What is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is the act of promoting products and brands to consumers on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Triller, TikTok, and Snapchat. In today’s virtual age, social media marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools that brands have at a relatively low cost.
When done in tandem with other marketing efforts, social media marketing can deliver extraordinary results. A great example of this is Häagen-Dazs’ Instagram and TikTok viral marketing campaign in the United Kingdom. In this campaign, Häagen-Dazs sponsored a weekly home-entertainment series, called “Secret Sofa,” which was promoted by influencers. They had numerous UK creators on TikTok and Instagram create videos around the sponsored series. From this campaign, Häagen-Dazs doubled its Amazon orders amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are two types of social media marketing: organic and paid.
Organic Social Media Marketing
Organic social media marketing is any activity that doesn’t require a budget, such as posting, commenting, replying to messages, or interacting with other accounts. Organic marketing is all about growing brand awareness and engaging with your audience. Building relationships and earning customer trust is just as essential for brands online as for brick-and-mortar stores. It’s about striving to achieve the familiarity and service of a locally owned business, but on a much larger scale.
Learn about Kaspien’s organic social media marketing services.
Paid Social Media Marketing
The second type, paid social media marketing, is about reaching your consumer through paid efforts on social media. These can include influencers, paid advertisements, sponsorships, and much more. Paid marketing is meant to drive traffic and sales on websites or online marketplaces.
Learn about Kaspien’s paid social media marketing services.
How to Use Social Media Marketing to Drive Amazon Sales
Social media marketing can seem like a daunting undertaking for brands new to the space. It can be complicated, but there are a few principles to guide you.
First off, engage with your audience. Use social platforms to create content, such as images and videos, that display your brand’s values and aesthetic. Do you want your brand to be seen as witty, earnest, fun, no-nonsense, etc.? You can reinforce your branding every time you engage with your audience with copy and visuals alike.
Second, include a call to action. Suppose your goal is to sell a product, point shoppers to your products and listings. Not every post should include a CTA, as that risks coming across as overwhelming or making the relationship feel shallow. Balance CTAs with organic engagement.
If you first engage and interact with your social network on the social platforms, directing them to your listing or website will be much easier. In many cases, shoppers need to connect with your brand long before they consider purchasing your products.
Promote Products Online: Amazon Marketing
Amazon is the largest online marketplace and shoppers on Amazon have a higher intent to purchase than those searching via Google. The problem is that Amazon advertising is getting more expensive. In addition to growing brand awareness and building loyalty, social media marketing can help brands grow their Amazon sales. Reaching shoppers off Amazon and directing them back to Amazon allows you to bypass competitors’ Amazon ads. Plus, if they’ve interacted with your brand on social media in the past, you’ve already gained their trust on Amazon.
Thanks to the Amazon Attribution Program, you can even attribute on-Amazon sales to off-Amazon promotions. If a consumer finds your products through your social media, and you’ve placed a trackable link created via the Amazon Attribution Program, you’ll gain insights such as clicks, Amazon listing views, and purchases. Amazon attribution is a necessary tool to gauge the effectiveness of your social media efforts.
Run Amazon Giveaways via Social Media
One great example of how to utilize social media marketing to drive Amazon sales is through product giveaways. Amazon used to run a program called Amazon Giveaways, but Amazon retired giveaways in October 2019. We saw great success in running product giveaways, so the loss of the program was disappointing (BUT, we did create a list of low-cost marketing alternatives to Amazon Giveaways). However, through social media marketing, you can still run giveaways manually through your social media channels. Our partners have seen excellent results promoting their Amazon listings through giveaways held on their social media channels, as it’s a natural way to drum up interest in your products on Amazon.
