In order to launch a successful digital marketing strategy, it’s important to first understand the dynamics and general “rules” that go along with each of the top social media sites. Of course getting to know the basics can sometimes be a not-so-basic process, and that’s why we’re here to help.
We’ve created this easy-to-digest guide to the top social media platforms for small business owners like you. In each section, we’ll start by relating each platform to a familiar social setting. We’ll then break down basic elements such as: audience type, top channel tools, and the best types of content you should be using on each so that you can begin familiarizing yourself with general best practices of social media marketing.
The point? At Blended Sense, we aim to offer our customers a different perspective of the marketing world in order to help alleviate the stress associated with figuring out an effective strategy. Your business has a story and we offer the tools, education, and content to help you tell it.
The setting: Facebook is like the family reunion dinner where everyone is talking over each other. There’s a lot of opinions, unique thoughts, and side conversations happening all at once. If you can become an expert at sidestepping an in-depth talk with your aunt about politics to go talk business with your sister’s CEO boyfriend, then you can master Facebook easily.
Facebook’s younger demographic continues to drop in favor of apps such as Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, etc., while the older audiences continue to grow as they prefer to use the platform for the majority of their social media interaction. Don’t be deterred by the rise and fall in numbers though, as Facebook’s demographics still reach wider than any other social media platform.
Tools
Adopting a Facebook marketing strategy is essential to creating a well-rounded content plan for your business. When you use this platform effectively, you can build brand awareness, engage with customers, and drive sales. Facebook offers a Business Manager platform that allows business owners to organize, manage, and market their products & services with specialized tools, insights, and ad accounts. A huge upside to this feature is that it helps you to separate your personal persona from your business persona. The Facebook for Business platform also allows for entire teams to gain behind-the-scenes access to your business page so that you can build out a holistic strategy in order to meet your marketing goals.
Your Content
The key to creating successful content for Facebook is focusing on engagement. The more shares, likes, and comments your posts get - the more likely you are to reach a broader audience. The plus side? You have the opportunity to post a wide variety of content such as photos, videos, podcasts, and more in order to find your sweet spot.
Here are a few examples of content that works well on Facebook…
The setting: Twitter is the local neighborhood joint that’s usually packed with people and very, very loud. Since there’s less of a chance for you to be heard in a conversation, you’ve learned to make sure that whatever you do say is short, sweet, and makes an impact. The same rules apply to your tweets.
You’ll find that users of all ages regularly engage with this app, as the content being provided is quick & easy to read on top of being relatable. Most people use Twitter as their primary news source for this very reason, seeking “real time” updates from media outlets, brands, corporations, politicians, influencers, and celebrities alike.
Tools
One of the best ways to utilize Twitter in order to grow your business is through social listening. Social listening allows you to conduct competitor analysis, review customer feedback, and get actionable data for your marketing strategy. Experts at The Balance Small Business remind entrepreneurs that Twitter gives you unique access to see what your audience is saying about topics relating to your business. You can use Twitter Search to find out when people are tweeting about an industry-related topic, enabling you to keep your ear to the ground about your own company as well as the competition. Once you begin to see themes in this analysis, you’ll be able to identify both improvements for current products as well as insight into future products that your customers are guaranteed to love. This will give you an edge over businesses that offer products & services in similar markets.
Your Content
Set goals for your Twitter presence and create a strategy to support it. You’ll find that your time and money are well-spent when you set intentions behind each of your tweets. This will also help you to stand out amongst your competition, as your content will continue to remain fresh. With the “real time” aspect that Twitter offers, you can use the platform to announce a product launch, give updates on a limited-time only sale, engage with customers about current events relating to your business, and so much more.
Here are a few examples of content that works well on Twitter…
The setting: Think of LinkedIn as the fancy restaurant you would take potential investors and/or clients in order to really impress them. This is the situation where you pull out all of the stops: from your own appearance to the way you carry yourself to that pitch you’ve prepared. Make sure to bring similar table manners to your LinkedIn posts.
