The importance of utilizing social media in your business is nothing new to you, but are you still asking, “What social media should my business use to best promote my brand and attract customers?” Too often businesses will try and capitalize on any social media channel, thinking that as long as they are on that specific platform, it will better their business. However, you need to be smart and understand your brand. By understanding your brand and presenting it in the most effective way possible, it will encourage consumers to interact with you and potentially convert them into future customers. Due to the large number of social networks we will break this topic into two blog posts. Today we will examine if Facebook, Twitter of LinkedIn are right for your business.
Social networks power digital relationships and encourage communication between consumers and businesses, even before they become your consumer. They can provide you with immediate feedback from your customers.
There are so many social media sites, and more are being created all the time. It is not necessary to be on all of them. You need to examine what platform works best for you and how you can most effectively connect with your customers. Where does your audience spend most of its time? Rarely do audiences cross paths. You need to focus on a few that best broadcasts your brand. Let us examine three of the most popular networks: Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn.
When someone thinks social media networks, they will inevitably think of Facebook. The most populated network, Facebook is comprised of both personal and business pages. However, just because it is the most popular, does not mean that it will necessarily work for your business. Having a Facebook company account will benefit your business if:
- You are a consumer based industry ready to deal with customer responses
- You’re going to engage with consumers on a daily basis in new and entertaining ways (e.g. contests, unique content, etc)
- Your customers are on Facebook. This is crucial. Always be where your potential customers are.
- You have the time to commit to maintaining the page and the conversation.
Twitter must be viewed as a public forum- all current and potential customers can see your tweets. Twitter can be a major benefit to a business. Operating a Twitter account is right for your business if:
- You run promotions, share blog posts or news stories
- You plan on engaging with your followers multi times on a daily basis
- Your target demographic is on twitter
- You run a service based company- it allows consumers to interact with a brand they can use repeatedly and develop a brand following with
LinkedIn is the network to join if you are looking to expand your business network. If it isn’t a smart decision for your business, it is still important for you to join as an ambassador of your company. LinkedIn:
- Allows you to have a stronger business to business focus.
- Allows you to gain industry insight and trends
- Provides you with a more professional platform than Facebook or Twitter
- Is a highly effective way of attracting business clients
You may have noticed a common theme with all three social networks- namely be where your customers are! If your key demographic is 40-55 businessmen, you will have much greater luck on LinkedIn rather than Facebook. At the same time does that mean that you can’t have both? Not necessarily, but where your customers are will dictate how much time to allot to a specific platform. Connect with Braymark, Niagara mystery shopper experts to learn how a customer’s perspective can change your business.
Still having difficulty figuring out what network to promote your business with, let us know and make sure you turn in for Part Two on Friday that will examine Instagram, Pinterest, and consumer based review websites (such as Yelp and Trip Advisor).
