Having a social media presence in business is becoming just as important as having a phone number.
It is a necessity in getting your business in front of your audience, being searchable, and is one of the best ways to communicate with your customers – almost better (and sometime more preferred) than that landline we just mentioned.
However, with as mainstream as social media is becoming, it can still get a bit confusing for marketers.
There are several factors that go into choosing which social networks are right for you, how to customize your message to fit each network, and how to engage and grow your audience. After that, you have to determine what to post, when to post, and how often to post and then manage the different channels. That was a doozy.
If you aren’t sure if using social media to market your community should be a part of your marketing strategy, let’s look at a few stats:
71% of all online adults use Facebook. 58% of entire adult population. -Pew Research Center
53% of internet users ages 18-29 use Instagram. 48% use it daily.
42% of online women use Pinterest.
75% of parents use Facebook daily.
81% of mothers. 66% of fathers.
28% of online parents use Pinterest, including 40% of mothers and 15% of fathers.
Now let’s dive into each social network and consider what it can do for your brand.
Facebook:
Facebook is the king of social networks. It has over 1.3 billion users, half of which are active every day. It has become a part of our daily routine and plays a key role on how we obtain breaking news.
Facebook started as a way for college students to connect with their peers and has evolved significantly into a platform for users of all ages to connect with peers, family, and brands. These users are spending an average of 18 minutes per visit and are connecting with an average of 80 pages, groups, or events during this time. This is where you come in to incorporate your marketing efforts, brand message, and brand persona.
Facebook is a great platform to use if you want to reach a broad network and build your online reputation. Although there is talk that the network is losing traction with the young crowd, they are more likely to leave a review on Facebook over Yelp, Google, or Apartment Ratings.
Twitter:
Twitter has super users and ghostly users: those that are constantly tweeting and those that are there for the party (celebrity and big brand name tweets). For businesses, Twitter is the place to be for B2B marketing, quick educational moments, and to participate or listened to conversations around your brand, industry, or city.
Twitter isn’t as much a lead generation platform as much as it is a brand loyalty platform. And it goes to show with 85% of users using Twitter to feel more connected to a business by following brand accounts. And then you have the viral effect: great content + connected advocates = Retweets and brand mentions.
It is no surprise that Gen Z and Millennials are the most active age group on Twitter. This crowd of younger, more connected users are going to mention you on Twitter when they have a great (or bad) brand experience, and you have to be ready to respond quickly. Twitter is also a great space to push informative articles such as topic-based news and local happenings.
Instagram:
Instagram is a visual platform and is an easy way to share beautiful and artsy photos of your brand, product, or stories. Knowing that pictures get 5x higher engagement on Twitter, and that photos make up 93% of the most engaging Facebook posts, Instagram has the ability to dominate the social space… if you have great photos to share.
Older generations are starting to adapt to Instagram as another way to keep up with family. The younger generations, on the other hand, are using this platform to showcase their artistic side as well as to follow influencers: bloggers, designers, celebrities, etc. Instagram is also becoming a bit more competitive as users are very selective of whom they follow. They only want visually pleasing and interesting pictures in their feeds.
Pinterest:
Is your property blogging and do you have someone on hand to pin weekly? If so, Pinterest is perfect for you. Pinterest is the place to share your website and blog posts in form of pinnable visuals that inspire and inform your audience. Pinterest is also known to be a more popular sharing platform than email.
Your social media marketing objective is typically to drive the appropriate audience to your website. Where Pinterest comes into play is when you pin your blog posts or web images, you are putting your website content in front of your audience that then gathers more information. It is more passive.
Snapchat:
Have you noticed Snapchat’s ghost shaped logo? It looks like that for a reason! Snapchat is unique in that all photos and videos only last for a brief amount of time before they disappear forever. Because of each Snapchat’s lifespan, this gives your audience a sense of exclusivity and urgency. By utilizing this platform, you can promote short-term specials, give behind the scenes looks, and add a personal and entertaining aspect to your marketing strategy.
Video Marketing:
Between Youtube, Vimeo, Vine, Snapchat, and even Facebook and Instagram, there are several video networks to keep up with. Although it already seems overwhelming, utilizing a video network to showcase your brand is especially great for SEO and Facebook reach. And that is to no surprise knowing that people would rather watch a high quality video than read a list of amenities and features.
As video becomes more mobile and more social, it is quickly becoming the most viable marketing opportunity for any business. Let’s look at a few quick stats:
- 52% of marketers believe that video is the content format with the highest ROI.
- 74% of all internet traffic in 2017 will be video.
- 69% of smartphone users say videos are a perfect solution for smartphone viewing as it offers a quick way for consumers to grasp an overview of a product.
Source: Syndacast.
Still not convinced to try out video marketing? Let’s look at a few more stats:
- 70% of marketing professionals report that video converts better than any other medium.
- The average internet user spends 88% more time on a website with video than without.
- 64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video about it.
- 59% of viewers will watch a video to completion that is less than 1 minute.
- Despite all this, only 24% of brands are using online video to market to consumers.
Source: Adelie Studios.
Where will you build your online presence first? Choosing the right social networks to use depends on your resident demographics, and those demographics should include more than just age and gender. And remember: Social media is not a one size fits all.