Although social media has been around for quite some time now, it’s constantly changing and adapting to people’s needs. Algorithms change, layouts get changed more often than we’d like (we’re looking at you Facebook..!) but we always end up getting used to them. This is the new way of life, our whole lives are on the internet whether we like it or not and so are our businesses. Which begs the question: Do I need social media for my business?
Businesses have been relying on advertising since the dawn of time. Remember the days when you’d see adverts on teletext, the tv, the daily newspaper…? well besides the likes of teletext (RIP) these are still methods of advertisement that are highly used to this day, but let’s face it, it’s 2021 and unfortunately the younger millennials and Gen-Z’s aren’t exactly listening to the local news station or picking up a paper.. They are streaming their music and they are reading their news on their mobile devices. So where is the first place they’re more likely to come across your business? That’s right, on their socials!
Many businesses want to be actively present on social media but haven’t got the foggiest idea of how or where to start. It’s not just setting up a page and hoping that inviting neighbour Dave and auntie Liz will like, comment and share your business’ posts… while we’re grateful for their support, unfortunately they won’t make our business heaps of money.
Setting up your social profiles for your business is easy, maintaining them on the other hand… that’s the tricky bit. Post too much and your followers will start to feel “spammed”, post too little and your posts start to get lost in people’s news feeds. You also have to consider the content of your posts. Are they relevant to your brand? Are you getting the engagement you hoped for? More importantly, are your consumers turning in to customers?
Don’t be fooled into thinking that your business needs to be on ALL the socials! Most of the time businesses make the mistake of setting up a social profile on every single platform without actually thinking about whether they need to or not. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular networks to find out why:
- Facebook: One of the most widely used social media platforms in the world with over 3 billion monthly users. It’s used by small and large businesses alike and is geared towards both entertainment and news. It’s also the platform that sends more website referral traffic than any other network. It’s great for lead generation and has a great advertising platform that can be customised to target your key audience.
- Twitter: Twitter is great for quick, snappy immediate posts. Share blog posts, articles, breaking news and announcements about your business. Great for promoting your website content.
- Instagram: Not the best platform for driving traffic to your website, but highly efficient for catching your followers’ attention. Share beautiful, eye-catching highly visual posts with a short amount of text that make your followers stop scrolling.
- Pinterest: Over 90% of users plan purchases via this platform. Highly visual graphics with minimal text that encourage a click. Great for decor, food, weddings, fashion…. Over 85% of Pinterest’s users are women.
- LinkedIn: The professional’s playground. Business owners who want to connect on a professional level use this more formal platform to connect with other professionals. Aimed more towards B2B marketing rather than B2C.
- YouTube: YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after Google. If your business can offer something that its consumers can benefit from for free, this is a great platform for your business. Create and share product reviews, instructional how-to videos and educational videos. Videos can be monetized to create an extra income too.
When deciding where you want your business to be seen, think of your brand. What are you offering? Who is your demographic? how can people benefit from your products/services?
At Digital Roar we are here to help with all the confusion and will assess you and your business’ needs.
