Social media has become a major player not just in socializing, but also in marketing and branding for your business as well. It has become an integral part of any business's social strategy.
It provides your business the ability to connect on a more personal level with customers or followers by providing them with exclusive content that they can't find anywhere else. Social media also gives brands the opportunity to have their voice heard because social media platforms are inherently built for engagement.
How to choose the right social media platform?
The social media platforms that are available today are all unique in their own way. This means that it is important to think about what each social media platform has to offer for your business and not just choose a social media platform because it's popular with other businesses.
Here's top three things to keep in mind on how to choose the right social media platform for your business:
What are your Social Media Marketing Goals?
Where are your Audience online?
What are the type of contents you use and for what purpose?
Some social media platforms have features where you can post text, photos, or videos. Others have features for chat or messaging. And some social media platforms have features where you can share content from other social media sites with your followers.
What are your Social Media Marketing Goals?
It is important to define your social media marketing goals first before choosing which social media platform is right for your business.
Some social media marketing goals are to increase brand awareness, customer engagement, or social media followers. The social media platform that you choose will depend on the social strategy that you want to go with.
Top Marketing Goals For Business Owners
For example, if your social media marketing goal is to increase brand awareness, then sites like Facebook and Instagram might be your best bet because of its ability to share user-generated content and the amount of users that are in these platforms.
On the other hand, if your social media marketing goal is customer engagement, then Facebook might be the social media platform for you because it lets brands publish content and engage with their customers while using Twitter, a more micro-blogging site, might not have as much of an opportunity for customer engagement due to its limited character count per message.
If your marketing goals align with the list below, then you should be using Facebook in your marketing portfolio:
- Brand Visibility. It allows your business to be visible through social interactions between friends and family, and customers.
- Facebook is also a good social proof builder for your business since it allows users to send a review or feedback on your page.
- Get more reach with 2.3 billion users worldwide (41 million users in Australia)
Where are your Audience online?
Define your target market first so you know which social media platforms they are using. For example, if you're targeting teens, then Instagram or Snapchat would be good social media platforms to use. If your target market are professionals or business owners, LinkedIn might be a better choice.
The social media platform where your target market are most active will give you the best chance of success when marketing on social media.
However, not every social media platform is suitable for companies. For example, Snapchat isn't a good social media platform for marketing your company because the social media platform is primarily used by teens and young adults who aren't interested in your product or service.
It is best to start by finding out which social media platforms are popular around the world and in your target location. It is also best to find social media sites that your customers visit often. If you know which social media platform your customers use then this will give you an insight on social media platforms that are right for your social media business.
The social media platform that's most popular in Australia is Facebook, which has about 41,166,202 active daily social media site visitors in Australia, and over 2.7 billion worldwide.
What type of contents do you use?
There are a lot of social media platforms to choose from depending on what type of content you use and your goal for the content.
LinkedIn, for example, is a social networking site that is optimized for professional use. You would be able to post videos and images that you find interesting. It's a good social media platform to consider if your business is in the professional field.
Twitter, on the other hand, would be good if you're looking for something more casual and informal. It's very much about short posts and the latest news.
Facebook is more focused on social interactions and user engagement. If you're looking for a social media platform where your customers can engage with each other, look no further!
Instagram is a social media platform that is owned and operated by Facebook, Inc. Instagram allows users to upload and share images and short videos and follow other social media accounts. You can connect with your friends and even celebrities on the site. However, some people don't use it for social networking purposes, but rather just to view photos. One of the best things about Instagram is that its user interface is very easy to learn, especially for users who are not familiar with social media.
Pinterest is a social media platform that is perfect for social media marketers who use infographics and other visual content. The site allows users to curate and share images, make boards and socialize with like-minded social media users.
Video content and stories are most common with facebook audience nowadays. People say they're most interested in seeing Stories from brands that are:
- Quick and easy to understand: 52%
- Feature sales and promotions: 50%
- Introduce new products: 47%
- Feel real: 46%
- Offer tips and advice: 46%
How to add value on social media?
Your social media business profile can help market you brand building social proof, which is an indication of how successful your business is, and how much you value your customers. The social media platforms are able to create an emotional response with their power to customize content and create preferences among customers. Here are few ways on how to add value on social media:
- Gain customer's trust by building social proof through reviews
- Engage with users by replying and reacting to comments
- Build customer relationship by asking the community and posting some tips
How to protect your brand on social media?
One way to protect your social media business's brand is to monitor social media sites in order to see what comments are being made about your social media site. Managing your social media profiles will allow you to interact when customers need help with questions or concerns. Feedback will be able to provide social proof that you are focusing on providing customer satisfaction.
Another way to protect your social media business is by having an online social media policy. This will lay out the rules and regulations in social media interactions with social media consumers. An example of this might involve changing or removing comments without notice when it contravenes the social media policy, which will provide training to social media site administrators.
Another way to protect your social media business is by maintaining social profiles across different sites on the internet. This enables you to monitor social posts for negative comments or concerns about your social media profile easily.
How to protect your brand on social media?
- One way to optimize social media platforms for your business is to keep social profiles on the platforms that are most popular with your customers. This means staying active on social media sites that are widely used by your target market.
- Another way to optimize social media for business is to look at analytics in order to see which social network has the greatest social media site traffic for social media consumers in your target market.
- Look at posts that get great engagement with your audience, and using these posts as inspiration for future social posts ideas.
- Monitor your post comments or feedbacks about your business, your products or services, and your team or employees (which is often overlooked).
