Top 10 Roles of Social Media Marketing In 2024

The role of the social media marketer is responsible for the brand’s presence on various social media channels by actively and promptly engaging with the targeted audience through different forms of digital content.

‘Being human in the digital world is about building a digital world for humans’ by Andrew Keen.

This quote completely summarizes what social media is all about. Social media is an integral part of our lives. We can say we are addicted to it, to some extent. Checking Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp is like bread and butter. We do these things so seamlessly every single day that we don’t even realize we are hooked to them.

Social media started as a small digital platform to facilitate social communications, but today it is a giant that is shaping human interactions and behaviors. The role of social media marketers is unique, and they are responsible for revenue across platforms. They use data assimilated across platforms and help businesses use that data effectively for marketing and reaching the target audience economically.

Before going deeper into the topic, let us see the various types/mediums that are used in social media marketing. One needs to understand this for pursuing the role of social media marketer.

Seven mediums for the role of social media marketing:

1. Social Networking sites-There are networking sites that let you connect with others. Examples- Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. One can use it to connect with friends, family, and brands. You can upload and view photos, videos and content posted. Customers can also participate in contests and surveys.
2. Bookmarking sites– These sites allow users to save and organize any number of links on a website. One can also ‘tag’ the links, making it easier to search and share among users. A few examples of bookmarking sites are- Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Diggs
3. Social News– A social news site allows users to post a link to news and other items to external articles. Users then vote on said items, and the link with a maximum vote is prominently displayed. Example- Reddit
4. Media Sharing– These allow users to share videos and images on the sites. These sites also offer social features like commenting on uploaded videos, becoming followers, subscribing, and the option of live chatting with the host. The most popular media sharing platform is -YouTube.
5. Microblogging– They are sites that allow users to post short written entries on their walls as well as links to products and services. These are then posted on ‘walls’, where it is visible to everyone who has subscribed to them. The most popular example is- Twitter
6. Blog comments and forums– An online forum is a site that allows users to engage in conversations by posting and commenting on community messages. The comments are more focused on the posted blog. Example- Medium
7. Social Review sites– TripAdvisor, Google review, and Foursquare, these sites help you decide about your stay, hotels, and places to visit by social review. Community members post about their experiences and help make informed decisions.

There are currently more than 133+ social media channels that a social media marketer should know about in 2022. They should know which channels work for which brand, which region is active at what times, best way to engage customers the list is endless and so is the demand. Let us see the roles a social marketer must play today.

Top 10 roles of social media marketer

1.Originate social media strategy

Developing a robust social media strategy is the key to successful social media marketing. Focusing on the right channels helps to target the most relevant audience and optimizes the marketing return on investment. The role of social media strategy is to answer questions related to the brand’s goal and decide the most feasible course of action to achieve them.

2.Identifying the target market

This is the most important step that determines the success of social media. If the target audience is not correct, even the perfect plan will not work. Finding the right audience whose interests match with or are like the brands is crucial for the marketing plan. It will easily convert them to customers.

3.Pinpointing the relevant social networks

To leverage the full potential of social media platforms targeting the relevant role of social media channels is very important. As mentioned before in this article there are 133+ media channels, each having a different function and different followers to some extent. Identifying the correct channel based on your content is the main step toward successful marketing.

4.Curating content for multiple social media channels

Consumers are easily distracted today, and content must be engaging from the first sentence. Creating crisp and engaging content is a must to get noticed. Second, find the right channel to stream your content. It is pivotal to finding out the most relevant social media channel for a brand to communicate its message.

5.Acquiring followers and engagement

The role of social media marketing is to communicate the brand’s message effectively to the target audience to build followers. Every post on social media is done to convert the loyal audience into a loyal customer base. Most social media strategies aim to increase web traffic and increase conversion rates for businesses.

6.Building trust

Customer trust is mandatory for the growth of any business. Customers these days make purchases after reading reviews and ratings shared by other customers. It is important to engage the customer with brand recall.  Few products that are a one-time purchase within 5 years of time horizon are likely to lose grip with their customer base. It is considered that the next purchase will be most likely after 3 years.  But that’s where most marketers go wrong. Focused engagement with existing clients builds brand trust in the market helping to grow a healthy and reliable business. The role of the social media marketer is to build trust with the customer base and enrich their lives daily.

7.Remarketing

Have you ever noticed, that when we search for a product on Google, or when we try to make a purchase but are unsuccessful, the same product ad appears on Facebook, or Instagram stories? These are not co-incidence, apps track customer movements and nudge us to make purchases. This is called re-marketing in social media. Social media influences us and is an important re-marketing tool.

8.Customer Experience

The role of social media marketing is not restricted to purchases, revenue generations, and brand promotions. The brands want to connect with customers. They do not just want customers to simply complete the purchases but, to win them over. Many brands want customers to experience their brand, and hence conduct brand seminars, and social media blogs, to connect better. The role of social media marketing is to enrich customer experience.

9.Social media analytics

Nearly 70% of customers who had a positive experience with your business will recommend you to their network. The average customer spends around 2.5 hours on social media daily. 81% of users search for new products on Instagram. 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn drive business decisions.  These statistics tell us, what role social media can do for our business. These statistics help us analyze business models and take strategic decisions. Analytics is the key to a successful social media strategy.

