One of the first questions most small business owners ask us about social media is what social site(s) should my business use? It’s important to create an effective social media strategy and choose the best site for your business, as “almost 75% of online adults are now on at least one social networking website, and just shy of one half (42%) are using multiple social sites.” (from Social Media Today)
Before you create an account on a social site (or if you have a site and wonder if you should keep it), take into account the following:
1. Your company’s goals for social media: more visibility, branding, customer service, traffic to your website, sales, etc.
2. Your current customers’ preferences: which sites do your current customers use the most? Do some research: ask them directly, search for them on social sites, or set up alerts (like Google alerts) for you/your business to find out who is talking about you and where (social network) your name is mentioned.
3. Your competitors and industry “influencers”: go to their websites and see which social media sites are linked. Then take a look at their social sites for an idea of how active they and their followers are; can you maintain your account as well as your competitors? Can you do a better job at it with your current resources?
Then consider the content required for each social site versus what you are already doing. Determine how consistently you can maintain the site(s) in question, and put together a strategy for those sites. Note: we recommend starting with 1-2 social sites initially, to get the most effective results in the shortest amount of time..
The following is a quick overview for each major social media network to give you a starting point when developing the best marketing strategy for your business:
The biggest social network, with over a billion users, is usually where most business owners start. People now almost “expect” businesses to have a presence on Facebook, especially if you are a B2C (business-to-consumer) company.
Facebook started as the network for family and friends, so it can be a challenge to connect with your target audience since you can’t “friend” them first. Users must Like your business Page, and even then, may not see many of your posts without some type of paid advertising.
Users share helpful, inspirational, human-interest posts more than any pure promotional content (this is true on other networks as well), so your strategy should include posts that speak to your target audience’s lifestyles or interests that compliment your business’ products or services.
Relationship are built through comments, messages, and your Fans sharing your content with their friends, so a real-time customer service plan is necessary.
Facebook contests, Groups, and the new Rooms App are additional options for connecting with your customers and potential customers.
A note about Facebook advertising: with the ability to target very specific audiences (including people who have visited your website), you can reach the people who are more likely to want to do business with you with a modest budget.
This network leans more toward female users, but it continues to grow with male audiences too. Pinterest is becoming a search engine itself, in a different way than Google. Visual search is powerful: most of us respond more to images, and Pinterest’s Guided Search gives you even more visual options when searching for a topic.
Pinterest is good for SEO, especially in the long-run, as Pins (images posted) are shared for weeks, months, even years after you share them. Each Pin that you post should direct users back to your website to get the results from this long-term SEO.
People create boards (think of an online bulletin board) to hold the Pins (images) they’ve found appealing. So lifestyle-related content is important to a Pinterest strategy: people collect what they like, what they wish for, or what answers a question they have…so your content should speak to those points.
Real-time conversations don’t guide interaction on Pinterest as much as other sites, and many users do not visit the site on a daily basis (see statistics later in this guide). So you may find this network somewhat easier to maintain if you are limited in support staff and time.
This network is good for real-time news, updates, and conversations; which means it is necessary to monitor your account on Twitter several times a day.
If you have the time (and/or staff) to monitor Twitter, you can rise above your competitors in customer service and audience outreach. For example, you can set up a system to monitor for any user (in specific locations if necessary) who is asking a question/sharing a problem that your business can solve/answer. Sending a Tweet (post) that answers someone’s question goes a long way in building a relationship with your target audience.
Connecting with new people is also easier on Twitter, as you are allowed to “follow” other users without waiting for them to accept your request. There are a variety of strategies for getting other users to follow you; but since this network is much more open than Facebook or LinkedIn, you can see quick success in building a relevant community here.
Many people feel restricted with Twitter’s 140-character limit on Tweets (posts); but the site has become a much more visual network over the past year, and you may find that a visual content strategy on Twitter produces great results for your business.
Instagram is the latest up-and-coming social network, with a younger demographic. But don’t discount this site if your target audience is not in the 18-29 year old range. You may find that Instagram is a great place to share a more personal side of your business through photos.
