10 Social Media Sites to Use For Your Business

Social media sites
Making up your mind to invest in social media sites for your business is a great decision. Social Media’s ROI is outstanding, as it is one of the least costly marketing tools available. More and more businesses are discovering that using Social Media is key to their growth. If you aren’t taking advantage of this, you are missing out! We’ve compiled a list of the 10 best social media sites that you should be using for your business.  So now the question is, which social media site should you use? Is it wise to just go with all of them? Which social media site offers the best bang for your business buck? We’ll go over each site and tell you what they have to offer. But first, let’s start with a general look at social media. 

It’s Just Good Business    

Regardless of what social media site you choose to invest in, you are almost guaranteed to reach people you otherwise would not have. Over 81% of the population in the US ALONE has at least one social media account. The majority of those having more than one.  Not only that, but there are many users who use social media specifically to help them decide on purchases.  Take a look at some of these numbers: A whopping 93% of Pinterest users engage in the platform while planning to or making purchases. 70% of business-to-consumer marketers have reached new customers through Facebook, and more than ? users have used Instagram to make purchases.  People are spending their time and money with businesses on social media. They are in fact spending 20%-40% more on companies that have a presence on social media, than those without.  The benefits don’t stop there either. Consumers whose experience with a brand on social media was positive are 71% more likely to recommend the brand to family and friends. That’s free advertising!

How to Use Social Media For Business

If social media platforms are used correctly, you can reach a much bigger audience.  Social media allows you to increase the visibility of your brand or business, generate new leads, and increase sales. You can take advantage of these benefits by knowing the best practices to follow for each platform, and creating content specific to these sites. 

Which Social Media Platform is Best For Business?

There is definitely money to be made on social media platforms, but which one will do the most for your business? Unfortunately there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this. The best social media platform for your business will depend on a number of factors including your target audience, the products and services your business provides, and what the platform is able to do. Just as your business specializes in something, each social media platform is designed for specific functions, uses, and types of users.  Here we are going to cover the top 10 social media platforms for businesses to help you decide which platform or platforms would work best for you. 

Top 10 Social Media Platforms for Businesses 

 

Facebook

Facebook advertising With just under 2.5 billion active daily users, this choice is one of the more popular options. Facebook is the most widely used social media platform in the world.  Facebook provides a diverse array of options for your business to meet its marketing goals. This platform can help you increase website traffic, brand awareness, online conversions, and can generate leads. When used correctly Facebook is almost guaranteed to bring positive results.  Because of the billions of unique users on this platform, nearly every business can find their target users. It’s easy to see why this is the number 1 choice for many businesses.  You may be saying to yourself that you already know this, but want to know HOW to target people who are, or would be interested in your brand/business. The only thing it really takes is great content (the more the better) and properly setting up Facebook advertising.  Facebook’s advertising platform is bar none the best.  You can customize your targets by age, employment, gender, interests, relationship status, purchasing behaviors, location, and so much more. This allows you to zero in directly on your target audience to make your ads visible.   Generally, when someone asks if they should be advertising on Facebook, our answer is going to be yes. However, there are 2 scenarios when we may suggest using a different platform.  The first scenario in which you do not want to use Facebook is if you do not have a social media advertising budget. The second scenario in which you may not want to use Facebook is depended upon the type of business you have. Facebook prohibits certain companies (such as tobacco companies) from advertising on their platform. If your business falls into one of their “No” categories, you’ll want to advertise elsewhere.  Facebook uses paid advertising. To use this platform you must have an advertising budget. The good news is, clients using this platform almost always see a substantial ROI from investing in Facebook ads.  This can be a powerful tool for your business if you combine likable content with the platform’s extensive user base.

Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is a separate app, but is still part of Facebook. It contains some additional features that many businesses find useful.  This app allows Facebook users to send messages directly to another user. This includes business pages.  Because it is linked with the main Facebook platform, you will have the access to Facebook’s large user base and advertising platform.  There are advertising campaigns available specifically for Facebook Messenger. You may have seen these while scrolling yourself. When a user clicks on an ad, a Facebook Messenger conversation will open. This allows business to communicate directly with existing and potential customers.  You can also set up automated messages for your business. If a user messages your Facebook page, Facebook Messenger will send an automated message that you have written back to them.  The message can be something as simple as “Thanks for reaching out to us! Someone will get back to you within 24 business hours. Have a great day!” Even a simple message such as this will help build trust between your business and existing or potential customers. Also helping to decrease the chances of them finding the product or service they need from a competitor.

Instagram

Instagram marketing Instagram is just behind Facebook for our ranking of social media sites for businesses. Mark Zuckerburg, owner of Facebook, also owns this platform, which boasts over 500 million active daily users.  Mark bought Instagram only 18 months after it launched for $1 billion. He knew the benefits and potential of Instagram early on, and with his backing has continued to see growth and success.  Because Instagram is owned by Facebook, it also has access to the advertising platform and impressive user base.  To make it short: Instagram has identical paid benefits to Facebook, but Instagram has its own benefits apart from these.  As we’ve discussed, with Facebook, you’ll need to pay for advertising in order to increase the reach of your content, and increase your following. With Instagram, you can increase your following organically, thus extending the reach of your posts and profile in the same way.  For this reason, Instagram is a stellar option for businesses whether they have an advertising budget or not.  Another great thing to consider is this:  In general, people can recall 80% of what they have seen as opposed to things that they hear or read. With Instagram, you can only make posts that have a video or photo with it. In other words, no text only posts. This means you’ll automatically be pushed into creating more memorable content.

