Establishing a solid presence on social media allows you to reach a vast audience, increase brand visibility and spend your advertising budget effectively. Social media platforms connect families, friends and co-workers with people they know and trust. They also do an excellent job of helping companies show up in front of consumers in ways that create positive brand connections and drive shopping behaviours.
Marketers who understand the critical role social media platforms play in today’s digital landscape will be able to stay a step ahead of competitors, which is imperative in tight markets. It’s wise not to underestimate the opportunity to make an impact in the spaces where consumers spend significant time.
Brands that keep up with the changes in social media and increase their visibility in the right spaces stand to win valuable customer loyalty.
Why your company should be active on social media
Your customers are spending time on social media, along with millions of other users with similar interests and concerns. Over 4.7 billion people worldwide use social media, spending an average of nearly 2.5 hours per day across various platforms.
Social media advertising is big business, with marketers predicted to spend over US$65 billion this year. It’s a significant investment that should have a defined strategy for solid returns. Your best bet is to focus on the platforms where your target audience spends time.
Your best approach is to identify where your target customers spend the most time and where they show buying behaviour. This means the platform attracts people who are similar to your best customers, and it’s a place where they’ve already demonstrated they follow, engage with and shop from brands.
6 social media advertising platforms to start using today
Each social media platform has unique advertising features you can tap into to optimize your return on investment of resources. With unlimited time and money, you could create content for every platform, but social media needs to fit into your overall marketing strategy.
1. Facebook
Facebook offers a variety of features that keep users logging in and engaged. These features make it an ideal platform for you to reach your target audience through sponsored posts, ad campaigns and promotions.
Looking for more connection with potential customers? Try using stories, Messenger chats, video content, webinars or a Facebook group to foster community, authority and direct user engagement.
Tip: Define your target audience clearly and use Facebook’s sophisticated targeting parameters to ensure your ads reach the right audience.
2. YouTube
YouTube, a popular video-sharing platform, helps you create an influential social media presence to connect with audiences through easily digestible, entertaining and shareable videos.
The platform provides an opportunity to share the human side of your brand, engage consumers, and use analytics to understand audience preferences and deliver valuable content.
Tip: YouTube is a platform centred around visuals, so it’s imperative to invest in producing compelling content that captures viewers’ attention and provides value.
3. Instagram
Instagram offers an attractive platform for photo and story sharing, reaching a diverse audience that includes individuals, brands, businesses, influencers and genuine celebrities.
These factors make it an ideal space to create visually appealing content to promote products and services, with access to valuable insights through Instagram Business profiles and various advertising options, like sponsored ads, product teasers and influencer partnerships.
Tip: Be sure to adhere to best practices, such as maintaining high image quality and using storytelling to help engage consumers.
4. TikTok
TikTok, the popular platform for short-form mobile videos, provides a swiftly growing opportunity for you to connect with younger audiences. TikTok offers a unique opportunity for marketers to leverage its enormously creative platform of users. With the ability to share and collaborate with other creators, you can create engaging content users can’t help but notice.
Embracing TikTok’s informal tone helps you effectively reach and authentically engage with your target audience.
Tip: To make the most of TikTok for marketing purposes, brands can collaborate with influencers to create engaging content, establish a branded channel and build a targeted TikTok advertising campaign.
5. Twitter
Twitter provides a powerful platform to engage, increase brand awareness, promote products, boost conversion, build communities and gain consumer trust through free content sharing, immediate customer support, audience expansion, competitor analysis and paid marketing options – like promoted tweets and Twitter ads.
Advertising features include keyword targeting, strategic hashtag usage, content scheduling, Twitter campaigns, sharing valuable visual content, active follower engagement and retweeting mentions of your brand.
Tip: With the platform’s character limit, crafting concise and attention-grabbing messages that effectively convey your brand’s value proposition or call to action is essential.
6. LinkedIn
LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, offers companies a virtual space to engage with professionals and achieve business objectives. Beyond its origins as a networking site, LinkedIn provides features like online training courses, and business services for talent acquisition and growth solutions.
Marketers can leverage LinkedIn’s features to find leads, raise awareness and convert users into customers. A LinkedIn company page enhances brand credibility and serves as an educational tool to inform customers about offerings.
Tip: By publishing insightful content on LinkedIn’s publishing platform, brands can establish thought leadership, while LinkedIn groups enable connections and potential collaborations with influencers.
How does a robust social media presence benefit your business?
A company needs to see a solid return on its investments in marketing. Otherwise, it simply won’t be viable over the long term. A strong presence on social media can help drive changes that boost your bottom line.
Investing in the right social media platforms has big benefits that include:
- Huge yet targeted audiences
Social media platforms have billions of active users worldwide, meaning a huge audience is waiting to connect with your brand. This audience includes your existing customers, potential customers and potential collaborators.
- Brand visibility and awareness
Building awareness helps create a growing audience of people who know your products and services. By sharing interesting content and using relevant hashtags, you can reach a larger audience, create a memorable brand image and establish yourself as a leader in your industry.
- Customer engagement and feedback
Social media provides a direct channel to engage with your customers and build relationships over time. It also creates an opportunity to gather valuable feedback that can help you improve your offerings.
- Targeted advertising
Social media platform tools allow you to target personalized advertisements at those in specific demographics, with shared interests and with similar behaviours online. Precise targeting means your marketing dollars are used most effectively in every campaign.
- Amplified content distribution
Social media makes it quick and easy to distribute your content for more website traffic, higher engagement rates and better visibility on search engines.
- Competitive advantage
You can showcase what makes your brand unique, stay top of mind with your customers, and get noticed in conversations in your market and coverage of the latest industry trends.
- Influencer collaborations
By partnering with relevant influencers, you can expand your reach, tap into new markets, and leverage the trust and credibility they have with their followers.
Social media has become essential to modern marketing strategies for businesses across many industries. Brands embracing social media benefit from increased visibility, audience engagement and precisely targeted advertising. Leveraging the power of social media, especially when you choose platforms carefully, can help you drive sales and brand awareness.
