How Did Social Media Marketing Change the Game? 10 Facts All Students Need to Know

Now when 4.48 billion people across the globe are actively using social media, there is no secret that these channels are making a huge impact on our lives. Social media is a game-changer for many different industries, including business, education, etc. And marketing is among them too.

In this article, we are going to talk about how social media marketing (SMM) has changed everything, and this is something every modern student should know about. Whether you are studying marketing, promoting your student business, engaging in personal branding, or just interested in the “behind the scenes” of this industry, SMM is something you should be aware of.

Everyone Uses It

According to the Pew Research Center, 71% of adults who have access to the Internet own at least one social media account. What’s more, 52% of them have two or more accounts. Therefore, if you are planning to build a career in marketing or promote your own venture, the odds are your target audience will be on social media.

Access to Global Markets

As stated in the previous point, the majority of adults are using social media. Therefore, one of the most tangible changes it brought to marketers is an extended outreach. With the help of SMM, businesses now have access to global markets and can expand their reach exponentially.

More Data to Track

Apart from providing access to global markets, social media also delivers far more data to help businesses run effectively. If you are promoting your student business without prior experience in advertising, SMM is a great option for you. It provides a plethora of tools to track your key metrics and understand why and how products sell (or don’t sell) online.

Better Understanding of Consumers

Throughout the decades, one of the core goals of every brand has been to understand who its target audience is and what its prospects are looking for. And this is one more way SMM changed the industry. People are sharing plenty of information on their accounts. This fact lets businesses collect and interpret more consumer data and, thus, gain a better understanding of their prospects’ interests, needs, pain points, etc.

Gaining Brand Awareness Is Easier

There is no secret that all industries and verticals are incredibly competitive these days. Whatever job you do or whatever product you provide, there are thousands of others who do the same. Therefore, branding has become the key to winning over customers.

Brand awareness boosts recognition and trust, which leads to better sales and revenues. And SMM makes gaining it much easier than, let’s say, 20 years ago. Basically, anyone can get on social media and gain exposure. All you need is high-quality content, regularity, and some advertising.

More Transparency

Just a decade ago, consumers could only guess who was behind the corporate curtain of their favorite brands. These days, people, processes, and other things that were left behind the scenes in the past play a huge role in shaping a company’s identity. And social media is a part of this change. SMM has created the need for more transparency in every business.

Deeper-Level Communication

Long gone are the times when consumers were hesitant to connect with a business and share their experiences, whether bad or good. These days, people can share their opinions freely through different channels. This fact has changed the way brands communicate with their consumers.

Extended Marketplace

Not only does SMM help businesses build awareness, but it also helps them sell easier. After the outbreak of Covid-19, when many companies had to seize their offline sales, we’ve seen a major boost in digital sales. But if earlier companies could only sell their products or services through a limited number of marketplaces, now they can seamlessly sell right from their Instagram Shop, Facebook Marketplace, etc. This made a big change in the field of online sales.

Different Priorities

Earlier, the major focus of most ad campaigns was to sell the product. But with the rise of SMM, priorities are changing significantly. First of all, the primary focus of every SMM strategy is simply an online presence.

As was mentioned earlier, social media provides opportunities for building brand awareness, and modern businesses find it more important than selling. The second top priority is value; thanks to SMM, brands now aim not to sell but to offer actual value to their consumers. This fact made companies’ marketing strategies much more meaningful.

SMM Is the Key to Engaging Students

According to Pew Research Center, the largest share of social media users is among people between 18 and 29 years – 84%. Among people between 30-49 years, this indicator is at 81%, 73% for 50-64, and 45% for people 65 years old and above.

These numbers, first of all, confirm the first statement from this article – everyone is using social media. And secondly, these findings reveal that SMM is the key channel for marketing to students and young adults. This is something you really need to know, especially if you are running a student-oriented business or blog.

The Bottom Line

Being around for quite a while, social media transformed a lot. Being meant solely to simplify communications, different networks now serve a variety of goals. People use them for entertainment, education, and even business purposes. So there is no wonder why marketing through these channels is thriving now.

SMM has long proven to be one of the primary advertising tools for individuals and companies. It helps gain exposure, build a following base, drive sales, and accomplish many other goals. And it also changes the entire marketing industry.

Now, after reading this article, you know about some of the major changes that happened to the marketing industry thanks to SMM. And we are confident that more changes are yet to come.