social media marketing for businesses
Social media is a great way to interact with your customers and offer them value
Today, it is very difficult to find someone that doesn't tap into the endless information located on the internet. One place that people like to hang out and relax online is on social media. Social media has many channels that all have thier own unique nuances and personalities.
The above statistic from 2014 is quite eye opening to say the least. With so many people investing time on social media, it makes sense that potential business prospects are located there too."47% of all online time is spent on social media".
As we have mentioned, there are endless choices in regard to what channel of social media people choose. For business, we have our favourites and we need to acknowledge that each channel has specific context to the content that is posted on each channel.
Here are some of our favourite channels for business:
Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues.
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and coworkers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People post Tweets, which may contain photos, videos, links and up to 140 characters of text.
Linked In
LinkedIn is a social networking site designed specifically for the business community. The goal of the site is to allow registered members to establish and document networks of people they know and trust professionally.
Instagram is a mobile photo-sharing application and service that allows users to share pictures and videos either publicly or privately on the service, as well as through a variety of other social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr.
You Tube
Launched in May 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally-created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small.
Using social media for business requires a well thought strategy that isn't intrusive or 'salesy'. In essence, how we approach social media for business is to embrace the Inbound Methodology. Worthwhile, high value content is published to attract prospects that are reaching out for a solution to a problem that your goods or services may help solve.
Your content can be found on social media organically or by paid advertising (PPC) - we usually suggest a combination of both. That being said, paid advertising can be a complex path to navigate for the novice. The Facebook Ads platform for example can be daunting for someone that hasn't been exposed to it before and it is very easy to get it wrong which can have a negative affect on your return on investment.
This infographic below appeared on the HubSpot blog by Feldman Creavite has some inetresting insights into social media marketing that may help you understand how it can be added to your marketing arsenal.