Pinterest

pinterest marketing Pinterest is a great platform for business in the creative industry, or those whose target audience is mostly female.  Of Pinterest’s 291 million active monthly users, 81% are female. 93% of these users say they use Pinterest to research and plan purchases, and 87% of users say they have made a purchase because of Pinterest.  The top searches for Pinterest include outfit ideas, food recipes, wedding inspo, and lifestyle how-to articles. If your business fits into one of these categories, you’ll want to include Pinterest in your social media marketing strategy.  Pinterest does not have an advertising platform as advanced as Facebook’s, but you can still track online conversions and increase your posts reach with Pinterest’s paid ads.  It should be noted that Pinterest has some capabilities that other social media sites do not when it comes to organic reach. Pinterest determines reach from the amount of keywords in a post, and if they match up with what the user has searched.  This feature allows businesses to have a strategic plan set in place to make sure their content contains words that are frequently searched on Pinterest, without having to dip into their advertising fund.

Snapchat

Snapchat Snapchat is a pretty straightforward platform in which users send Snaps (photo or video) to their Snapchat Story or directly to another user. There are over 203 million active daily users on Snapchat, and over 350 active monthly users. The majority are younger, with 71% being under 34 years of age. Nearly 50% of the total users on this platform are between the ages of 18-24.  As with Instagram, Snapchat taps into that “visual remembrance” statistic, as posts must include a photo or video.  Snapchat has an impressive amount of traffic, with over 10 million videos viewed daily on this platform. If your company isn’t one of those using this platform, you are potentially missing out on a rather large market.  You can also set up paid advertising options where you can link your Snapchat in the Discovery section of the app.  If you fully utilize this platform’s capabilities by ensuring a fresh stream of content on your business’ Snapchat Story, coupled with using the Discovery feed feature for your target audience’s Top Story section, you will be front and center, reaching your target audience on one of the fastest-growing social media sites.

YouTubeYoutube influencer marketing

We all know YouTube. It’s a platform where users can upload their own videos, or watch those that others have uploaded.  YouTube boasts over 30 million active daily users, and over 2 billion active monthly users. So the chances of someone watching your video, are pretty good.  Just like Snapchat, Pinterest, and of course Instagram, YouTube works off visual content. The thing that makes it stand apart however, is it’s parent company.  Google owns YouTube. For this reason, you will have access to Google’s advertising platform when using YouTube. This will help you create YouTube ads.   As with Google, utilization of the proper keyword with help you optimize the search of your business’ YouTube videos.  Your YouTube videos can get higher search rankings by including relevant keywords frequently searched in the keywords tool, your video title, and it’s description. You can do all of this without spending any extra from your advertising budget.

Twitter

twitter social media Twitter is an OG of the social media sites, with over 336 million active monthly users. Your posts can be photos, vidoes, text, or any combination of the three. It’s important to keep in mind however, that with text, there is a character limit.  What Twitter is most known for is it’s real-time updates. Maybe you’re familiar with the term “live-tweeting”? Just like Instagram, Twitter uses hashtags to reach new potential customers. You simply search a hashtag and you will see various businesses or private users who have used it in their posts.  This makes it easy to effectively reach those who are looking for exactly what you offer. Let’s say you own a specialty food company, catering to those who are on the Keto diet. You would search relevant hashtags such as #Ketodiet or #Ketosnacks to find users who are interested in trying new brands or recipes. Once found, simply tweet them with a discount or free shipping on their first order, and there you have a simple direct way to generate leads.

LinkedIn

linked in marketing for business LinkedIn is one of the few social media sites that was made for businesses that follow a B2B model, or that are looking to target consumers based on job history.  This platform has 303 million monthly active users, most all of which are in the working world or close to it.  Because of this, people are generally more detailed when it comes to information about their job titles, employers, contact info, etc than other social media platforms designed for a more casual purpose.  While LinkedIn does not have the advanced advertising platform that Facebook does when it comes to campaign functions, it does excel when you are looking for specific job titles, as it has more options available than Facebook. This can be crucial if you have a niche target audience..

TikTok

tik tok TikTok is one of the newer social media sites. Launched in 2018, TikTok is an app where users create video clips up to 15 seconds long and share them. In just 2 years TikTok has grown to acquire over 1.2 billion users around the world, with over 500 million active monthly users. With these impressive figures, TikTok has surpassed LinkedIn, Snapchat, and even Twitter in a staggeringly short amount of time.  While this platform is certainly popular, especially with Gen Z, unfortunately TikTok still has a bit of growing up to do when it comes to advertising. If marketers wish to tap into this market, they need to go through an influencer. Because this platform isn’t saturated with marketers compared to Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, it’s a viable option for many businesses trying to tap into the difficult Gen Z market.

Yelp

social networking platform While Yelp’s popularity has slipped in recent years, it’s still a platform that deserves attention because it does play a vital role in maintaining your brand’s image.  Over 178 million visits are made to Yelp each month from consumers who are looking for another person’s real-life experience. Be it positive or negative.  By using Yelp, you will give your business a chance to keep up its reputation by encouraging positive reviews and responding to any negative ones.  This builds a sense of trust and transparency between you and your consumers, and can play a major role in keeping and expanding your customer base. 

In Conclusion

If you’re ready to start taking your social media marketing seriously but don’t want to DIY it, working with an experienced partner like True North Social can get you on the fast track. Feel free to contact us for personalized help, and discuss ways we can take your business further!

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