10.Social listening and Influencer marketing

Social listening is all about customers’ wants and needs. In 2022 the role of the social media marketer is to monitor ongoing conversations and create content that offers problem-solving to customers. The messages and emails do not simply aim to connect, they want to personalize everyone’s experience with the brand. Influencer marketing is a growing trend that will overshadow advertising. As social media usage grows, consumers spend more time on OTT platforms and apps. Since 2019 over 240+ influencer marketing agencies have been established only with the sole aim of connecting companies with the relevant influencer.

Pros and cons of social media marketing

Social media marketing is a powerful platform in today’s world. Small businesses, homegrown businesses, and big companies all are benefitting alike from social media. The better the content and engaging video, the more footfall and conversion. The role of social media marketing in today’s era cannot be undermined. Few more benefits are as follows-

Cost-effective- It’s a medium that involves the least cost. It is one of the key benefits of social media selling over ancient selling.

Greater reach– This is another advantage; the reach is humongous.  The ancient selling methods cater to a fixed set of audiences. There is no limitation on social media, one can also further divide customers based on age, sex, and interests.

Efficient- The content on social media gets viral in seconds. For any news or fast-selling item that needs instant reach, the best bet is social media. Currently, individuals link their page with their business link for quicker business.

Brand Interaction and loyalty– The role of social media marketing helps build interactions between the company and individuals. It’s a cycle that completes with brand loyalty, which in turn results in repeat purchases. Regular interactions show that you care for your client, and this aids in word-of-mouth promotion.

‘Every action has an equal and opposite reaction’ is true in social media too. There are certain disadvantages associated with social media–

Negative publicity– Social media has given the public a ‘voice’. A voice that can be heard and seen. If a person’s experience has been bad, the customer will not wait 2 seconds before posting it to social media or giving you a bad rating. The medium is also full of trolls, who comment on anything just to bring the morale down. One needs to understand the pros and cons when opting for social media. Be better prepared and think before posting anything on the medium.

Time intensive– The role of social media marketing is very time-consuming. Social media must be monitored 24/7 especially when brands have a global reach. When promoting new products, the page must be updated and refreshed so it appears on the first few pages, all these take a lot of time and effort.

Long return on investment– Every promotion has a goal to be achieved, for some, it is engaging with the client base, and for others, it can be increased traffic. Each brand takes time to catch up with the customers. Every influencer takes a lot of time and effort to have millions of followers. Followers are not created in a day.

Digital Marketing

To understand the role of social media marketing better, one should pursue a course in digital marketing. Digital marketing also known as online marketing refers to advertising delivered through media channels to promote brands and connect with customers. Many courses or roles come under the umbrella of digital marketing. They are-

• Content marketing
• SEO
• Display advertising
• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Influencer marketing
• Affiliate marketing

The digital marketing course is aimed to gain a better concept of the digital world, it prepares the students to handle negative publicity, and manage and strategize better for digital accounts. One such provider is Henry Harvin. Henry Harvin provides an advanced digital marketer program-CADM. It is a well-structured digital marketing course that helps students achieve their objectives. It’s a 40-hour online course. It provides 7 certificates to the student, one from Henry Harvin as the advanced Digital marketer, one from Google (AdWords fundamentals, search advertising, display advertising, mobile site, and video advertising), and Facebook (Facebook marketing). Apart from this it also provides one-year gold membership, free monthly brush-up sessions, study material, recorded videos of the training, 100% placement, and support post-training. Henry Harvin has the best of the industry experts who have more than 10+ years of experience in this domain.

 Henry Harvin’s digital marketing course has no prerequisites for marketing knowledge for this course, one can earn and learn side by side in this course. Anyone can join this course, business owners, website owners, business analytics, bloggers, YouTubers, and social media enthusiasts. The course is divided into 7 modules-

– Getting started with Digital Marketing

– Effective webpage designing

– Search Engine Marketing (Google AdWords)

– SEO (on the page, off-page, landing page)

– Facebook Marketing

– LinkedIn Marketing

– YouTube Marketing

-Soft skills development and resume writing

Benefits of Learning Digital Marketing

Upgrading to Digital marketing has many benefits. One can boost their career using digital marketing strategies, it can also help in upscaling the current pay, open new career avenues, we can use dozens of verified digital marketing approaches, grow brands’ followers and reach, save cost on marketing by going digital, develop marketing statistics, make the presence of the business global, earn from home and much more.

Although social media marketing and digital marketing may sound almost similar, they are quite different. For starters, social media is a part of Digital marketing. Secondly, Digital marketing goes beyond the internet and tries to reach customers offline using digital means. Social media is only concerned with the internet. Digital marketing may also implicate the use of ads, and radio as part of its campaign, but social media is restricted by the boundaries of the internet.

Conclusion

Internet boom and social apps have made more than 80% of customers online. These days consumers check reviews for everything. Whether it’s a purchase of soil from Amazon or a new restaurant you want to try, or a new car you wish to purchase. Our decisions are affected by the posts we read and the research we come across. For any successful purchase reading, positive reviews and feedbacks are very important as most purchases are made from home. It’s the need of the hour for all businesses to have a presence online.  The role of social media marketers is crucial as they connect us with our customers. They know what is right and wrong for our business and invest plenty of time to grow the business.

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