Social media marketing is an effective way to stay relevant in the hectic online world while, at the same time, introducing new audiences to your brand. The question is no longer whether social media marketing is a necessary marketing tool or not. For a long time, the answer is positive. Now the other question arises, and that is: “Which social media should be used?”
Starting a business on social media can be quite difficult. Between building an audience, managing content, and interacting with followers, you simply do not have the time (or budget) to be everywhere at once. Also, it is not a smart move. Often your audience is not on all social networks. Let’s say you have a local women’s clothing store. Do you really need LinkedIn? Some would say it won’t hurt to have it, however, most of these channels require customized content, which further requires a lot of time invested. If you do not have that, opt for 2-3 social networks where most of your audience is on and focus on creating quality content tailored to them.
Below you will find an explanation of what digital marketing on each of today’s most popular social networks looks like and what each of them can offer your company/business. We hope this text will help you answer the question posed in the title…
Despite the competition personified in new social media platforms on the market, Facebook has remained one of the most popular networks around the world for years. With 2.6 billion active users per month, of which more than a quarter are between the ages of 25 and 34, Facebook is a great channel for any business. This is especially the case for brands that have multiple and diverse target groups.
The key to successful Facebook marketing is posting content that shows the other side of your business. Although Facebook allows you to reach a large number of consumers, it also comes with a lot of competition, so you need to put a lot of effort into the content to be relevant. However, with the updated Privacy Policy a few months ago, Facebook has started to ‘force’ people to invent new strategies and ways to reach the public through direct advertising than it was before.
In addition to allowing you to reach a wide range of audiences, Facebook also helps you achieve various business goals, such as raising brand awareness, finding potential customers, bringing visitors to the website you have built (which has to be made in a way to correspond and portray your business in the best possible light), providing quality customer service, and the like. When it comes to the type of content, you have many options on Facebook. You can post pictures and videos, quickly update text, share content, post links to your site, and even start a conversation in the comments.
One of the biggest advantages of Facebook is its advertising platform. Facebook ads allow you to target your target audience through a number of options for that purpose. This is great for companies that have defined their target group.
In the last few years, Instagram has really become a force to be reckoned with in the world of social media. The number of audiences on Instagram has been steadily increasing over the last 5 years, so the current estimate is that it is used by one billion users. More importantly, these users are active on a daily basis, which increases the chances of engaging followers more than many other social platforms.
Instagram is ideal for companies that have a visual product. For that reason, companies in artistic niches tend to stand out on it. But really, any company that has a visual story can attract and engage its audience on this social network. Instagram’s platform relies on images and videos. It also offers a range of fun and interesting tools, such as Instagram Live, Stories, IGTV, and, more recently, Reels. These tools help brands show followers what is going on behind the scene and bring them closer to themselves.
However, in order to stand out in the sea of content, especially as a company, it is necessary to publish quality images. These should not only be images of your products, but also images that are part of the story of your product and highlight different aspects of the lifestyle that your products promote. Since Instagram is a highly engaging platform, you will always have to find new ways to engage your followers. Also, using relevant and popular hashtags on posts is a great way to expand your reach on the platform. The same goes for Instagram contests and giveaways.
Since Instagram is owned by Facebook, you will be able to enjoy the benefits of Facebook’s advertising platform for this channel on social networks as well. With your Instagram ads, you are able to target specific groups of people. And the best part is that these ads appear in harmony with other content, so they do not disturb the user experience.
Twitter is a popular platform among businesses looking to deliver messages and communicate with their potential customers and customers in real-time. On this social network, you have the opportunity to publish news, announcements, and other important information in real-time.
Most users on this platform are under the age of 50, which makes it ideal for brands with a younger target group. Also, Twitter is ideal for companies that produce easily ‘digestible’ content. Simple content like quotes, facts, and statistics, as well as pictures and infographics, have a good effect on Twitter.
Mentioned real-time communication is one of the unique things on Twitter. This makes it an ideal social network for customer support. When a customer encounters a problem or has a question, they can tweet your business and get a real-time answer. Since many consumers prefer to reach out to brands through social media, Twitter gives them the perfect opportunity to do just that.
While Twitter can be great for short content, it is not the best platform for every business. If your business is highly visual, some other social network may be a better solution, such as Instagram. However, if you update your blog regularly and enjoy sharing relevant independent content with your followers, you will most likely find success on Twitter.
Another important thing – if you use this platform, it is important to find a balance between branded content, independent sharing of content of other users, and tweeting it.
Pinterest is another visually oriented platform. It allows users to create visual digital whiteboards and organize them into different categories. If you have a visual brand or do business in one of the niche industries that Pinterest serves, then this social network can be perfect to help connect and engage your audience.
Pinterest has 459 million unique monthly users, making it a great place to reach new consumers. There is an equal distribution between the ages, but the active users of Pinterest are mostly women between the ages of 24 and 39. The topics of content on Pinterest are extremely diverse, and the most popular categories include DIY, fashion, beauty, weddings, travel, photography, fitness, recipes… If your brand is in one of these industries, on Pinterest you will find a large and active audience. If you are not in one of these industries, you can still do well on Pinterest, but only if you find a way to make your products visually interesting.
The big advantage of this platform is that users who find products on Pinterest are more likely to make a purchase through an online store than those who find the products on other social networks. In fact, a large number of Pinterest users use this platform to plan their purchases or have already started them. Pinterest also offers the possibility of advertising, i.e. promoting posts that users can click to buy certain products. Similar to Instagram, these ads appear as organic content in the user feed when searching for relevant terms.
LinkedIn is an efficient social network for B2B companies that want to expand their reach and build relationships with potential customers. With 310 million users per month, LinkedIn is the most popular professional networking platform. Not only is it an ideal place to find and engage potential clients, but it is also the best place to recruit new talents, build your reputation as an industry leader, and promote your business in general.
Although LinkedIn is not an ideal marketing platform for B2C brands, it opens up great opportunities, as we already have said, for B2B companies. With LinkedIn, you can find specific industries, companies, and positions that you are trying to target. For example, if you are trying to reach out to business decision-makers in the technology industry, you can search for technical directors. That way there are great chances that you will provoke interest in specific people in what your company has to offer.
LinkedIn is also an ideal channel for building authority in your industry. You can share content from your blog or site on LinkedIn or post content directly on the platform. This offers a great opportunity to share your ideas and insights with potential clients, customers, and others in your industry. This platform, additionally, allows you to join relevant groups on LinkedIn, giving you the opportunity to get in touch with other people in your industry.
LinkedIn also has advertising capabilities that can help you increase traffic and conversions on a website while raising awareness about your brand. LinkedIn ads help you reach a more professional and educated audience of senior executives and other decision-makers. With LinkedIn ads, criteria for targeting are numerous: by job title, industry occupation, location, and more. This makes it an ideal advertising platform for B2B brands that want to narrow the audience of their ads and increase ROI.
Conclusion
After reading this text, have you been able to determine which is the ideal social network for you? Do not be discouraged if you haven’t because the answer depends on many factors. What you should do is answer a few short questions: Who is your audience and what social networks do they use? On which social networks is it most active? What social networks does it use to search and make purchases?
After you answer these dilemmas, return to this article and consider what each of the social networks can offer to your brand and which of them makes the most sense for your business.