Social media – it’s how we communicate now, with friends, family, coworkers, and most importantly: customers. Since 2005, social media use by adults has skyrocketed, reaching 69 percent in 2018. Today, this usage spans across more than just well-known Facebook. Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, Pinterest, and tumblr among other sites and apps leave many businesses at a cyber existential crisis, wondering “Where do we belong?” The answer is different for every single business. Some businesses belong everywhere from Groups on Facebook to individual pages on Instagram. If a company has the resources to successfully manage a social presence on all sites, go forth and prosper! If you build it, they will come. But for many companies, particularly small businesses, a hefty marketing budget and resources isn’t available. This means choosing and investing energy into a platform that specifically works toward your business goals.
Here's a breakdown of some of the major social media sites:
Facebook: Facebook is a place where everyone gathers, from high schoolers to grandparents. With such a wide range of users, Facebook is a great place to start for any business, regardless of industry. Facebook allows you to share photos, videos, company information, and more. It also allows you to engage with your audience through polls, allowing you to gather vital customer information…for free. Facebook is an ideal starting point, especially if resources are scarce. Posts have a longer shelf life on your business page and give millions of users access to your information.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a professional networking site. If you’re looking to position yourself as an industry leader, this is where you need to be. This site is more professionally based than other networks, meaning content generally has more of a business-focused tone. LinkedIn is where people come to learn about your business, not necessarily interact with it. If your company is focused more on services than goods, this could be an ideal place to help find new customers, establish your industry presence, or even acquire new talent.
Instagram: Instagram is an entirely mobile way for you to connect with your customers. Simply take a photo with your phone, add a preset filter, and upload the image to your Instagram feed. But what if you struggle with lack of an artistic eye? Some industries, no matter how many filters you use, aren’t going to fit the aesthetic and = feel of Instagram. Think about your audience, your product, and your service before moving forward with this account. Ensuring you have the right content that will speak to the audience you want to reach is key. If you’re questioning what exactly you’d post on your account or how you’d get images, hold off and focus on a platform like Facebook or Twitter first.
Snapchat: Snapchat is another entirely mobile platform. The videos shared on Snapchat disappears, meaning content does not have to be as polished as Instagram. This is a great way to let customers see behind the scenes, especially if your company is involved in pop-ups or other events. Similar to Instagram, you still want to ensure you have the type of material that will reach your target audience...if you’re posting videos and no one is watching, there isn’t much of a point, is there?
Pinterest: Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board which allows users to save and display ideas, recipes, outfits, and the like. Companies involved in retail, fashion, fitness, and the food and beverage industry will thrive in this environment, so long as posts remain easily searchable and aesthetically pleasing. The last thing you want is to have your posts lost in the DIY crowd. Pinterest is quickly growing to be one of the strongest social platforms for social shopping and retail, with more people likely to shop on Pinterest because of the guidance through the shopping journey.
YouTube: YouTube is rapidly growing due to the new fascination of DIY videos. Video is a user-friendly way for people to learn new skills, catch up on news, gain insights from influencers, or simply watch a video to brighten their day. While you do not need to post often, highly polished content is important, meaning this channel will take more time to monitor. The good news is, if done correctly, videos can have a very long shelf life and are the reign supreme as content type…at least for now.
Twitter: Twitter is the place for interactions, so long as you can keep those interactions to 280 characters or less. Twitter takes the most time to manage as posts are eliminated from feeds almost as quickly as they are posted. If you have the resources to post often, Twitter is a great marketing tool – it allows you to join conversations and build relationships, sometimes in real time, with users across the globe. Journalists, celebrities, and large-scale companies find Twitter to be an extremely useful platform. As an everyday business-owner, gauge whether you have the resources to manage the potential interactions, your customer service can suffer.
When deciding which social platform you want to sink your time into, remember that it’s not the number of profiles you have, but the way you manage the ones you do that matters.
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