Business owners that are not currently using social media for business may be missing out on a powerful opportunity to reach new leads and grow their business.
According to Pew Research, 70% of consumers use social media, and for many users, visiting their favorite social media sites has become a part of their daily routine. In fact, about 69% of Facebook users will visit the site at least once a day. This presents an excellent business opportunity for brands to use social media for business and increase engagement with their target audience.
The first step of successfully using social media for business is selecting the best social media channels for your company. Though you may feel like it’s best to try to be everywhere at once, the truth is that most businesses do not have the time or the resources to be active on every social media network. Luckily, you don’t have to be on every social media channel to effectively connect with customers. You just have to be on the platforms where your target audience is spending their time. Below, we’ll discuss each social media channel to help you better understand which might work best for your business.
With 2.41 billion monthly active users as of 2019’s 2nd quarter, Facebook is the biggest social network worldwide making it a great place for businesses to expand their reach online. Not only does Facebook have a lot of users, but their users also represent a wide range of demographics, which makes this platform suitable for businesses from different industries with a variety of different audiences. Facebook also has a powerful advertising platform with sophisticated targeting features that can help brands deliver relevant content to the users who are most likely to be interested in their products.
With a large and diverse user base, Instagram is definitely at the top of our list when using social media for business. It is a great platform that can be a strong channel for all types of businesses. This platform works the best for brands that have a product or service that lends well to images and video. It can also be a great space for companies from niche industries like photography, food, travel, fashion, or other industries that rely on visual content to tell their story.
Twitter is a great social media platform for small businesses that want to expand their reach online and build a following. Though this channel has less users than Facebook, the fast-paced nature of Twitter makes it a great platform when posting recent news and updates, having real-time conversations with your followers, and sharing interesting and relevant content that your followers will enjoy and find valuable. Using relevant hashtags can also help you reach new audiences and jump on trending topics that are relevant to your business.
Pinterest has more of a niche following than some of the other social channels, with many of its users being women with higher income. Some of the most popular content on the site is geared toward do-it-yourself home improvement and craft projects as well as recipes, beauty advice, exercise tips, and fashion. If your business sells products or services related to these categories, and you’re using social media for business, then you may find that Pinterest is an effective marketing channel for you.
LinkedIn is a great social media business plaform in the B2B solutions industry. This social channel makes it easy to connect with business professionals that may be in the market for your company’s products or services. B2B brands can use LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities to find professionals in specific industries or with specific job titles for strategic networking. And recently, LinkedIn now uses your customer persona (with data from LinkedIn) to look for your target market. It searches users whose activity has shown interest in your company. For instance, the users who searched for your profile or clicked your website.