Social media marketing; it's on the rise

Can you remember a time before you used social media? When you didn’t reach for your phone before your alarm clock in the morning? Nowadays society has one thing on their mind and that is social media marketing, whether it be from a social or business perspective.

You can’t deny it, everywhere you turn you are surrounded by either friends uploading selfies to Facebook while out for coffee. A bored individual scrolling through their latest Instagram feed while waiting on a bus or loved-up couples tweeting about the fantastic time they are having while out for their expensive 3-course dinner. Social media has risen around the world faster than lightening it seems and while it may have originally been intended just to stay in touch with associates on the other side of the world or even to upload a picture every now and then. This sensation has created endless opportunities and the main one is, yeah you guessed it; social media marketing.

It is amazing to think of the careers and prospects that have been made available to thousands thanks to this type of marketing such as digital PR. Some businesses focus solely on it, while others use it to improve their brand loyalty or even to increase brand recognition. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have completely revolutionised the world of marketing. Making it so modern that you will rarely come across a company that doesn’t use it. Social media is all about relationship building, once you gain a satisfied customer they will tell their friends and so on. It’s like a never-ending stream of chances to show off your products, while gaining connections from across the globe.

In my opinion, one of the best things about it is has to be the increase it gives your search engine rankings. SEO is one of the best ways to capture appropriate traffic from different search engines. Current, frequently updated social media accounts act as a signal to prove your business is legitimate and worth checking out. This will then lead onto more publicity and a higher rate of customer interaction, so many positive aspects.

Along with this I believe the soar in popularity of SMM is due to the decreased level of marketing costs it brings. Companies would rather advertise through blogs, FB or Twitter not only because it is cheaper but it also gives their company a more cool type of edge. This is particularly important when targeting the younger generation. The hipster crowds who flock to different media platforms, desperate to check out some fashion bloggers opinions on her new shoes or what deals their favourite sushi restaurant has on for happy hour. Whatever the event or company, there are plenty of different platforms to advertise in many different ways. Even though it is used constantly in everyday life for many, I really do believe that this is only the beginning in the phenomenon that is social media marketing.