What Is SMM Promotion on Social Media – How to Effectively Grow an Account, Who Should Use It, and What Results to Expect

Just a few years ago, social media was used purely for entertainment. Promoting a business through social platforms seemed like a passing trend, a gimmick of modern fashion—no one took the idea seriously. However, today, the landscape has changed dramatically. Promoting a business on social media has become essential; without it, running a company, finding clients, and increasing brand awareness are nearly impossible.

According to recent studies, in 2020 alone, the number of new social media users grew by nearly 4 million people. Currently, this accounts for approximately 51% of the world’s total population. Given this massive potential customer base, promoting a business on social media is no longer a foolish idea but rather a highly effective and profitable strategy.

The only downside is that almost everyone is now trying to promote their accounts, but only a few know how to do it effectively. This leads to widespread myths about SMM being ineffective, wasted budgets, and disappointment.

Today, we’ll take a closer look at how SMM actually works and how to use it to expand your customer base and increase profits.

If you want to connect with your audience and build closer, more trusting relationships, SMM is the best way to do it. The right strategy and a “neutral” platform are two key components that can give your business a new boost in growth.

Why is SMM beneficial for businesses?

• Helps generate active traffic from loyal customers. Proper SMM promotion, combined with a well-structured and content-rich website, allows businesses to build a steady stream of loyal customers. By consistently creating high-quality content and presenting products that genuinely interest people, potential clients will eventually turn into active buyers.

  Even if the traffic volume is small, it’s crucial to focus on behavioral factors. A well-planned strategy ensures a high engagement rate—only email marketing achieves better results. You can attract attention not only to your social media account but also drive traffic to a YouTube channel or your company website.

• Provides direct customer feedback. Many people prefer shopping through social media because they can read user reviews, check comments, view product photos, and ask brand owners questions directly.

  By actively managing your account, you can promptly address criticism, respond to customer suggestions, and resolve any dissatisfaction—turning negative feedback into positive experiences. At the same time, you can express gratitude for positive comments. People appreciate personalized attention, which further elevates your brand’s reputation in their eyes.

 

• Increases brand awareness and recognition across various social, and sometimes even political, circles. While viral ads and short 10-second clips may annoy some users, they are an excellent tool within SMM promotion.

  Such content is highly memorable for social media users and often resurfaces in their minds when needed. A bright image with a funny or engaging slogan is far more likely to stick in someone’s memory than a lengthy promotional text.

  According to some studies, out of five successful companies that all provide high-quality services, people are more likely to choose the one that actively maintains a social media presence. In urgent situations requiring quick decision-making, visual and auditory memory plays a significant role, quickly retrieving previously seen images from social networks.

• Builds brand reputation and positions the founder/leader as an expert. To truly engage users, you need to provide them with valuable and useful information. Your posts or videos should contain something that makes people stop scrolling and pay attention instead of just moving past your content.

  Only an expert can provide credible and valuable information, which is why people tend to trust companies and brands that showcase their expertise. When faced with a problem, a person is more likely to choose a company from which they previously read a useful article or watched an informative video and were satisfied with its quality and depth.

  
  
  

If a company has never promoted its product before, it’s essential to consider which platform is best for starting. For example, if the business is small and the product range is limited, a simple account on one social media platform may be enough in the beginning.

If the company has been around for a long time, has a large product assortment, and an established customer base, it’s worth considering creating a dedicated website and using it as the main promotion platform. This not only helps with marketing but also strengthens the company’s status and reputation in the eyes of customers.

At the same time, both methods can be combined. There’s no need to limit yourself to either a website or social media—if your resources allow, you can work on both fronts simultaneously. When combining two platforms, one will usually serve as the main or final destination (typically the website), while the other will act as a lead-generation tool through advertising, traffic optimization, collaborations with other platforms, and more.

If you decide to focus on social media, this approach can also be highly effective and, in many cases, more budget-friendly compared to creating a dedicated website. With a deep understanding of promotion strategies, you can successfully manage your profile on your own and achieve great results without collaborating with SMM specialists.

