Any marketer should know how important social media is for growing your business in 2019. It can be a powerful influencer that should be a standard feature in a Digital Marketing toolbox.
If you are already using social media for your business, you might be in a great position to leverage its scope and reach in order to capitalize on opportunities available on the Internet. If not – it’s never too late to start in 2019.
There is no question about it. If you want your business to grow, you should be in social media.
With so many social media platforms on the Internet, the more appropriate question would be – which ones should you use for your business in 2019?
How To Choose The Right Social Media Platforms For Your Business
You may come across some entrepreneurs who will tell you that social media marketing isn’t as effective as people – and the marketing websites – make it out to be.
“Overrated”
“It takes too much of my time.”
“I don’t have any results to show for my efforts.”
Social media marketing is not the veritable “lightning in the bottle”. It is no magic potion that can cure whatever ails your business. As popular and effective as social media marketing is, there are no guarantees.
You have to put in the time, thought, strategy, and effort to make social media marketing deliver results for your business. It all starts with knowing which social media platforms will help you achieve your marketing objectives.
Choosing the right social media platform for your business is a process in itself. You cannot simply write down the name of the platform on a piece of paper, throw them inside a hat, give a quick shuffle, and blindly pick out the social media solution for your business.
Before selecting your social media platform, ask yourself these 3 questions:
1. What Kind of Business am I Running?
In any given industry, the business model of an entrepreneur will be markedly different from another entrepreneur.
- Are you B2B?
- Are you B2C?
- Do you cater to both B2B and B2C?
- Are you selling tangible products?
- Are you offering services?
The kind of business you are running will have an influence on your choice of social media platform.
For example, if you are running a B2B enterprise, LinkedIn is a good social media platform to use for targeting potential clients, expanding your business contacts, or enhancing your reputation as an expert in the industry.
LinkedIn also has its own blogging platform. Create your own content and share your knowledge with the community. It is a great way to highlight your expertise in the industry and an opportunity to build your business’ brand.
For a B2C enterprise, Facebook would be ideal for you because the platform encourages customer interaction. People on Facebook are regularly searching for recommendations, product reviews, and high-value opportunities.
If your products are highly visual, such as fashion apparel or food, you should include Instagram among your choice of platform.
2. What Is the Profile of My Audience?
One of the most common mistakes people make in social media is to post without rhyme or reason. Sure, posting content will help you stay visible. But are your posts relevant enough to keep you top-of-mind?
If your posts do not resonate with your audience, they will largely be ignored. Over time, your audience may simply view your posts as a “nuisance” and you may end up losing followers.
When posting content, the number 1 rule is to post for your audience, not for yourself. Get an idea of who your audience is:
- What types of content do they like?
- What are their interests?
- What are their needs and concerns?
- Do they prefer long posts or short posts?
- What is their average income?
- What are the demographics?
Having an audience profile is valuable when putting out PPC ads. You want to be sure that your ads will appear in front of people who will find value in them.
For example, if you are a realtor for high-end properties, your ads should find their way to people who have families, a stable job that pays well and are looking to invest in property.
3. What Is My Marketing Goal?
Businesses have different marketing goals. Some may want to use social media to generate leads. Some may want to build up their number of followers. Other businesses may want to use social media to share their expertise and in so doing, build up their brand.
Social media platforms are communities on to themselves. They attract specific types of users. These platforms can be used to meet different marketing goals but there are platforms that may be better suited than others.
For example, LinkedIn may be a better lead generator for B2B accounts than Facebook although Facebook would be more effective for B2C.
Can you have multiple marketing goals? Yes, but it would be better to focus on just one goal then break the rest into smaller goals. This way you will be able to maximize each social media platform that you will use.
The Best Social Media Platforms That You Should Consider For Your Business in 2019
The most effective way to find out the best social media platforms that you should have for your business is to get a social media audit. If you are interested, feel free to give us a call or send an email. We can arrange a free 30-minute consultation on how to go about your social media marketing strategy.
For the time being, we have created a list of the best social media platforms you can consider for your business in 2019.
1. Facebook
With more than 2 billion monthly active users, 65 million business pages, and 6 million advertisers, Facebook is the biggest social media platform on the Internet. If you want to build a massive social presence on the Internet – and who doesn’t – you should put up a Facebook page for your business.
As we mentioned earlier, Facebook is great for B2C clients but may also have value for those targeting B2B clients. This is because Facebook encourages close customer interaction. People love to post comments which opens the door for engagement.
Facebook also has its own messaging platform, Messenger. Businesses use Messenger as their chat support service. Likewise, Messenger has become a popular medium to run PPC ads.
Here are our tips on how to use Facebook for your business:
- Post relevant content twice a day.
- Ideal length of a Facebook post – 40 words.
