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Social Media Platforms – Test , Measure & Repeat

Social media has influenced our lives in a great way. Here are the basics you need to know about today's most popular social media platforms.

Facebook:

Having a Facebook presence for your business is not an option, but is a must!

Facebook is the biggest social network on the web, both in terms of name recognition and total number of users. With nearly 2 billion active users, Facebook is a great medium for connecting people from all over the world with your business. And from an advertising perspective, it’s the easiest to manage and allows for the best possible targeting.

Best features include

  • The ability to connect with a vast number of people and prospects
  • §  Live streaming capabilities
  • §  The most targeted digital advertising platform in the world
  • §  ecommerce integrations

Instagram:

Instagram is a visual social media platform based entirely on photo and video posts. The Facebook-owned network has more than 700 million active users, many of whom post about food, art, travel, fashion and similar subjects. Insta’ is perfect for businesses that have a visual or physical product.

Best Features Include

  • The ability to showcase your products or story tell in a visually appealing way
  • Document and take people behind the scenes with the Stories feature
  • Communicate with people on a deeper level via direct messaging
  • Using hash tags is a great way to help other users find your content on Instagram, just like on Twitter.

LinkedIn:

People often refer to LinkedIn as the ‘professional’ version Facebook. In 2016, Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for $26.2 billion with plans to integrate the platform with its Windows software. From job listings to interest groups (there are more than 870K groups) there are great benefits to keeping your profile up-to- date .Company seeking clients and individuals seeking employment should grow their LinkedIn networks by adding as many real connections as possible.

 Best Features Include

  • The ability to share and promote job vacancies, promotions, and share career opportunities
  • The ability to create both personal and company pages for greater brand awareness
  • An engaged community of people with a business mindset and focus while using the platform

Twitter:

Twitter has an estimated 300 million users world-wide and has been described as SMS of the internet because posts are short, sweet and to-the-point. This platform is not only a great way to market your business, but also an effective channel for handling customer service. For example, if you maintain an active Twitter presence, customers who are also active on the platform will seek you out to express concerns or share their praise.

Best Features Include:

  • The ability to communicate and engage on trending topics and events worldwide
  • Digital advertising (can be rather pricey compared to Facebook for example)
  • Provide real time customer service

While there are many other platforms available for use like Snapchat , Youtube , Pinterest , Foursquare , Google + etc. , Being Creative is the variable for success. What you do and the value you provide determines the overall results you have with social media.

There is not always one ‘perfect’ social media platform for your business. Like many things, it is about testing, measuring and repeating.

"If you are marketing to seniors, you're not going to be using the latest social media app like Snapchat because the audience isn't there -- just like if you are marketing to teens you probably aren't going to use something like LinkedIn." – Says a social media director

Jon Leonoudakis uses four different platforms as he advertises "The Sweet Spot," a streaming series about baseball. He uses Facebook because of its 234 million users in the U.S. and Canada, Twitter because he can do quick tweets aimed at people who are baseball fans and Instagram because it has younger users. Leonoudakis writes longer posts detailing his project on LinkedIn.

Many companies that don't believe social media can help them grow nonetheless make sure they have a presence on at least one channel.

MemberSuite, which makes software for organizations like trade and industry groups, posts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn although social media doesn't necessarily help it get new customers, CEO Andrew Ryan says. Its news and blog items increase awareness about the Atlanta-based company, and also help it maintain its reputation.

"What (social media) does is give us a sense of credibility and gives our customers confidence in us," Ryan says.

 

Compiled By - Aparajita Mohanty , Manager - Business Development & Human Capital , Nirmalya Labs 

    08-08-2017         7 : 45 AM

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