Social media marketing (SMM) is a form of internet marketing that uses social media apps as a marketing tool.

These social media platforms enable brands to connect with their audience to:

• build a brand;
• increase sales;
• drive traffic to a website; and
• build a community of followers to share and engage with content.

Producing relevant content that users will share with their own networks helps brands increase their exposure. It also extends their reach toward fans, potential customers and even potential employees when used as a recruitment tool.

Social media marketing also enables organizations to get customer feedback while making the company seem more personable. Social media enables organizations to create relationships with their audience. It gives end users a platform to ask questions, voice complaints and generally be heard. It also gives brands the opportunity to respond, adapt and adjust business processes or products.

Some popular social media apps include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram Each platform has elements that makes it attractive to use. And when a company uses several in combination to deliver a multichannel message, consumers can see those messages on their preferred channels.