Strategize your social media with our handy guide.
It can be difficult to measure which social media platform is best for your business. As social media continues to grow, it seems to be the best way to reach new consumers. It’s an ideal strategy for connecting businesses to customers who would have previously never known about their products or services.
Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are four major social media platforms that can be used to maximize exposure of your business. But knowing which one is the right fit for your business can be a tough choice. Here’s a guide to helping decide which social media platforms are the best fit for your business:
Instagram is a social media platform that emphasizes visual sharing through photo and video content. This specific platform appeals greatly to a young audience; the majority of its users are under 25 years old. It also offers a live stream video function, which has become a popular tool businesses are using to gain more consumer awareness. Keeping your Instagram account up to date does require consistent posting of photo and video content, along with an eye for aesthetics and organization of content. If your business has a lot of content to share and market online, it may be best to utilize Instagram as your media sharing platform.
Best uses for Instagram:
- Sharing photographs of your business
- Live streaming videos of events and behind the scenes happenings
- Uploading videos of your business
Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users and is currently the most popular social media platform. Facebook bought Instagram in 2012 to keep up with the trends among social media users as the tide has shifted toward visual imagery consumption over text. Facebook and Instagram share many of the same features such as user stories, live stream video and photo/video imagery sharing. A big difference between the two is that Instagram focuses on imagery while Facebook is a balance between text posts and imagery. If visual content is harder to come by for your business, but you’ve still got content you’d like to share, then Facebook may be a better platform to reach consumers.
Best uses for Facebook:
- Promoting your business’s content such as blog posts, updates and more
- Creating event pages to encourage attendance
- Uploading photographs and videos of your business
- Sharing special offers for discounts and promotions
Twitter is a social media platform much like Facebook, but faster paced and with limits on the amount of words that can be written in a post. This can be useful to quickly share information about your business to consumers without writing a full post. Twitter also offers photo and video sharing. Having a successful Twitter requires high contact with consumers through consistent “tweets” and responding often to other’s posts. This platform is best for dialog between the business and consumers, but it is important to know that responses to Twitter users are expected in relatively short time frame, so you’ll have to remain vigilant in managing it.
Best uses for Twitter:
- Writing concise updates to followers
- Sharing photographs and videos of your business
- Interacting regularly with customers
LinkedIn is the best social media platform for business networking. The website allows users to build a network of contacts, shows what’s trending in the business and connect companies with prospective employees. LinkedIn is a formal and professional networking platform that isn’t used for sharing personal stories or photos. LinkedIn includes a home page where users are able to post blogs and other content about their business or line of work. This home page is advantageous for employers to showcase ad campaigns, highlight company growth and share new job openings.
Best uses for LinkedIn:
- Establishing a professional presence for your business
- Connecting with current employees
- Generating leads for potential employees
- Sharing content, photographs and videos with others in your industry
The key to all of these platforms is consistency. Create a color palette that best represents your business and stick to it when posting photos or videos. This will maintain a consistent theme on your profile and viewers are attracted to these profiles. Also, be consistent in your writing style when posting — it will show your business’s personality, and it creates trust with followers. And don’t forget to post often to keep users engaged. If you’re looking for help creating a social media strategy, or want to find a professional who can assist in starting social media accounts, then contact us at Infomedia today.
