant and an over-rated pastime (Turnbull and Wootten, 1980, p. 482). Many professional services such as accountants and solicitors still equate marketing with advertising (Barr and McNeilly, 2003). Public sector organisations, such as hospital trusts, have also been slow to adopt (Meidan et al., 2000). Lack of awareness of the potential of marketing, misunderstanding and the observation of some of the more doubtful practices of the commercial sector are some of the reasons behind this. As previously mentioned, the criticism of commercial marketing is an element of social marketing, and this is highlighted in the Lazer and Kelley definition (see Section 2.2). A final reason for resistance to marketing may be due to the nature of the language. Strategic marketing, for example, adopts the terminology of Sun Zu's The Art of War (Krause, 1995). Phrases such as flanking defence, encirclement and full frontal attack are probably not particularly attractive to the World Wildlife Fund or Oxfam.

Parameters of marketing activity A final point emerges from marketing authors themselves. In response to Kotler and Levy's article Broadening the Concept of Marketing, Luck (1969) argued that the wider application of marketing away from the commercial sector dilutes the content and nature of marketing as a discipline. There are few proponents of this view, however, and the last four decades have seen many applications including, of course, the application of social marketing.

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Social marketing - OpenLearn - Open University

4 Ps of Social Marketing – Management Weekly

What is exactly social marketing? How is social marketing different from regular marketing? In order to answer this question let us look into the 4 Ps of social marketing.

What are the biggest criticisms of marketing is that it is too capitalistic. In other words, marketing primarily benefits the firm. However, it is not entirely true. All firms directly or indirectly benefit society at large. In the same vein, social-centric firms, actively pursue this goal. Social marketing can help them achieve this goal.

Social marketing attempts to ameliorate some of these criticisms. Firstly, it provides marketing tools to promote social well-being. The core philosophy of social marketing is that marketing should be driven by the goal of helping society. Secondly, the techniques that are used in social marketing are broader in scope. Directs the focus of action from pushing to interaction with the customer. Thirdly, the channels of social marketing are different. Traditional marketing focuses more on selling the product through traditional channels.

We have covered the 4 Ps of traditional marketing in another article in detail. You can read it to have a better understanding of the marketing mix. However, we will cover that briefly here.

Kotler and Zaltman extended the idea of the four Ps of the marketing mix into the social world. This suggested that the traditional makes were not conducive enough to understand social marketing.

This brings us to the main discussion. The 4 Ps of social marketing is somewhat different from the traditional ones.

We have already discussed that social marketing is focused on social benefits. However, let us see what this means for the 4p? This means that the pillars of the marketing mix is very different. We no longer have the impetus on selling the products. I focus is more on serving society. In this light let us see what the four Ps of social marketing are:

Starting points for or developing your social marketing strategy is purpose. Clearly defining the purpose will provide you with a direction for your marketing efforts.

Firstly, the purpose should be deliberated carefully.

Secondly, we should write down the goals. Goal setting is another simple but effective task.

Thirdly, these goals should help us delineate the tasks and roles for the managers.

Fourthly, we need to ascertain the key performance indicators for our goals.

The second important criterion for social marketing is the platform. Platforms are the channels through which we can communicate with the customers.

Firstly, the choice for the platform. There are different activities that can be facilitated by a platform. Based on these activities we need to decide which platform to choose. Activities like interaction with the customers, service requests, and customer support, and relationship marketing.

Secondly, we should also look at the size of the platform. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are quite popular. They have billions of followers around the world.

Thirdly, look at the kind of fitment between the demographic using the platform and our target customers. For example, if you want to market embroidery products then Pinterest is a great social media platform. On the other hand, if you want to market your B2B services then LinkedIn is more suited.

The next P of the 4 Ps of social marketing is participation. This can make or break your social marketing plans.

Firstly, unlike traditional marketing, social marketing relies heavily on the use of interaction rather than one-way communication.

Secondly, the firm should have a personal when it is communicating with the customers.

Thirdly, we should remember that the focus is on the benefit of society. Each and every interaction must reflect this ideology. We are there for the greater good.

Finally, we come to the fourth P of social marketing. Performance can help us understand how well we are executed the other three 3Ps.

We had earlier talked about the KPIs. These Key Performance Indicators or KPIs are critical to monitor marketing efforts.

There can be different ways to measure performance. Firstly, we can measure it in terms of the number of people served. Secondly, we can also measure it in terms of the return over investment. The first method can help us satisfy external stakeholders. On the other hand, the second one helps us satisfy the shareholders.

What exactly is the social marketing philosophy? When we talk about social marketing it is important to understand how we define the benefits reaped by the customers.

Firstly, in terms of the product, there are a few changes. When we talk about social marketing anything that we sell must have some benefit for society. It is not just the needs of the customers that we need to fulfill. It needs to serve some larger purpose.

Secondly, we need to discuss the price of the product. The focus of the pricing should be to maximize the reach of the benefits to society.

Thirdly, we need to talk about the place. The place in traditional marketing is the location of the exchange between the customer and the firm. In social marketing, the choice of the place should be driven by the goal of making it more accessible to the people.