LinkedIn caters directly to business professionals, which is why the majority of its audience consists of age groups that make up the world’s workforce. The platform bridges the gap between companies, brands, and professionals alike in order to create business connections, share ideas, post/find jobs, and more.
Tools
LinkedIn is the ideal platform to use in order to build a growing network, impress investors, and seek out superstar employees. You can use LinkedIn’s Advanced Search tool to research hashtags, content topics, companies, and strategic partners to connect with - just make sure that you’re using keywords related to the industry that you’re in. You’ll soon find that your news feed will be filled with top leading trends and marketing opportunities that directly relate to your own business. In return, your business page will be more likely to turn up on feeds of companies and professionals that you’d want to connect with!
Your Content
Users typically spend much less time on LinkedIn than they do on other social platforms, which is why your content needs to remain uber-relevant to fellow business owners and job seekers. This is the best platform to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry. You’ll want to incorporate LinkedIn into your content marketing strategy early on so that you can make sure to produce clean, authoritative content on a regular basis.
Here are a few examples of content that works well on LinkedIn…
The setting: This is that bar that you love to go to when you just want to let loose and dance. There’s always a diverse group of people there that feel comfortable simply doing their own thing. The combination of such a wide set of personalities is what makes it so fun!
Originally TikTok was mainly popular with the Gen Z (ages 10-19) audience. With the changing global climate, however, TikTok is now reported as the most downloaded app in 2019. The app has around 800 million active users, which ranges from teens to adults.
Tools
Being a fairly new app, TikTok has yet to expand its various tools to support business growth. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t utilize such a popular platform for your marketing strategy. With such a high potential for your video content to go viral, you’ll want to use TikTok for the purpose of brand awareness rather than to drive sales. You can work with influencers, use trending hashtags, and pay for advertising on the platform in order to reach audiences that you weren’t previously able to get in front of before.
Your Content
TikTok content is unfiltered and focused entirely on the quality & context instead of the aesthetic. According to Forbes: “Users that can combine entertaining or informative content in a 15- or 60-second video clip have the potential to see almost immediate results.” So have fun with it! This is one of the best platforms in which you can be highly creative, and even a little experimental, with the content you’re producing.
Here are a few examples of content that works well on TikTok…
The setting: Instagram is the club that always has a line out the door. In this club, each patron is dressed up to showcase their unique brand personality. And of course… everyone. is. taking. pictures.
Instagram is home to over 1 billion active users, with people of all ages joining on a daily basis for personal and business purposes. Even with new, “hot” apps seemingly taking over social media consumption (i.e. TikTok), Instagram is still the best platform to utilize in order to create leads, build brand loyalty, and drive sales.
Tools
The tools that Instagram provides for brands are ever-growing, including (but not limited to): building successful hashtag strategies, hosting IG livestreams, creating lasting video content on IG TV, and marketing best-selling products with shoppable posts. With such an advanced toolkit at your disposal, it can get confusing on where to start. That’s where your business profile comes into play. Like Facebook, Instagram offers specialized business accounts that will give you access to analytics & insights on your posts, followers, ads, and stories. Having such sophisticated features at your fingertips will help guide you to understanding your marketing impact, as well as how to grow your business through the app.
Your Content
You’ll want to dive into Instagram equipped with a clear content marketing plan to help you navigate the platform. Remember: aesthetics and context are very important here. Start becoming comfortable with the idea that it’s OK to take extra time creating high-quality content & copy for your Instagram page. You’ll find that your followers are more likely to engage with your content when it is consistent to your brand vision, relevant to the industry you’re in, and of course - aesthetically pleasing.
Here are a few examples of content that works well on Instagram…
The Blended Sense business model generates an ecosystem of local support that stimulates both the small business and the creative economy. We invite you to schedule a demo with us in order to learn more about our COVID-19 Revival Kit, and how we can help YOUR business grow!
