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Social media has never been so important when marketing your business so it’s vital that you’re in on the action. With a little savvy know-how you can really make the most of the online world and get some free advertising for your business too. Choosing which platforms are right for you and your business can be tricky so we’ve put together handy guide to help you weigh up the pros and cons of each and to kick-start your ideas for social media success!
Why Should You Use Social Media Marketing for Your Business?
Now more than ever, businesses are finding success with social media marketing. With 3.8 million social media users globally in 2020, this means you’ve got access to a massive digital audience. And with different platforms appealing to different people, and personalised advertising, it’s pretty easy to segment your audiences and narrow down potential customers.
In the next section of this blog, we’ll be looking at the different kinds of social media platforms that are available to you, top trends for businesses using social media and figuring out which platform most suits your needs.
Which Social Media Platform Should I Market My Business On?
To make this a little more fun, we created this infographic showing the main social media platforms, and the pros and cons of each. But we couldn’t fit everything in, so for more information, keep on scrolling!
How Can I Use Facebook for Marketing?
As the largest social network, Facebook is a potential powerhouse for your promotions, and it’s ideal for businesses looking to appeal to the general public, like B2C businesses.
If you want to target a more precise group of people, you’re also in luck; Facebook allows you to target adverts to users using really specific information about them, since they’ve probably already told Facebook all about their jobs, location and interests already.
However, to really make Facebook work for your business, the chances are you’ll have to pay for it. Especially following recent updates to the algorithm, organic Facebook posts from businesses tend not to do so well. There’s also a TON of competition from other brands.
Facebook Messenger
One huge benefit that does separate Facebook from the rest is its built in Messenger function. If you’re active on your channel, this provides another way for customers to get in touch with feedback and questions, meaning not only is Facebook great for driving traffic and sales, but can also benefit your customer experience.
How to Use Twitter for Your Business
For news-worthy moments, there’s no better platform than Twitter. A great way to directly communicate and build contact with customers, Twitter allows you to post regular updates and build bonds that can lead to loyalty and sales.
If it’s trending, it’s on Twitter. Which means it’s a great platform for reactive marketing. However, because everyone’s posting short snippets and announcements all the time, it can be easy for your posts to get lost in the noise.
In terms of brands who use Twitter well, they tend to be comedic or shocking (but not in a negative way), like KFC and Denny’s who are both notorious for their hilarious tweets.
You are restricted to how much you can write in a tweet, but the shorter, more succinct tweets tend to be the most successful ones anyway. Try tweeting your next attention-grabbing blog title instead of a summary of the blog to see the clicks rolling in.
Again, this platform is great for B2C customers as much of the general public uses this platform. However, you can also impress business clients by broadcasting your announcements and press features.
How to Use Instagram to Drive Engagement
Instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms out there and is mainly focused on visuals. Creating a beautiful grid is one part, however, the story feature is where the big engagement really happens. Not only can you share customers’ posts and make them feel part of the bigger community, but you can use a number of different tools to spark genuine engagement – from polls to quiz questions!
Going live on your Instagram story can also have benefits; you can answer customer questions live, they’ll get a notification encouraging them to watch and you can give a real, human insight into your business and its people.
How Do I Engage Customers on Pinterest?
48% of Pinterest users use Pinterest to shop (eMarketer) – and with more than 320 million users, that’s A LOT of shoppers to introduce your brand to. A largely visual platform, Pinterest is used to save shopping items, for recipe and DIY instructions, and to keep up with the latest trends in fashion, homeware, hair and beauty. So, if you’ve got a visually aesthetic brand, you need to set some roots down on Pinterest.
Unlike Twitter, pins can stay relevant for a long time as long as people keeping ‘pinning’ or adding them to their boards.
How to Use LinkedIn to Connect with Clients
If you’re a corporate B2B business, you need to be on LinkedIn – this is where your business customers will be! LinkedIn is basically one big networking event, online, all the time. The most popular posts are business case studies where you position your brand as an authority figure or industry leader.
It’s also a fantastic space for your next big recruitment drive as many young professionals use LinkedIn to job hunt. Plus, everyone’s profile is basically a digital version of their CV, so you get to snoop around and even headhunt some top candidates for any positions you have going.
How to Create Helpful Content on YouTube
If you want to know how to do something, chances are there’s a YouTube video for it. From designing a website banner to embroidering a cushion for your Grandma’s birthday – you want to learn how to do it, this is the platform you go to. Like LinkedIn, YouTube sets you up as an expert in your field – but instead of using it to network, you should be creating useful how-to content to help customers make progress with whatever projects they’re working on that are related to your business.
For example, we use YouTube a lot to help our customers set up and design their print, which is why we have how-to videos on using our free design tool or setting up a design canvas with bleed in Photoshop. Putting it into a video format makes it easy to people to digest and follow along with, so it’s super helpful for your customers and can even make their buying journey easier.
Can I Use Reddit to Market My Business?
Yes. And with overall 430 million visits per month, you probably should! Not one of the traditional social media marketing platforms, but certainly one of the biggest – and with an ever-growing, highly active online community like this, it’s definitely an area to explore for your business. Especially since it’s an up-and-coming, under-utilised platform.
However, as a platform rife with close-nit, niche communities, Reddit also one of the hardest ones to get right as users can get defensive if brands start pushing an overly commercial agenda. Like when EA wrote a comment defending their game and it became the most downvoted comment in Reddit history. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
The easiest and probably most prominent way to start Reddit marketing is through the ‘Subreddit’ forum r/AMA, which stands for Ask Me Anything, where you’d say something interesting about yourself followed by the acronym AMA. For example, if we were to feature our founders we might say ‘I founded the largest online printer in the UK with my best friend, AMA’. Then Redditors (Reddit users) would ask whatever questions they might have and we’d do our best to answer them!
Like other platforms, you can sponsor posts, and you can search through different groups to research what people are interested in.
So, what social media platform are you going to make an account on next? Make sure to give us a follow over on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and keep in the loops with small business news and advice.
