Before we begin, I think it’s important to point out that not every social platform is right for everybody. A lot of the time companies - like individuals - will drift toward their preferred platform. Which basically means the platform they like using the most, which more often than not is Facebook.
Here we will go through the five platforms that I think are most relevant for small - medium businesses to use today. All social platforms now provide detailed analytics for marketers to utilise and fine-tune their efforts. When presenting yourselves on Social Media, don’t just post about yourself and your products. Be more broad and open-minded as to what you post. Share useful articles and blogs, like others posts and share interesting articles.
First, let’s discuss the most popular platform, Facebook. Facebook is great for business - and for those of you who think it’s just for connecting with your friends, and you should save it for socialising. You’ll be missing out on so many possibilities if you keep it for social networking. All your friends are on Facebook, and friends of friends, in fact, there are 2.2 billion monthly active users on the site, and that number is always rising! There will be people on there that you can market too!
If you fail to use Facebook to market to your customers, you’re missing out on a huge audience. With 25 million small business already with profile pages and 1.23 billion monthly users, it’s a great opportunity for a company to make online sales, get a following around the brand. You can also create a platform where customers can discuss the products and, when done successfully, let people spread the word about your qualities.
The second social platform that I think is an absolute must for businesses is LinkedIn. Using LinkedIn for business is all about the network you build and the connections you make. You may have heard that LinkedIn has 546 million users, 40 percent of whom check the platform every day.
Think, for example, about vendors, the people you work with, and the people you meet at events. With LinkedIn’s advanced search capabilities, it’s not only about who you know; it’s about who they know. You can leverage existing relationships to build new ones and grow your network.
That’s the real power of LinkedIn for business: the ability to tap into existing connections and grow your brand through word-of-mouth. Rather than simply racking up followers and connections, think about how you can work those relationships to uncover new opportunities to grow your business.
Twitter is different from the first two platforms - learning to communicate with your target audience, albeit in 280 characters, can be useful when working with your customers. It drives the third most referral traffic of any social network. That means if your goal is to get eyes on your site, Twitter is the place to be.
Hashtags are a great way to make the content you share on the platform visible to users beyond your own followers. There are many highly popular hashtags that generally all active Twitter users are familiar with, like #FollowFriday, which encourages your followers to reach out to other users you admire or work with.
You can also create your own hashtags to draw brand, or to events you may be throwing, though it comes with the possibility it may not catch on. Many brands latch on to already trending topics to contribute to the conversation or sell their product.
Google+
This platform isn’t used as frequently as the ones we’ve just talked about, but definitely worth your time! It’s a product created by Google for networking and sharing updates, just like other platforms, but if you don’t use it, you are missing out on huge SEO advantages.
Google Plus pages are managed through Google My Business - which is the platform linked to Google Maps and enables your company to be found more easily in searches. Using this platform will give you a better chance of being on the first page of Google, which as we all know is a major part of marketing. Websites that appear on the first page of Google get 54.8 percent of all clicks from users.
Instagram is all about the visuals, and it allows you to build a cohesive and recognisable brand identity. The platform has over 800 million monthly active users, less competition and a more engaged audience than other social media sites we’ve talked about.
Customers have a natural curiosity about where their products come from, and you can use Instagram to show them their whole lifecycle. Instagram also has ‘stories’ now which is a new feature. It’s a huge trend right now which will help you grow engagement, drive traffic and more!
Final Thoughts
Social Media is an important part of businesses today. Using a range of platforms will help you engage with your target audience in a more personal way. All the platforms provide detailed analytic data for you to use and tweak your marketing posts. See the engagement of every single page you post. It’s never been easier to see which posts are performing the best.
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