Or you may find it an easy way to get people to crowd-source content for your sites: photo contests, popular themes (like “Throwback Thursdays”), or shots from live events can all be used to create content for your website or Facebook Page that encourages more user engagement.
Since Instagram is owned by Facebook, sharing and posting photos from Instagram to your Facebook Page is easy to do. (And don’t forget video – Instagram’s 15-second videos can be shared to your Facebook Page as well.)
YouTube
Speaking of video, YouTube ranks at the top of social networks. “YouTube reaches more adults aged 18 to 34 than any single cable TV network.” Read more at Business Insider.
So if you have content that will work well on video, it’s worth it to invest the time to setting up and consistently maintaining a YouTube channel.
Depending on your content, you’ll probably find that shorter videos work well as you share them to other social sites (as well as your website).
The thought of doing videos may seem overwhelming (and to be honest, it’s an area that we at LCS need to spend more time on), but with the sophistication of camera phones, you can start out on a small scale, with a minimum investment of resources and time.
Google+
This site has been around for several years now, but does not seem to have the daily interaction rates as most of the other sites. However, you may find that your target audience is active on Google+, and if you set up a Page or Profile, you may be a step ahead of your competitors who are ignoring this network.
Brick-and-mortar businesses may find it especially important to set up a local Google+ Page (Place Page), to easily show up in Search results.
Because Google+ is part of the biggest search engine, Google, posting your original content to a G+ Page/Profile may help you/your business show up in topical searches.
Communities on G+ are similar to Facebook Groups, and you may find them to be a great way to build a relationship with your target audience.
Google+ Hang Outs and Hang Outs on Air are great video tools to connect with your audience (and since YouTube is part of Google, having Hang Outs on Air automatically post to your YouTube account is a time-saving feature.)
LinkedIn has always been the more “professional” site, and works very well for B2B (business-to-business) companies. But you may also find it important for personal branding, as the face of your business, no matter what your industry.
With the addition of the LinkedIn publishing platform, you can now create blog posts directly on the site. You also have the option of creating a LinkedIn Page for your business, which may serve you well as an outlet for additional original content or industry-related updates.
Keep in mind that SlideShare is owned by LinkedIn and is a great way to show visual presentations on your LinkedIn profile (as well as other sites: SlideShares are “live” when posting on Twitter and Pinterest as well.)
Other sites to consider:
Yelp, Foursquare – location-based networks for brick-and-mortar businesses
Tumblr – blogging platform, with a younger audience, heavy on visual content.
Snapchat – mobile-based, instant messaging App, with “snaps” that disappear after sending them, very popular with teens.
Vine – mobile App owned by Twitter, 6-second videos that play on autoloop, easy to embed on Twitter (and websites).
Daily Usage and Brand Dependence:
You may want to consider how often users access social sites when planning your strategy. Here are some daily usage rates for top sites (source: TechCrunch):
Facebook – 63% of people access it on a daily basis
Instagram – has a 57% daily usage rate
Twitter – 46% of users are on it daily
Pinterest – only 23% of users visit it on a daily basis
For more daily usage rates and other stats, check out this article from Entrepreneur.com:
What social sites are most important to users – the ones that they can’t live without? A study by Uta Brand Studio compiled a Brand Dependence score as explained below:
“Brand Dependence measures how strong of a connection people have to a brand (brand-self connection) as well as how easy their thoughts and feelings about a brand come to mind (prominence). The combined metrics result in a Brand Dependence score that ranges from 0 to 100.”
Results:
Facebook – 43
Instagram – 42
YouTube – 39
Pinterest – 38
Google+ / Twitter – 33
LinkedIn – 31
You may want to consider using one of the top sites that users can’t live without in your strategy.
Use this guide as a starting point; each business is different and will have different results on social media. Keep in mind that whatever network you choose, consistently posting helpful content, monitoring your site(s), and making adjustments to strategy are all necessary components of a successful plan.
Do you have further questions about which sites are best for your business? Need training on how to use those sites? Contact me for a free, 15-minute consultation to recommend your best, next steps!
Top photo credit(derived from): StockMonkeys.com via photopin cc
About Terry League