Social Media for Businesses
When choosing the right social media platform for your business, here are two key questions to keep in mind. Who is your target audience? What are you trying to achieve? These questions must be answered before developing your online social media presence. There are a wide range of social media platforms available and almost every company utilizes at least one of them, if not more. It is a great way to expose your company and products to new and potential customers or clients.
Facebook
Because there are billions of users on Facebook, this is a great way to generate new leads, connect with potential customers, and drive traffic to your website. Companies also use Facebook as a low-cost marketing opportunity to expand their brand.
Facebook also has the feature to create an event or promotion and share it directly to your page for all your followers to see. This is a great way to grab a customer’s or prospect's attention and lead them towards your products.
Instagram
Businesses use Instagram as a marketing strategy, it is a visual portfolio for the company’s brand which is an effective way to get a millennial following. Some industry experts project that Instagram is growing at a rate that has the potentional to exceed Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
As time goes on Instagram is expanding with new features and ways to incorporate business marketing into their platform. Features such as hashtags, Instagram stories, and live videos are all ways to enhance your brand and grab your customers attention. Staying up to date with the latest Instagram trends is very important when building a cliental especially if you are trying to reach the millennial crowd.
Twitter
Like all social media carefully consider your target audience and what you are trying to achieve. I can imagine a CEO looking you up on LinkedIn, but I cannot see a CEO making a business decision based on a tweet. Twitter is very well known and is used by many users at a social level. However, data does not support the effectiveness of B2B marketing. As an observer of Twitter, I have noticed that this platform is used to socialize with friends or for amusement.
Twitter also has a cap on how many words you can add to a post so not all your information may get published in one post. Twitter is a great tool for someone who is looking to connect with friends but may not deliver the positive results that the other platforms can offer.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is beneficial for all aspects of building cliental, the platform shows posts, products, overview of the company, job openings etc. As Forbes stated LinkedIn is a strong tool for all businesses but “a true game changer for B2B companies” (Forbes). This platform is used mostly by business professionals and people who are looking to gain experience in certain fields. Many people searching for jobs use LinkedIn as a resource to find new opportunities as well as review companies.
LinkedIn also provides benefits to employers by having access to review candidates before interviewing them or making an offer. This makes LinkedIn a necessity for all businesses to utilize and ensure the quality of their greatest resources, the employees.
