The social media revolution has brought with it an unexpected change in the online business world and marketing methods. Almost every serious company has a social media page, a social media manager, and probably a digital marketer too.
To understand the concepts behind the success of social media and how you can take advantage of it, it is essential to go back to the basics of what it really is, how it started, and how it really works.
What is Social Media?
In simple terms, social media refers to the websites and applications that are developed to allow users to share content easily, efficiently, and in real-time. While social media is currently defined as mobile based, it originally started through computer websites such as Facebook site and YouTube.
Social media – a platform to keep connected and socialise
Thanks to social media, anyone in any part of the world can share texts, comments, videos, and photos to somebody else in a totally different part of the world within seconds. Even better, he/she can view other people’s content such as on YouTube, or even make new friends on Facebook or Instagram.
This capability of sharing photos, texts, and videos through social media platforms has dramatically changed how people socialize and conduct business, especially the millennials.
Marketing has completely changed from the good-old tv adverts to more efficient, more targeted, and more engaging social media ads. Expect this trend to continue growing and evolving in the future.
Early Social Media Sites
The majority of people often believe that social media started with the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. However, this is not the case. Social media started way in the 90s thanks to the development of different simple social media tools that shaped up what we currently have.
The earliest social media site was called Six Degrees launched in May of 1996 created by Andrew Weinreich. It featured some of the current social features such as profiles and friend lists among others. While it undoubtedly became famous, it fell as a result of the management shift of focus from audience satisfaction to advertisement optimization.
The other sites that followed were AOL Chat Rooms that introduced the chatting feature in the 1990s; LiveJournal that introduced the blogging platform in 1999; Meetup that debuted in 2002 and continues to operate even today; Friendster that bridged the gap between gaming and social media; and finally, Myspace.
The current social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube debuted in later years after MySpace.
What is Social Media Used For?
Well, the use of social media can be categorized as either for business or personal usage.
When it comes to personal use, social media is used to facilitate sending and receipt of messages; sharing of content such as videos and photos for leisure; for entertainment purposes through the viewing of videos and photos.
Of late, people have started using social media to earn income through influential marketing, YouTube video ads and setting up social media marketing campaigns. These are just but a few of the common uses.
On the business side, social media is used for marketing purposes either through influencers or paid adverts on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Social media is also used for brand promotion through setting up of business social media pages.
Lately, companies have shifted to offering live customer support on their social media pages such as through the Facebook Messenger.
Can I Make Money Through Social Media?
Definitely yes! This rapid global adoption of social media over the past couple of years has created an enormous gap and opportunity for making easy money. Here is how you can earn from social media.
1. Video editing
The demand for video and photo editors is sky-rocketing. As more and more people compete to grow their social media accounts, they have started being forced to post high-quality photos and videos compared to their peers. This is where video editors are coming in.
Just do a quick research on the number of video editing jobs that are being posted on jobs sites such as UpWork and you will be surprised.
So, if you have video editing skills, it is your time to sit and earn. All you need to do is make the effort of popularizing yourself on jobs sites, and people will come looking for you.
2. Influential Marketing
The second opportunity is influencer marketing. In simple terms, influencer marketing works like good-old TV celebrity advertisements. Thanks to social media platforms, people have managed to amass huge followings for their social media accounts which is turning them into little celebrities.
Consequently, businesses have started approaching such social media celebrities to advertise products on their social media channels for a commission.
Imagine getting paid to post a picture or a video on your channel? How better can it get?
And by commission, we are talking of up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
You don’t believe me? Influencers such as Kylie Jenner are getting paid up to a million dollar to post a single ad on their Instagram pages. Check out this article to learn more about influential marketing.
3. Social Media Marketing
This is the most promising skill that is currently available in the market. Thanks to the enormous success of social media advertising, almost every business is looking to market their products on social media. Do they know how to do it? No, they don’t. Well, this is where social media marketers come in.
Setting up successful social media campaigns used to be very easy a few years ago. However, it is getting more and more complicated due to the different algorithms that social media platforms are introducing almost every single day. But, don’t get me wrong. It is hard but not impossible.
All you need to do is to master the skill of creating successful social media campaigns through different training sessions such as YouTube videos, and taking the risk of starting different campaigns. It might be strenuous at first. But once you know how to go about it, you won’t believe the earning opportunities you will have unlocked.
Advantages of Social Media
- Connectivity
This is obviously the first advantage of social media. It has turned the world into a single global village where people can connect and communicate with each other in any part of the world. It has also created space for sharing personal thoughts and commenting on other people’s content.
- Education
Social media has made it easy for people to learn through educative posts, webinars, and live classes for example through Facebook.
- Information and Updates
Getting updates on trending issues is so easy nowadays thanks to social media. All you need to do is visit your Facebook or Twitter page, and you will get all the trending topics within seconds.
- Promotion
Business marketing has become more efficient. Unlike in the past, businesses can now target their customers more efficiently for example through geographical targeting, behaviour, age, gender, and income range.
The other advantages include improved business reputation, the building of communities, creating more awareness, and helping government agencies to fight crimes.
Disadvantages of Social Media
- Cyber Bullying
Social media has created an opportunity for people to bully others through the creation of fake profiles and accounts. Threats, intimidation messages, and fake rumours can easily be sent to other people without the exploiters being traced.
- Hacking
Opening social media accounts require the submission of crucial personal data. Some of this data plus other private information shared on social media platforms is quickly getting in the hands of hackers and shared on the internet without the consent of the owners.
- Addiction
Social media is addictive and is having detrimental effects on some of its users. Excessive engagement with social media, especially by teenagers is leading to them finding it challenging to integrate with society.
Other disadvantages include reputation risk, cheating and relationship issues, and other health issues.
Final Words
Social media is here to stay. At least for the near future. If you are still reluctant to join the social media wave due to the fear of future collapse, you need to start immediately. I assure you-you will have earned a high return before that happens.
According to the, We are social report, 46% of the world population are currently using social media. This trend is expected to grow in the coming years. The platforms themselves may change; however, if you manage to keep up with the changes, be assured you will reap greatly from it.