As new social media platforms rise and fall in popularity, it can be difficult for new or even existing business to know where they should spend their efforts, and which ones are just passing fads or not appropriate for your business model.
With unprecedented growth in all forms, social media has become a well-established marketing tool for both companies and individuals to cement their foothold, reach out to new markets and strengthen their online presence.
Let’s look at the most popular social networks and how they can benefit you, and which ones are maybe better for other types of business.
1) Facebook – The largest and most well-known social network, with over 4.5 billion likes every day it is probably the only non-negotiable social network for any business, in the case on younger audiences it can even be more important than a website.
A Facebook page provides your business with legitimacy,provides your brand with daily engagement, meaning you stay in your customer’s field of vision. Real-time ads are also valuable for all companies that have specials deals or need to promote events, there is no delay which means you can quickly get your message out.
Facebook is also the most business friendly, if not always straightforward, platform. The company pages mean you can separate your business life and personal life and easy include other administrators if your business is a multi-person enterprise.
2) Twitter – the best way to communicate updates or promote events in 140 characters or less. Twitter sees around 500 million tweets a day and is perfect for event or promotion oriented companies where the use of #hashtags can easily bring people together and make for richer consumer experiences. Twitter is also great for companies that need to provide support or provide regular updates to their customers such as app developers who might need to react to customer questions about troubleshooting issues or need to be made aware of downtimes.
3) Instagram – Possibly the best social media platform for businesses that have visually appealing products or processes. Similar to twitter its use of hashtags also makes it good for lifestyle or event oriented business. Instagram shares 95% of the same user base as Facebook so you can get most of the same audience as that platform however the usability factor makes it much easier as it requires less text and is much more shoot and go. Some of the same benefits can be gained from using Pinterest, however, it’s more difficult to stand out as businesses on that network.
4) LinkedIn – an expanding business network website, it’s best used for getting leads from other businesses rather than individuals, it’s great for designers, illustrators, video production companies or other creatives who can benefit from having business with large corporations. Think of LinkedIn as your businesses resume, so it’s important to keep up to date but is not great for individual interaction and worse for any kind of advertising.
5) Youtube – Youtube is the second largest search engine behind google and your website should not be left out. As video marketing grows, youtube gives process based or niche business a unique opportunity to engage and educate and audience about their products or services. One of the most popular searches on Youtube is education based such as “how do I clean a fountain pen” if you are a stationery seller then a video showing this and examining useful cleaning products that can be purchased in your store.
6) Others – the majority of consumers will be on one or more of the platforms listed above, certain niches can find validity on other platforms such as Snapchat (good for those who already make videos, for example, educational platforms), Ryze a good place for start-up and entrepreneurs to discuss with others or create new business, Reddit which focuses on discussions based on merit great for counting substantial discussions or marketing research. Use of supplemental social networks is encouraged if your customer base is there, otherwise your better off hitting the big names and getting a wider distribution of your content.
Above all remember that whichever social networks you choose to engage all of them will help you SEO by increasing your internet presence, however in terms of social media it’s better to have no account then an unused one. Nothing is more off-putting to younger audiences than a social media account that hasn’t been updated in 6 years, it gives the impression your business is perhaps closed or simply lazy.