Advantages of SMM in Social Media:

 

• High level of trust and loyal users.
• Fast audience growth.
• Possible to create a strong account with minimal knowledge.
• Low budget requirements.

Disadvantages:

• More offers than demand, leading to high competition.
• Difficult to avoid generic content.
• No cross-platform interaction—customer traffic remains within the chosen social network.
• Analytics limitations—tracking performance metrics in social media is much less effective compared to a website.

To start leveraging SMM, you can either hire an SMM specialist for remote or in-house work or manage your account independently after mastering the necessary skills. The key is to fully understand the intricacies of this field.

Imagine this—you own a store that sells clothing and toys for children. You actively promote it through organic search and paid advertising. Yes, these methods bring in new customers and generate revenue. However, over time, the flow of customers may decrease. Where can you find new ones? The answer is, of course, social media.

Step-by-Step Plan for Successful SMM Management:

• Define the current promotion goal.
• Analyze the niche and competitors.
• Choose the right social media platform.
• Set up and optimize your account/page.
• Create engaging content.
• Launch advertising campaigns.
• Analyze performance and measure effectiveness.

Promotion Goals

First, you need to determine what results you expect from social media promotion. Your goal should be specific, achievable, time-bound, and measurable. Vague objectives like «increase the number of followers» or «make more money» are too broad and lack clear, concrete value.

An example of a well-defined goal: «Increase profit by 20% within a year through customers acquired via social media.» Profit, however, is not the only possible goal. Promotion efforts can also be aimed at improving brand reputation, strengthening customer trust, or increasing awareness of a newly launched business.

Market Analysis

Once you’ve set your goals, it’s crucial to assess the current state of your industry. Today, the number of offers often exceeds demand, meaning that in almost any field, you’ll encounter a high level of competition. Therefore, it’s essential to thoroughly analyze what competitors are offering, the strategies they use, and how they position themselves in the market.

Choosing the Right Social Media Platform

The most popular social media platforms for promotion today are Telegram, VK, and YouTube. In addition, TikTok is rapidly gaining popularity. Less commonly used platforms include Instagram, Facebook, Odnoklassniki, and Pinterest.

Each platform has its own requirements and algorithms, which you should familiarize yourself with before starting. A key piece of advice: do not attempt to promote your business on multiple social networks at the same time. Focus on building your SMM strategy in one network first. If you still have time and resources after that, then move on to the next platform. Otherwise, you risk spreading yourself too thin and achieving little to no success in any of them.

To make the best possible choice, start by creating a profile of your company.

It’s simple—just answer a few key questions:

1. What do you offer—what products or services do you provide?
2. Is the sale and promotion of your products allowed on the social network? Are there any restrictions?
3. Can you present your product in a unique and appealing way?
4. What is the cost of your services?
5. Will customers return to you in the future, or are your products/services one-time purchases?

According to statistics, businesses such as restaurants, cafes, hotels, bakeries, and flower shops focus on creating visually appealing social media pages—this works best for Instagram users. For promoting financial, medical, or educational services, Facebook is generally a better choice.

Platform selection also depends on age demographics. Typically, Instagram is the preferred shopping platform for women aged 20 to 35. Facebook attracts an older, more affluent audience with higher social status. Odnoklassniki is popular among users aged 35+ with stable incomes, while students and teenagers tend to favor VK.

Pay attention to where your competitors are promoting their businesses. Look at groups and accounts related to your niche on each social media platform. It’s crucial to analyze active communities with high user engagement. The number of such groups can give you a clear indication of which platform resonates best with your industry.

You can also identify competitors through popular search engines—visit their websites and check which social networks they are actively using.

An important note: platforms that your competitors have overlooked may still have a segment of potential customers interested in your services, offering an opportunity to tap into an underserved market and generate additional profit.

Creating a Community

Once you’ve chosen a social media platform, focus on setting up your account. Configure it as a business page—this will allow you to track activity, share links, and create interactive buttons. Don’t forget to maintain a «Highlights» section.

