Social network marketing is a form of digital marketing that leverages the power of social media platforms to promote a product or service, build brand awareness, increase sales, and drive website traffic. It involves creating content for social media platforms, engaging with customers, and analyzing data to make data-driven decisions. Social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers, and most social media platforms have built-in data analytics tools that enable companies to track the progress, success, and engagement of ad campaigns.

Social networking websites are based on building virtual communities that allow consumers to express their needs, wants, and values online. Social media marketing then connects these consumers and audiences to businesses that share the same needs, wants, and values. Through social networking sites, companies can keep in touch with individual followers, which can instill a feeling of loyalty into followers and potential customers. Social media marketing is often more cost-effective with great exposure, though it requires ongoing maintenance and might have unintended negative feedback consequences.

Effective social media marketing requires a deep understanding of the various platforms, as well as the ability to create engaging content, analyze data, and make data-driven decisions. Each platform is often specialized and requires its understanding. In addition, social media platforms are constantly changing their algorithms and policies, which can make it difficult to predict and maintain success.

Social media marketing involves the use of social networks, consumers online brand-related activities (COBRA), and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) to successfully advertise online. Social media marketing also includes paid social media advertising, where businesses can pay to have their brand appear in front of large volumes of highly targeted users.