Do you know what the most important thing in SMM is? The most important thing is what the last letter of the abbreviation SMM stands for: Media. Successful social media marketing starts with a deep understanding of the media content you share.

If you use only pictures, texts, promo posts, and targeted advertising without understanding basic marketing principles, it will lead to wasted budget. In other words, there will be no result if you do not monitor conversions, maintain communication with the director, and keep track of leads and applications. The engagement index becomes irrelevant if there are no requests and sales.

What Should an SMM Specialist Know About a Product?

First, pay attention to the product or service you plan to promote and whether its price corresponds to its value. Many believe this isn't the SMM specialist's concern, but it is crucial. When our agency takes on a project, we always assess its potential for success by examining these two factors. If the product's value is high and the price is too low, potential buyers might think, "This is suspiciously cheap; something must be wrong." This often happens when you present yourself nobly and powerfully with beautiful visuals but are hesitant about the price tag. Conversely, if the price is too high or average and the product's value isn't communicated well, people won't understand why they're being asked to pay so much. In both cases, any SMM efforts are futile (and not just SMM); you need to work on increasing value, refining your unique selling proposition, positioning, and employing creative promotion ideas.

Let's discuss competitors. Analyze their strategies, observe how they manage their social media. Besides the product or service, study their content plan and various digital metrics. It's important to differentiate yourself from competitors not only in terms of cost but also in service, perhaps by offering unique features.

Don't forget to offer variations for different needs. Provide options for your products or services for people who need either a more advanced or a simpler version.

Timeliness of the offer is another crucial parameter. Promoting an event two weeks before it starts is ineffective if it's a paid event. A free event can be announced 1.5 weeks in advance, but a large paid conference should be promoted at least 3 months ahead.

The same applies to all sales. A person goes through a certain decision-making process before making a purchase. This process should be understood not only by the director or seller but also by the SMM specialist, as it directly affects the content strategy. For instance, if a client is comparing you with competitors and is unsure, you need to highlight the key differences of your product, entice them with various selections and honest advice. For loyal customers, develop a loyalty system, perhaps incorporating it into a referral sales program.

If you're entering the market for the first time, analyzing demand is essential. A useful tool for this is WordStat, primarily used by contextual advertisers to find out the following: which keywords are searched for a certain product category, how often competitors are searched for, what questions are asked, etc. WordStat also helps determine the seasonality of key queries and understand how demand dynamics change depending on the month or season. By the way, WordStat is also beneficial for content planning: by entering targeted queries, you can identify what else, besides price and service, your potential buyers are interested in. You can also discover unusual situations buyers find themselves in and typical questions they ask. It's helpful to note all this and include it in your content plan as useful tips, answers to questions, and other headings.