Content

After setting up your page, it’s time to fill it with valuable and visually appealing content to attract potential customers. Your account should have several posts ready before launch—ideally, around 20 to start with. These can include images, videos, product photos, text posts with useful tips, or interesting facts.

Learn how to take high-quality photos and edit them to create an attractive visual aesthetic. If photography isn’t your strong suit, you can find high-quality images on stock photo websites—many of which offer free resources.

When writing captions and text posts, follow key strategies to stay in «Trending» sections. Use relevant hashtags and implement some of your competitors’ most effective techniques. Don’t forget to post «Stories»—they are just as effective as the main feed. Additionally, short-form video content, such as «Reels,» is currently trending and highly engaging.

Launching Ads

Once your profile is fully set up, it’s time to launch your ads. However, this should be done strategically:

• Identify your target audience.
• Write compelling ad copy and catchy slogans.
• Create eye-catching banners and set up an ad manager account for configuring and tracking ad performance.

While your ads are running, you can simultaneously adjust your content based on audience engagement and activity metrics under specific posts.

Analysis

It seems that all the key steps have been successfully completed. Now, the final task is to monitor the effectiveness of everything that has been implemented. You need to track how your target audience responds to the content you provide and the overall design of your profile. Keep an eye on whether your photos, story formats, and overall style need updates or adjustments.

Depending on the chosen social media platform, some steps may vary, but the overall process remains similar.

Yes, but it’s not an easy task. You will need to put in a lot of effort and invest significant time to fully understand the intricacies of SMM. This includes learning the specifics of social media algorithms, understanding key performance metrics, setting up targeted ads, analyzing reach, and much more.

If you don’t have the time or desire to handle SMM yourself and have sufficient financial resources, you can hire an SMM specialist. They can either fully manage your profile or take on specific tasks while you handle the rest yourself.

Keep in mind that, regardless of your approach, you won’t be completely detached from account management. Even if you hire an SMM specialist, you will still need to provide company information, competitor data, photos, and other promotional materials. The specialist will handle the technical aspects, but you’ll still play a role in the overall process.

Social media promotion is most effective for businesses that are relevant to social media audiences. For example, clothing stores, cosmetics brands, and toy shops can greatly benefit from it. However, industries like cement production, steel piles, or power transmission poles may not see the same level of success.

Some product categories naturally have high demand on social media, and with the right strategy and execution, promotion can be very effective. But few people search for concrete on Instagram. That said, social media can still be used to enhance a factory’s reputation and boost customer loyalty.

Even if a business decides to launch ads on social media, it will have some impact—though it may be minimal depending on the industry.

The effectiveness of promotion largely depends on the nature of the business, its industry, and the age group of potential customers. When investing in SMM, it is important to realistically assess the potential opportunities and risks.

There is a common misconception that SMM is easy and delivers quick results. In reality, this is not entirely true. It is a long-term process, especially during the preparation stage. Effective promotion requires a well-thought-out strategy, a structured approach, and an understanding of the specific social media platform and its algorithms.

The process is particularly time-consuming when starting from scratch—when an account is created, filled with content, and only then promoted through advertising.

One of the biggest challenges is engagement. At the initial stage, the expectations of the business owner and the interests of potential customers may not always align. The first posts and stories may receive little response. Over time, however, it becomes easier to analyze what the audience wants to see, what content resonates, and how to adjust the approach accordingly. Sometimes, it takes significant time and effort to find the right direction for successful growth.

Another key aspect of SMM is engaging with different types of customers. In many cases, users don’t initially need your product or service. The goal of SMM is to capture their interest and gradually lead them toward making a purchase. Essentially, SMM deals with «cold» traffic.

Even if a user is ready to place an order and likes the product, something may still prevent them from completing the purchase during the checkout process.

On average, it takes several months to see the first meaningful results from SMM. This often discourages business owners, especially those running small shops with limited budgets.