Using social media for business
In business, the use of social media to market your product or service can be useful as it is a cheap and effective tool. In fact, in America over 70 percent of citizens have a presence on social media so if you as a business use it you can reach a lot more people. Social media allows for a business to target a certain group or type of person as well as its reach and cost of other marketing tools. All day, everyday people are using social media, so it makes sense to go where the people are and where a large amount of your target audience is present at one place and time. However, not every social media platform will fit your business’s needs so you need to make sure you invest your time and skills into the platforms that will be most beneficial to you and allow you to reach and engage your target audience. To learn what social media platform will be most beneficial to you look below:
Facebook is still the most popular social media network so that means that you should definitely have a Facebook page as when using Facebook, you will be able to reach millions of people per day so when used correctly Facebook can be a powerful marketing tool. You can use Facebook to share everything from photos to important company updates. With a business account, you have access to advertising tools and in-depth analytics. Business pages also have a lot of customisation and you can highlight certain information such as contact information, hours of operation, the products and services that are being offered. Furthermore, Facebook was also one of the first social media platforms to emerge or one of the first to gain the popularity that it did in such a short amount of time so it does have a wide age range of users which can be good as older people are seen to not use social media as much but Facebook provides that opportunity.
Instagram is becoming more and more popular and doing it fast. When using Instagram there is no shortage of tools to promote your services and product form Instagram Live to Instagram stories. Instagram is a completely visual based platform with the users being restricted to only being able to post photos or videos. It’s important to know that that the platform is almost entirely mobile-based as you can’t take photos or create new posts on the desktop version of the platform, although some social media management tools like Hootsuite and Buffer do allow for direct Instagram scheduling on desktop. More artistic niches tend to excel on Instagram, which means it may not be a great fit for your business but that depends on your industry. The person running your Instagram page should have a good eye for detail and good photography skills, so the photos/videos posted are high quality as artistic and colourful photos tend to do better as they are good to look at.
Twitter is great for posting short updates and sharing links to blog posts, it isn’t for every business. On Twitter, you can share short tweets, videos, images, links, polls and more. It’s also really easy to interact with users on this platform by monitoring users in your post and with the liking and retweeting tweets. If you’re a highly visual business or don’t have a blog, you may want to skip this platform. Many companies do excel on Twitter, usually a business with a unique, on-brand voice and that have some personality as they don’t have a lot of room to market, so they have to efficient and engaging. Other companies use this platform to handle customer services because customers who are also active on the platform will seek out companies to express concerns or share praise. If you have interesting content Twitter is a useful and quick way to spread the word. Twitter uses hashtags to help boost posts, and if a user with a lot of followers retweets you, your content could go viral. But with Twitter, it’s important to find balance.
Pinterest is a visually oriented platform that allows users to save and display content by pinning digital bulletin boards, which can be organized by category. The platform also has a series of special types of pins called Rich Pins, which brands can use to add specific information to their pins, like product details and even location maps. Every pin includes an image or video.
Snapchat
Snapchat is another mobile-only social media platform that has made its name for its unique message system that deletes the message after the person has received to never be seen again unless it is manually saved by a person in the chat otherwise they expire and are gone after 24 hours. The app has expanded since initial release to include chat, image storing, events and media content. Now, content can easily be saved and uploaded elsewhere. Because posts are temporary, there is less pressure to create super-polished content. You can also see how many and which specific users viewed your story. A small business will most likely utilize the platform’s Stories feature, but keep in mind that only users who have added you can view your Stories content. However, once you have an audience, Stories allows you to easily create story-driven and interactive content.
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing platform mostly where you can view, upload, rate, share and comment on content. Now owned by technology giant Google YouTube is a hub for news and entertainment and used by everyone worldwide. Many businesses active on YouTube have a creative, visual or educational component to appeal to the audience. The platform is heavily driven by creativity, so it’s important to have an experienced video editor producing the content so it looks professional and high in quality. You don’t need a channel to create and market on the platform, there’s a subculture of YouTube influencers who publish frequent videos and often maintain large audiences. Often, businesses partner with YouTube for product placement, because these users have engaged audiences.
LinkedIn might not be the most popular social media platform; it still has 260 million monthly users and is still the best platform available for professional networking. LinkedIn is a great platform for searching for talent and is great for a business to promote themselves. LinkedIn is seen as a professional social media platform compared to other platforms. Users create profiles that are similar to resumes, and companies can create pages that showcase their business. You can join an industry expert and bring people to your company’s page and website.
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