- Ideal length of a Facebook ad – 5 words
- Whether you decide to create or curate content make sure it has value to your followers.
- Encourage your customers/ followers to post reviews, comments, and suggestions.
- Don’t be afraid of negative reviews. If you do receive negative reviews, respond to them in a professional and timely manner.
2. YouTube
YouTube is the largest video-streaming website on the Internet and is owned by Google, the largest search engine on the Internet. It is also the second largest social media platform after Facebook with 1.9 billion monthly active users.
With those kinds of data and numbers to back you up, YouTube should be seriously considered as part of your social media marketing strategy.
Video is also a powerful medium for delivering content. A study published by HubSpot revealed that after watching a video, 80% of the audience will remember its content one month later.
Here are our tips on how to use YouTube for your business:
Keep your videos short. The average length of a YouTube video is 4.4 minutes.
Your Call-to-Action (CTA) should be stated during the first few seconds of the video.
Ideal number of characters for the video title – 70 characters
Ideal posting frequency in YouTube – It would depend on the type of business. Gamers usually post multiple – 5 to 6 – short videos every day. Try posting at least one video per week to stay top-of-mind.
Instead of embedding your explainer video on your website, upload it on YouTube and attach a link on your Home Page.
3. Instagram
Instagram is a popular video and image-sharing social media platform that enjoys over 1 billion monthly active users. It is also owned by Facebook which should give you extra motivation to add Instagram in your social media marketing strategy.
Recently, Instagram introduced IGTV for users who enjoy posting longer content. If your business sells products that are highly-visual, Instagram is for you. The same can be said for businesses that offer services which are highlighted by movement such as Personal Training and cooking.
Here are our tips on how to use Instagram for your business:
- Ideal posting frequency – twice a day.
- Recommended length of posting captions – 138 to 150 characters.
- Recommended length of ad captions – 125 characters
- Focus on quality over quantity; use high-resolution images.
- Use hashtags to generate more followers and increase engagement. According to a study by Maven, 11 hashtags per post result in the highest levels of engagement.
4. Tik Tok
Have you heard or read about Tik Tok? You can be forgiven for not being informed about this fast-rising social media platform which originated from China. Currently, Tik Tok has 500 million monthly average users.
Tik Tok is a streaming service for short music videos. Although it is popular in Asia, the platform is fast making its way to North America. In 2018, Tik Tok beat out Facebook and Instagram as the Internet’s most downloaded app.
Here are our tips on how to use Tik Tok for your business:
- Tik Tok appeals to the young demographic; the “tweens” up to age 18.
- You can record and upload up to 60 seconds worth of video; on average keep it shorter at 15 to 30 seconds per video.
- Ideal posting frequency – at least once a week.
- Use the special effects feature to create more dynamic, entertaining, and engaging videos.
5. Twitter
Twitter is perfect for social media campaigns that need real-time engagement. For example, if you are celebrating the First Year Anniversary of your bakeshop, send out the following tweet for instant sales:
“One Year Sale! First 50 customers in the next hour will get 1 dozen glazed donuts for free!”
Twitter is a great source of information on anything from sports, entertainment, politics, and various special interests. It is ideal for doing research on your market and creating an audience profile.
Twitter averages 335 million active users every month.
Here are our tips on how to use Twitter for your business:
- Keep your tweets to 70 to 100 characters.
- Tweet multiple times per day – 15 tweets per day is highly recommended.
- Twitter is particularly effective as a customer service channel. SalesForce calls Twitter the new 1-800 number for customer service.
6. LinkedIn
For the reason that LinkedIn is the popular choice of executives, influencers, job seekers, and Human Resource personnel, it should be referred to as a professional network more than a social network.
LinkedIn is great for networking. Subscribe to LinkedIn’s premium service so you can customize the parameters of your search. You can find potential contacts by identifying the industry, designation, and location of your prospects. You will also be allowed to contact them directly through the InMail feature.
Here are our tips on how to use LinkedIn for your business:
- When sending invitations to connect, make sure to personalize them. LinkedIn has a default invitation format but it is always a better idea to add a personal touch to your networking approach.
- Blog at least twice a week to develop your brand and increase your profile.
- Advertise in LinkedIn. Your personalized ads can be directed to specific inboxes.
- Update your profile frequently.
- Update your status twice a day; use between 50 to 100 characters.
Conclusion
There are other social media platforms that you can consider.
Similar to Instagram, Pinterest is image-based. This is another fast-growing network which users find particularly effective for building brands. According to a study, 78% of its 250 million monthly users find its content useful for patronizing certain brands.
Reddit and Tumblr are ideal for generating engagement, brand building, and driving traffic to your website.
Keep in mind that you should not expect to achieve success overnight when using social media. It takes time and effort to increase visibility and your online presence organically.
If you want to learn more about how social media marketing can grow your business, give us a call.
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