Fourthly, the promotion also needs to be thought of in a different way. The promotion needs to be more interactive and customer-centric.

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4 Ps of Social Marketing - Management Weekly

Health groups vent fury over ‘watered down’ National Food Strategy – The Grocer

Health and sustainability groups have slammed the governments watered down National Food Strategy, claiming it will fail to tackle food insecurity or get to grips with the obesity crisis.

A raft of organisations said the much-delayed 27-page document had proved the government did not have the will to take bold action to address the problems of the UKs food system.

The National Food Strategy proposed bold, evidence-based recommendations that would have had an enormous impact on improving our food system, making healthier food more available and accessible to all, said Graham MacGregor, chairman of Action on Sugar and Action on Salt.

However, todays announcement makes it abundantly clear that our government is in the pocket of the food industry and has no desire to bite the hand that feeds it. We can only assume that Sajid Javid has chosen not to implement these tailor-made recommendations for political reasons, which completely contradicts the governments levelling up ambitions.

This shambolic decision will no doubt massively impact the NHS and the nations health, which will suffer the consequences and escalating cost of treating obesity.

Barbara Crowther, director of the Childrens Food Campaign, said:This is not a comprehensive food strategy when it fails to offer any new measures to address either the cost of living or the human and social cost of obesity.

On the one hand it acknowledges Henry Dimblebys analysis of a junk food cycle but on the other does nothing to address it, whilst key measures to rein in the industrial marketing power of the junk food industry are also now delayed.

It leaves the forthcoming health disparities white paper with a huge task to get the obesity strategy and work to reduce dietary inequalities back on track. We can only hope that the health department can do a better job than the one in charge of food supply.

Sustain CEO Kath Dalmenydescribed the proposals as shamefully weak, adding:In the face of multiple crises in the cost of living, rocketing obesity, climate change and nature loss, the government was given crystal clear analysis and a set of recommendations by the Dimbleby food strategy, and has chosen to take forward only a handful of them.

This isnt a strategy, its a feeble to-do list, that may or may not get ticked.

However, retail leaders gave a cautious welcome to the governments plans.We are supportive of any measures which secure long-term food security, address labour shortages, and invest in innovating the UK supply chain, said Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the BRC.

Consumers must be at the heart of the strategy, which means producing food that is healthy and sustainable but also affordable. We already have high environmental and animal welfare standards in this country, and any changes to improve these must be balanced against cost increases and affordability.

Anne Godfrey, CEO of GS1 UK, said plans in the strategy to set up a new Food Data Transparency Partnership could be a big step forward.

It will go a long way towards tackling health disparities, providing clarity for consumers, and enabling trust and collaboration throughout food supply chains.

Opie added:Defra must ensure the data transparency project does not add unnecessary burdens and costs to the supply chain. Furthermore, as this is Defras strategy, the litmus test will be if it improves co-ordination across Whitehall and the rest of the UK. Without co-ordination we will continue to see increasing costs from divergence and new regulations.

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Health groups vent fury over 'watered down' National Food Strategy - The Grocer

What is Social Marketing Campaign? – The European Business Review

Do you desire to take your social marketing campaigns to the next level? You want your social media accounts to become sales-generating funnels. In todays article, well discuss social marketing campaigns and why you should start yours too. Well also mention the importance of trusting in professionals, like marketing and design agencies.

What is Social Marketing Campaign?

Social marketing helps you meet your target audience needs. Simply put, social marketing campaigns are strategies you employ to achieve certain goals and objectives of your business or organization.

As a business owner you know the implications of having a great product or service without customers. You cant afford not to invest in social marketing campaigns to make your customers and prospects aware of your business.

Investing in social marketing campaigns will boost your business online presence and this is a great way to drive sales. Remember we have Instagram account for sale that will help you to get started on accomplishing your social marketing campaigns. Here are some benefits thatll accrue to your business if you decide to take your social marketing campaigns to the next level.

When you invest in social marketing campaigns, your brands online presence will definitely improve. Your customers and prospects spend a great amount of their time on social media platforms and you can leverage on to increase your brand awareness. Endeavor to create content that appeals to your audience and theyll sure reward you with their patronage and loyalty. Of course, the premise is that your social media account already has enough followers. If your Instagram account does not have many followers, you can try this techniquehow to get 1k followers on Instagram in 5 minutes.

When you consistently promote and share content thats centered on your product or service, this leads to increased lead generation for your business. As more customers and potential customers consume your content online, theyre most likely to patronize your business when its time for them to make their purchasing decision. And this has a positive impact on your revenue level once you factor in the cost to manage social media ads. You can also use the heatmaps tool for user behaviour tracking and analysis.

Andrew Davis quote sums up the positive impacts of creating content. Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue. Imagine the multiple effects of engaging content and well-executed social marketing campaigns would have on your business. This is possible only if you start working on marketing your business on every social media platforms.

Conclusion

Its not too late to get started on making your social media accounts generate as much leads as you desire. Youve got to put in the efforts to reap the rewards. Starting a social marketing campaign is necessary to achieve your business goal.

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What is Social Marketing Campaign? - The European Business Review