Gone are the days of a simple listing in the phone book. The importance of a company has a presence in social networks is real. Now, we ask “What is your Instagram username? Twitter user? Facebook?". We know that being on social media is crucial, but what does that really mean? Creating a company profile is a fairly simple task, but do you need to be on all channels or just a few? What is the advantage of Instagram over Facebook? What does Facebook offer that Snapchat is missing? How can we be more efficient?
It is important to think of a good strategy on social media before you start posting, get to know the audience you are trying to reach, what type of content works best on each network, and which social media best fits the end goal. Choosing the right social networks for your business is essential. If not, you could end up wasting time, effort, and money.
Here we will quickly describe some of the benefits and disadvantages of the most popular social networks:
As the number of Facebook users began to decline, the younger generation jumped to Instagram (in fact this is the reason for the decline in users). Instead of text as the main driver, photos are the focus on Instagram. This platform also uses hashtags, which are useful for tagging and organizing information. If your business is small or usually uploads 1-2 photos per day, this may be the social network for you. But if you only have sporadic photos, or low-quality images, to share, it may be best to skip this one.
Users share news as it happens, in 280 characters or less. Businesses can share quick updates, photos, and news on various topics. It's a great place to connect with other businesses and it's a platform that people use to send and receive information instantly.
Given the enormous volume of information on Twitter, hashtags are crucial and useful. Looking for marketing news and posts? Just type #marketing in the search box and all posts with the requested hashtag will appear. However, given the volume of this channel, it will take a bit of time and effort for a business to post at least three tweets a day to be visible. However, businesses can advertise on Twitter to increase their visibility.
We are talking about the largest social network and probably the easiest to use, although in recent years the Millennials They've moved to Instagram and Snapchat, and the user demographics have tilted to over 40. People use Facebook primarily for entertainment, so businesses often take advantage of posting news, photos, and videos to get site views. page. Facebook algorithms favor photos and videos over text.
Facebook changes its algorithms frequently and without prior notice. Hashtags (#) before words and phrases help organize network content into topics. For example, you can type #marketing and see a chronological list of all the people who have used that hashtag in their posts. New features are constantly being introduced, such as the recently revealed Facebook Live feature, which allows users to stream live video and get responses in real time.
This platform revolves around jobs, career advice, and thought leadership. It is a great place to show your company culture through photographs and descriptive captions. Companies create business pages and share job openings, industry news, and company updates. There is also real value in joining and participating in industry groups, but it takes a lot of time.
Snapchat
Until a few years ago, the definitive network for Millennials and teens. It focuses on photography and has to do with entertainment. Users' Snapchat posts disappear after 24 hours. There are also fun filters that users can apply to their photos (funny glasses, mirrors…). However, because the network does not use hashtags and photos disappear after 24 hours, companies cannot use it as an archive to document events, photos and videos.
This network allows users to save the images they like on "Pinterest boards," like an electronic bulletin board. It's great for people collecting recipes, wardrobe ideas, or interior design. When people "pin" your product image to one of your Pinterest bulletin boards, other users who click on this image will be directed to the source page on your website. This makes Pinterest a good channel for eCommerce businesses. Companies that have many image-centric ideas or extensive product lines will stand out in this network.
It is important to assess your business, the goals you want to achieve, and the potential customers you are trying to reach in order to come up with a good strategy. This whole process will take a little time, but it's a smart investment before you start executing any kind of social media strategy. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
