-
Home
-
Knowledge Base
-
Nicole Keiner
- Social Media 101 for Businesses – Where To Begin
Knowledge Base
Social Media 101 for Businesses – Where To Begin
Facebook. LinkedIn. Instagram. YouTube. Twitter. Snapchat. TikTok. Which social media channels are best to use for your business?
Using social media strategically can be an excellent tool for every business. The keyword here is “strategically.” It should be used hand-in-hand with your website. Social media is rented land but you own your website.
Creating and maintaining a social media strategy for your company, first and foremost, involves planning. Every post should be intentional and intentionally timed.
If you need assistance in creating a successful social media strategy for your business, Intrada can help. Utilizing the best social media channels for your business and creating engaging content that you house on your website will generate interaction and provide the best return on investment of both time and money.
Where to Start? A Social Media Audit
Intrada recommends beginning the process by performing a social media audit. By answering our 4-step social media audit questions, you will be on track to creating a successful strategy.
- Who is your target audience and what social media channels are they on? Review your target audience and what channels your competitors are using. Your audience will determine what channels you use. If you are currently posting on Facebook and your audience and competitors are on SnapChat, you may want to rethink where you devote most of your content creation. It is best to focus your efforts on a few.
- What are your overall social media goals? Brand awareness? Business growth? Obtaining more leads? If you are looking to grow your business, post about successes. If you are looking for brand awareness, create content around who your business is, what it can do for clients, and how it got started.
- What is your budget? Are you looking to spend money on paid advertising or just general posts?
- How much time can you or your team focus on social media? Do you have one person devoted to social media or several?
Once you review the questions above, the answers will help you understand how and why you are using social media. Answering these questions is crucial in developing an overarching successful social media strategy.
What’s Next? Selecting Your Channels
Once you have your target audience, you need to decide which channel(s) are right for your business. While there are many social media channels, we will discuss the ones used by most of our clients which can also benefit you.
“We recommend all of our clients have at least a Facebook and a LinkedIn page,” states David Steele, co-owner of Intrada. “This helps with your website’s SEO and is just something businesses should make sure they do.”
Facebook has over 3 billion active users. Currently, it is the largest social media channel. While Facebook typically has a reputation of its users being an older audience, the channel’s largest audience is 25-34 year-olds, with the 45 and older age group not too far behind.
LinkedIn is a business networking site, and unlike Facebook which is a business-to-consumer channel, LinkedIn is mainly business to business. It is best suitable for growing your network, connecting with industry experts, and finding qualified candidates for your team. It is also extremely useful for entrepreneurs and startup companies looking to get their names out there.
Instagram is all visual. It has over 1 billion users (most 25-34 year-olds) and, with the right type of content, can be a channel many businesses can use to market themselves successfully.
YouTube has over 2 billion users and is video-based, so if your company creates video content, you need to be on YouTube. YouTube videos vary in length from a few seconds or minutes to hours. It is a great place to store your company’s video library.
Pinterest, like Instagram, is all visual. Users (vary in age and are 60% women) create boards to post various types of content along with photos and images, from recipes to home projects to fashion. With over 400 million users, this may be a perfect channel for your business if your business is visually-driven.
Twitter should be used for real-time communication – a place where news is shared. The channel’s active users are 70% male.
Snapchat has a much younger demographic base so if your company is targeting teens and young adults, this may be an excellent channel for your business.
Tik Tok also has a much younger demographic base (but growing), but all of the channel’s content consists of short videos users can share.
Recap
- All companies should have a Facebook and LinkedIn page.
- Facebook is the largest social media platform, focuses on personal interactions, but is useful for connecting with customers, if approached correctly.
- LinkedIn focuses on business-to-business connections.
- Instagram and Pinterest are visually-driven social media channels.
- Twitter should be used for distribution of real-time news.
- Currently, Snapchat and Tik Tok target teens and young adults but their demographic is growing as older individuals are beginning to flock to the site.
And Now…Content
Now that you answered Intrada’s social media audit questions and have an idea of what channels to post on, you need to deliver good, engaging content.
“We recommend creating a social media content and frequency calendar,” adds Steele. “It does take time to do this, but it is well worth your effort. And if you have the dates and content ready to post, you can schedule it using a social media platform tool like Social Pilot or Hootsuite to keep you on track.”
How Can We Help?
Intrada’s Digital Marketing Team Senior Marketing Strategists Rachel Edwards and Nicole Keiner would be happy to help create your business’s social media strategy.
We will help you conduct your social media audit, hone your target audience, and help develop goals and creative content to produce a successful social media marketing strategy for your company - all while staying within your budget and time commitment. We can discuss each social media channel in more detail, review their pros and cons and see what works for your business. Contact us today to learn more by calling 800-858-5745 or filling out your information below.
Resources
www.sendible.com
www.sproutsocial.com
www.hootsuite.com
About the author
Contact Us
|
Contact Information: |
Hours of Operation: |
OUR FOCUS
Intrada Technologies is a full-service web development and network management company with a focus on creating ongoing, trusted partnerships with each of our clients.
We make sure our clients have what they require to run their businesses with maximum efficiency and reliability, as many of their needs are mission-critical.
Our unique, collaborative partnerships allow us to provide our clients with the assurance that we will be there when they need us.