‘Is social media effective for marketing?’ Yes, social media is effective for marketing! The advent of the Internet and social media has continued to ensure a shift in marketing orientation. Gone are the days when businesses were restricted to the traditional ways of marketing through word of mouth, signboards, billboards, etc. Though Television and Radio advertisement was a tard change from that period. A revolution took place in the marketing industry with the incursion of social media. 

According to the United States Census Bureau, the world population is currently 7.9 billion, projected to be about 8 billion by the end of 2023. Out of this, 4.55 billion people use social media and this will go up before the end of 2023, predicted by Socially Buzz, to 250 million people, if not more. 

The United States with 334 million people has 84% of its population using social media. From these statistics, about half of the world’s population is on social media. And that is a lot. But is that sufficient to claim social media is effective for marketing? Let us delve further into statistics and why we feel compelled to stand by the answer provided in the introductory paragraph. 

Social media ad campaigns show that about 28% of people are willing to purchase a new product they saw from viewing an ad. Testimonies gathered from online polls show that people are inclined to buy from brands they have continually seen in adverts or social media posts. 49% of people tend towards doing that.  

No doubt your business stands a chance to reach a larger audience while using social media in 2023. At some point in history, your business would have only been attractive to those in your locality. However, social media has emerged to ensure your business can enjoy the patronage of the global community. 

Hootsuite in its 56 important social media Advertising Statistic for 2023, revealed the following; 

• Facebook is one of the most used social media platforms in the world and commands 80% traffic to eCommerce websites as recorded in the first Quarter of 2019. This stat has increased by 5% in the last 3 years. 
• If your target audience frequents X (formerly Twitter), it is time to tap into the opportunity of running ads on the platform before it becomes saturated because stats show that X users prefer watching ads on X to other platforms. Statista (as of January 2022) showed that Americans love to use X, raking in 77 million users (about twice the population of California) on the platform and Japan follows behind with 58 million users (about twice the population of Texas). 
• The report claims LinkedIn is the go-to platform for marketers as it is the most paid and organic content marketing channel for B2B. The authority that the platform commands helps LinkedIn-sponsored InMail ads receive an open rate of up to 52% on average. 
• Instagram has 2 billion users, and ads on the platform reach 1.8 billion people daily, a fact that any ads you run on Instagram are likely to be seen by 90% of its users. This is a prompt that more people hang out on Instagram than on other social media platforms. 

Though we have only given the stats about how effective the above-mentioned social media platforms are for marketing, statistics are also available for how YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok, etc. can serve your business advertising campaigns. Here are the free advertising platforms.

How to Create a Social Media Marketing Plan 

Now that you know how effective social media is for marketing. Here is how creating a social media marketing plan can help your business with effective social media marketing. 

1. Choose a social media platform: It is hard to choose a social media channel if you do not know where your target audience frequents the most. Thus, it is necessary that you identify your target audience as it will help you determine how and what platform to choose for an effective social media marketing campaign. Word Stream article titled “Social Media Marketing for Business,” stressed the need to take on one platform at a time and add another as it later becomes convenient for you to handle. 
2. Note down objectives and goals you want to achieve: At first, it might be hard to set specific goals with social media marketing when you start out, but after the first trial, you will have insights on how to set more specific goals and objectives in your next marketing campaign. The insights are available using the right analytic tools. These tools will help you avoid failed campaigns. Harness and improve on those campaigns that were a success. 

Social media has come to stay, and there will be increased users and more platforms as the world develops technologically. Now is the time to invest in social media marketing to increase brand awareness and drive sales. It is one of the surest ways to make your business successful. Social media is effective for marketing, and creating a social media marketing plan will help your business attract new customers across the globe. To begin to get the effect of social media marketing, join People Connect to increase your social networking outreach.