Social media platforms have vastly grown both in popularity and in size over the past couple of years. Social media has grown past being just a place for social interaction for people around the world. Nowadays, it’s a hub where various businesses build their presence and actively engage with their target audience. In other words, social media has become quite business-friendly and it allows companies to promote themselves, their services or their products to consumers on social networks.
Today, there are plenty of different social networks and many businesses try to build a presence on each one. That, however, is a mistake, mostly because businesses don’t know how to properly use each network or they build their presence on a social platform their audience doesn’t use. Therefore, it’s just a waste of time, effort and resources to build a presence on networks that aren’t inhabited by your potential customers. Each social network is unique and requires a specific approach. With that in mind, here are the unique advantages of each social platform.
Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms today. Twitter numbers 335 million monthly active users. As for the demographics, 57% of global users are men, while 43% are women. Twitter is suited for both B2B and B2C businesses. Businesses that want to build a presence on Twitter must know that this social network is a microblogging platform. Tweets are designed to be short stories containing 280 letters. They are meant to portray “What are you doing?”
However, tweets have grown beyond just answering a simple question. Nowadays, tweets are used to update the audience, share posts and images among other things. The majority of the audience on Twitter uses this network to get updates about the latest news. Therefore, posting relevant news and updates is a good way to generate engagement on Twitter. In addition, Twitter users prefer curated content and blog posts, as well as catchy images and GIFs. Many marketers leverage Twitter to promote new features and generate buzz for their promotions.
LinkedIn is considered a more B2B-oriented social network. It’s also regarded as more professional than other social platforms. Many marketers use LinkedIn to engage with potential clients and build an effective presence for their company. LinkedIn numbers 562 million active monthly users. LinkedIn demographics number 56% men and 44% women. Many companies use LinkedIn to generate qualified leads, build a professional image for their business and get in touch with potential clients.
What’s more, LinkedIn is an ideal social platform for the hiring process and recruitment marketing. LinkedIn has over 26 million companies with 15 million active job listings. The main advantages of using LinkedIn is that your business can develop and build its professional reputation. This network can also be used as a publishing platform to build credibility and authority in your industry. You can establish quality business connections on LinkedIn and leverage filtered search to get in touch with valuable prospects.
Facebook is the most popular and the largest social media platform today. Facebook numbers well over 2 billion active monthly users. What’s more, Facebook is quite business-friendly towards both B2B and B2C companies. If you’re looking for your target audience, there’s a good chance that they’re on Facebook. Facebook allows you to promote your business organically by engaging with your target audience and establish good relationships with them through conversations and content. Additionally, this network offers you an opportunity to leverage paid ads and even open up shop on your company page as well.
Aside from helping businesses build visibility and awareness, engaging audience and driving qualified web traffic, as well as increasing revenue, Facebook is the best social media platform for content marketing. Not only that, but since the Facebook audience is large, you can also host contest and giveaways to generate interest and engagement. You can also reward contest winners with reward contest winners with promotional products to boost engagement and loyalty even further. Therefore, if you want to effectively establish your online presence through social media, Facebook is the way to go.
Other social networks
The above-mentioned networks are the top three most popular platforms business should focus on to make the best out of their resources and efforts. However, there are other networks you could also utilize to build a presence and engage your audience. For instance, Instagram numbers around one billion active users. However, this network focuses on sharing high-quality images and Instagram stories. It’s more focused on social interactions than business relations.
In addition, YouTube is also a great social network, especially if you focus on promoting visual content, such as videos. Businesses that leverage vlogging can benefit from YouTube. Other networks, such as Pinterest and Snapchat are more suited for younger generations. Therefore, based on the demographics of social media users, you can leverage these social platforms to establish a connection with consumers, as well as potential influencers.
Social media platforms have become an integral aspect of every marketing campaign. The fact of the matter is that social media networks are able to provide businesses with countless opportunities to build their presence, awareness and credibility online, as well as engage with their audience and establish long-lasting relationships with them.