Social media is everywhere: it’s become an integral part of both our personal, and professional, lives. Many companies have thought about a social media strategy, and it’s a question that often gets asked to a company’s marketing agency. But, with plenty of different platforms to choose from, and a limited amount of time and resources to put in, where should you be focusing your attention and your marketing spend?
Despite often being blamed as a distraction by workplaces, Facebook provides a fantastic way of promoting your business and is a particularly strong player in the business to consumer (B2C) market.
Facebook allows you create pages about your business, write short blog-style posts, and also gives you a wealth of metrics, which they call “Insight”.
There are many benefits to using Facebook for your company. One, in particular, is that it is probably the most widely used platform at present, with over regular 1.59 billion users (December 2015. Source Adweek). It’s also incredibly easy to set up, all you need is a Facebook account and you’re ready to go.
Facebook has its own intricacies that need addressing, including algorithms that have an impact on who views your posts. This, in turn, means that you may have a large amount of “likes”, but a lot of your content is not being seen.
You can “promote” posts but judging when is the appropriate time, and how to do it, can be a tricky task, that can often have an effect afterward on your figures.
It’s good to speak to your marketing agency about using Facebook, as they will have a good understanding of how to approach sponsored posts and scheduling. This will allow you to get the best return on investment for your time and money.
Twitter is another social network that has a strong presence, and could be seen as the “voice” of many a business. It’s a great way of networking and finding out news straightaway.
Heavily used by bloggers, many look for opportunities to review and work with brands via the network.
Hashtags are a handy feature on Twitter: often you can see what hashtags are trending, which is a great indication of the marketplace and the general mood of the consumer.
As a network, Twitter is strong for both B2B and B2C, often providing a direct line to companies you wish to contact.
Be aware that Twitter can often be a place where customers choose to publicly complain. It can also be a time consuming exercise keeping up with the fast-pace of the network.
Working alongside a marketing agency that understands you as a business can be key to making Twitter work for you.
Dealing with any negative tweets quickly and efficiently can set you apart as a company which values good customer service. Plus outsourcing to an agency will allow them to put together a strong social media strategy, including scheduling tweets, to make the most of your follower network.
If you’ve ever seen someone taking an arty photograph of their food, you can bet they are using Instagram.
This visually-led, social network is popular with the B2C market and would be deemed an aspirational platform.
Photography and composition are key on this network and can receive an excellent reach if executed correctly. The demographic tends to be young and aspirational and again, the site is very popular with bloggers, vloggers and celebrities.
When using Instagram for business it’s important to remember the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”. A well-chosen image, combined with the appropriate hash tags, can equal a great response.
Your agency will be able to help you to identify exactly how to approach the Instagram platform with their knowledge of content and engagement.
YouTube
With YouTubers becoming celebrities and entire careers being made on the platform, this video sharing site can be an effective way for businesses to increase their profile.
Deciding how you use YouTube for business can be difficult. The concept of making a video can be appealing, but it can be time consuming and can be difficult to set a tone. Do you want to make an amusing video, or would you prefer to take the more professional, instructional angle?
Often marketing agencies will have experience in video production and creating content for companies. It’s worth having a discussion with your agency to see if this is something that would be beneficial to your marketing strategy moving forward.
Pinterest is a platform where you “pin” items, article and images on to what is effectively a digital pin-board.
Like Instagram, it’s an extremely visual platform and can have a wide reach if executed correctly. This can be done in two different ways:
Firstly, you create your own boards. This gives a flavour of who you are, what you’re about and people can re-pin items of your board to spread your brand. This is a particularly good medium if you work in design or an aesthetically-driven industry.
Secondly, if you have products or infographics at your disposal, you can add badges to your web design so people can pin these to their own boards. This again, in turn, will be shared and allows you to spread your brand further. Memes and unrelated images are also a good way to spread your brand without directly promoting your company.
Liaising with your digital agency will help you to build up a picture of which strategy would suit your business model and marketing strategies best.
If you’re keen to start social networking and don’t know where to begin, Blue Llama have excellent experience in a number of social media platforms to help you. Even if you already have your pages set up, speaking to an agency like Blue Llama will help you to grow your followers and make the most of them.
