Social media has taken the world of business by storm. However, not all platforms are created equal; well, not for business purposes anyway. Each network has its own set of features, rules and followers. The trick is to find one that suits your business objectives the best and has the resources that you need to ensure consistent ROI.
Traversing the World of Social Media
Before you determine which platform will benefit your business the most, a perusal of the social media landscape in general is in order. It is important for business owners to remember that these online marketing resources are not just another passing trend or fad. Businesses need to realise that marketing options involve more than just Facebook. Each social media website has its own way to engage audiences.
Business owners must also determine other factors that come into play before they make such a choice. For example, these might include;
- Posting frequency
- Costs that are associated with social media management
- Integration with other marketing channels
Here is a rundown of how valuable some social media platforms may be for business –
This is the only platform of its type that doesn’t require that much work to maintain. All you have to do is snap a photo and post it. And the fact that it creates connections with little to no work is exactly why businesses love it. Plus you never have to edit a timeline. However, posts have a tendency to become obsolete fast as they sink to the bottom of news feeds.
Make sure that the content you post on your Instagram is fresh and corresponds with your brand’s image. Also ensuring that you update it on a regular basis will keep your followers interested in what your brand has to offer.
The Greek yogurt brand Chobani capitalized this trend when it noticed that their customers used hashtags like #creationday or #chobani to post photos of their orders as artful concoctions on the platform. This happened before the brand had a presence on Instagram but it wasn’t long before it decided to follow suit by taking inspiration of their fans’ creativity. According to the content manager at Chobani, “We’re on the platform every day so we know what’s trending. If our consumers are posting about smoothies, we are too. We want to be doing what they are doing.”
It can be challenging to promote a business on a platform that restricts users to posting content that is less than 140 characters. However, since the platform does not allow you to target groups of followers organically, it may seem as if you are throwing your message out in the dark.
Businesses have overcome the challenge by coming up with innovative posts or tweets. The cookie company Oreo uses humorous tweets to attract followers. It does this in an ingenious way; by interacting with fans as well as other brands. Its snappy comments make it hard to ignore accompanying links.
Google+
This platform is the most mysterious of them all and businesses do not perceive it as mainstream. However, it does have the capability to rally people around a cause, person or subject. Take Topshop as an example. The brand tripled its engagement by using Google+ to air live streams of their catwalk shows from their account.
When it comes to ideal platforms for social media marketing, Facebook takes the proverbial cake. Businesses have no qualms putting as much of their marketing dollars into it as they can for the prospect of huge payoffs. In other words, if you want your business to really take off, you can’t afford to ignore this social media giant for long. However, in order to ensure that your posts appear on the timeline you need to spend a lot on promotions especially since your competitors will probably be doing the same. Plus it is not ideal for every business. For example, it may come in handy if you have a cause to promote but not so much if your company specializes in garbage disposal.
Idea Paint’s Facebook strategy is a great example of social media business done right. The Boston based paint company specializes in selling paint that turns surfaces into dry erase boards. The brand uses its Facebook account to share content that it publishes on its blogs. It also goes the extra mile by interacting interaction with visitors who view the blogs.
According head of marketing at Idea Paint, Marcus Wilson, this method gives the brand a global reach and allows it to reach a level of intimacy that was unheard of a few years ago. How was this strategy successful? Social media websites are now one of the brand’s largest resources for leads and traffic; and the number is still growing.
YouTube
If you manage to have your own YouTube channel for your business, you have it made. The video sharing website experiences more than 48 hours of video posts every minute. The prospect becomes even more favorable if your business relies on videos. GoPro is a case in point. The brand saw its revenue increase by a whopping 87% in consecutive years all because it decided to make its wearable camera files public.
In fact, it is so successful that it is now plans to become a new media company on its own. This is what the brand has to say in a prospective summary, “To date we have generated substantially all of our revenue from the sale of our cameras and accessories and we believe that the growing adoption of our capture devices and the engaging content they enable, position GoPro to become an exciting new media company.”
In the end, the type of social media platform that might be ideal for your business should be one that can help you spread your message across the right channels or audience effectively. However, business owners must refrain from sticking in any single platform.
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