Business marketing and advertising today is far different from marketing and advertising before social media existed. Though companies still do well to use television commercials and billboards, using many other advertising methods from the past is obsolete. Consequently, businesses should evaluate who they’re reaching and how, and then they should employ the appropriate social media platforms to better reach their clientele.
Facebook is the first great social media platform to use in your business. Facebook currently reaches over 2.8 billion users worldwide, and therefore provides an extremely large pool of potential customers. Furthermore, Facebook is very user-friendly. You can create Facebook groups that your customers can join to receive regular updates, discounts, and more. You can also simply create a Facebook page that customers can “like” and then again receive updates, promotions, new products, and so forth. These great aspects make Facebook a necessary and fantastic platform for your business to use.
Another great platform that your business should use is Twitter. Twitter is useful because it enables customers to receive short but helpful tips about your business. Oftentimes, customers don’t have a large amount of time to read through paragraphs of information. They simply want short, concise, and current updates. Twitter enables you to provide such updates about the company and better engage with your customers.
Pinterest is a fantastic platform to use for your company. Pinterest is a platform that uses pictures rather than words–something many customers appreciate. Pinterest can grab your customers’ attention through a striking but simple pull quote written on an engaging picture, or through a picture of your newest product or service. Furthermore, Pinterest users can “pin” items and information you’ve uploaded to Pinterest so they can return and review those items and information later.
TikTok
TikTok will generally attract a younger audience to your company. Doing so, however, is not a bad thing. If you can engage a younger audience and get them interested in your product through a silly TikTok, their parents will be more likely to want your product or service as well. To attract a younger and middle-aged audience, simply make a clever or funny short video about something you sell or provide and get viewers to want to replicate the video or share the video.
Instagram can be a wonderful platform to use because of influencers. There are many users on Instagram, and those users tend to follow Instagram influencers—i.e., people on Instagram who have a large number of followers and who start getting paid to advertise certain products to their followers. Instagram caters to a lot of niche industries that make it a great place to use influencers. So, add your business to Instagram and get influencers to promote who you are and what you do.
YouTube
YouTube is a quick, powerful platform not only to reach an audience but also to create a brand and advertise for relatively cheaply. YouTube can also be a source of revenue generation through advertisements on other videos of similar content and styles. To use YouTube, simply make an account, create a video, and start getting subscribers. You’ll want to make sure you develop a brand within your channel. Some businesses focus on using their channel to educate on their industry, while others are more oriented around product demonstrations and launches. You can also use YouTube for livestreams and interact with your audience even more.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a great advertising platform as well. It currently has a market cap of 4 billion. On any given day, there are approximately 293 million people using the application. Advertisements and short videos interacting with users are a powerful tool for your business to use. Snapchat is a platform on which you post a picture and a caption for about 24 hours. After that time, the information goes away. So, Snapchat is a great way to get a concise amount of information out quickly. Because the “Snapchat stories” are so short, people are more willing to take a second to look at your business’s story and to click on a link for more information.
The next great platform to consider is one that you generally think of when you mention social media and business in the same sentence—LinkedIn. While most people think of LinkedIn for personal job hunting and networking, having a business presence on LinkedIn is important too. You can use LinkedIn to post jobs, make business connections, keep up to date on industry happenings, and position your company as an expert in your industry.
WhatsApp is a wonderful social media platform for you to use because it enables you to reach your customers securely. Through WhatsApp, you can message your clients and know that the information, as mentioned already, is secure, but you can also know whether or not the customer has received the message you sent. You can further know when your client or customer has seen your message, which helps you know what next steps to take if your customer does not respond promptly.
Finally, don’t forget to use Reddit for your business. Reddit is a website where users can share information such as links they’ve found, but it’s also a great page where they can ask questions. Users on Reddit will often talk about the product or service you provide and comment on whether or not your service or product was valuable to them. So, consider adding Reddit to your business’s social media platforms.
Growing your business is an important task. However, it can also seem like a daunting task. To grow your business, it’s important to network with other companies and individuals, to advertise your own products or services, to find ways to improve your own products, and more. Consequently, using social media in your business is extremely helpful. There are many great platforms to use that help you take the steps listed above—network, advertise, improve—so take time now to create accounts on those social media platforms. Get your business on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Reddit. Doing so will help you not only reach more potential clients, but it will also help you improve and solidify your brand and ultimately grow your business.
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