#5 Most Important Facts About Social Media One Needs to Understand "We don't have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it." – Erik Qualman

Social media can be easy as posting, tweeting, liking and sharing but for those, who have their hands in the business and the internet marketing, social media is much vast and highly difficult to win over. There is much that goes beyond posting and sharing and these are better known as social media marketing strategies.

Before we start discussing the topic, one thing we would like to say is though social media networks are greatly used for the business promotions and conversions but these networks should not only be treated as "promotional tools". Instead, you need to keep in mind the meaning of "social" while using these networks for the promotion of your business. In simple, the social media marketing strategies should be implemented while focusing on the network you are using, rather than just focusing on your business promotion and sales.

"We don't have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it." – Erik Qualman

However, using social media platforms for your business or blog can be overwhelming even if you have a great experience because there is a lot to learn and implement. Here we are mentioning some social media facts that you must know if you are engaged in social media marketing or are interested in increasing your knowledge about it.

Social media marketing is a long-term strategy

The world of social media marketing has evolved much; the things that were easy to implement on the social media, now take much time and efforts because of the heightened competition. So, the first thing that you should know and believe is social media marketing is going to be a long-term strategy. So, you should not expect the changes to happen overnight; instead, you should focus on your efforts so that the time can be reduced.
If you are running a small business then it may be daunting for you to invest efforts and time into something that does not promise immediate results. But, you need to do so if you want an effective online presence for your business.

Success is driven by engagement

Engagement through the social media is the key to success. More you engage with your audience, more you will get. You must agree that everyone likes to the recognized, noticed and being special. So, when you will engage with your audience, they will feel special and a connection will be created between you. Such audience can do a lot to expand your reach. However, there is nothing special you need to do for improving your engagement with the audience. Read their posts, like them, share them and comment on them for enhancing your engagement. It will give them a chance to view your profile and share it with others.

"Engage and encourage your audience.....Social media is a community effort, everyone is an important asset"- Gurpreet Walia, CEO of Suffescom Solutions.

Social media profiles are listed in the search results

Though many of you will be aware of this fact but we would like to remind you that social media profiles are considered in the ranking. When you search a brand name on the Google, then its Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn profiles are shown in the first page results. What we want to tell you is create your social media profiles carefully and show your best on them. Along with that, keep these profiles up-to-date even if you don't use them on the regular basis. Create these profiles while keeping in mind that they are going to represent your brand.

Visual content is the king on social media

When you will ask people that whether they would like to watch a video or read an article then about 90% of them will choose the former option. Even you can ask the question from yourself and we are sure, you would choose the video. Videos not only convey your message in an effective way but also consume less time. So, focus on creating videos rather than creating long blogs and articles. Don't hesitate to spend on professional video production as the quality of the video will impact your brand's image.

You must stop doing these things

- Don't compare your stats with others.
- Don't post because you have to post; focus on the quality of the content.
- Social media has much to offer, so try not to get distracted. While using any social media network go directly to the task you have to perform; there is a multitude of news feeds to distract you but don't get lost.
- Stay away from direct promotion.

Succinctly, the social media is about sharing ideas, building relationships and creating your own identity. If you are using it for the SEO and marketing then you would need to keep these things in mind while creating and implementing your strategies.