Before the dawn of the internet, everyone had their own way to network and share ideas with others. Print media was the most common way to share ideas and build networks. Then, for few years, we were entertained by audiovisual media like radio and television. But, television and radio are established as communication media rather than networking due to the absence of immediate feedback mechanism from the audience.
How social media networks came about?
Social media networks, or simply social media as we call it these days, is probably the most important bi-product of internet technology. They started as networking, idea sharing, and interacting platforms and gradually transformed into the most popular marketing methods. Many businesses in the world, in an endeavor to reach out to more potential customers, have adopted them to market their products and services. Social media has become an essential part of our lives. It is popular across all age groups. It keeps you informed of the latest trends and practices in any vertical of human existence.
When trying to use social media to its advantage, there are a few things that should be asked. For e.g how to know which platform will suit my requirement? Are the correct networks being reached out as intended? And many other such questions. So let’s discover which platform benefits who.
Till 2019, Facebook reported 2.45 billion users and is the world’s largest social media platform. This platform was primarily used for keeping contact with old friends and to build relationships. Lately, it is spreading its wings towards eCommerce. In order to achieve your business goals for building brand recognition, you can try Facebook.
The platform can bring good returns for businesses that rely on visual appeal to sell their wares.
Twitters is an American microblogging and social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as “tweets”. One can follow anyone but it has a word limit of 140 characters maximum. This platform uses hashtags that arranges all discussions around a word or phrase. It is easy to search what people are talking about with the help of hashtags. Therefore, it’s a splendid place to market your brand.
Twitter is one of the social networks where you don’t do direct selling but it is an excellent platform to follow the pulse of the market and do some brand building.
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing service where users can watch videos on any topic from anywhere in the world just by sharing the link. YouTube has more than 2 billion users all over the world. In terms of eCommerce, YouTube as a marketing tool works best for the service industry.
YouTube is an excellent social network for not just running ads but creating content around your services. The content can range from How-to (use the products) videos to pitching the qualities of the products.
LinkedIn is a social network service that focuses on career and business. This platform is constructive for B2B lead generation. Placement firms are very much dependant on this portal as it helps them in background checks, verify recommendations and credentials.
Companies can leverage LinkedIn to post company-related updates. Sales teams can network with potential customers.
Instagram is a visual platform that enables users to share their pictures or videos. Users can sync their Instagram with other social media platforms to share their content. Art based businesses like paintings, sculpture work certainly well on this platform.
Instagram is especially helpful for small business owners and artists who can expect to get great exposure with the help of the platform.
If you are a business who wants to understand which social network will be most beneficial for their business and need help creating a social media marketing strategy, drop us a message.
