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Tanya Hidderley : Jan 30, 2023 12:30:00 PM
Why Is Social Media Important For Your Business?
Which Platform Should You Use?
Social media refers to websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or participate in social media marketing. Social media is a relatively new phenomenon in the grand scheme of things. The first social networks emerged early in the twenty-first century. Since then, social media has become a key part of most people's lives across the globe.
Social media allows businesses to connect and engage with potential customers, reach a wider audience and keep updated with industry trends.
Facebook is owned by Meta (the parent company, which was previously called Facebook). Meta also owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.
According to Statista, Facebook is the most popular platform worldwide, with roughly 2.96 billion active monthly users. Facebook's highest usage is amongst those aged between 26 and 35.
Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms globally, meaning that it's perfect for brand awareness, targeted advertising, customer service, feedback, and more. However, whoever manages your page may need training, so they have the skills to create content and positively represent your business.
Like Instagram, if you are a business, you will also need a budget for Facebook, as you'll most likely need to invest in paid advertising to reach people.
According to Statista, Instagram has roughly 1.2 billion users worldwide. As of April 2022, Instagram's audiences were aged between 25 and 34.
Instagram is perfect for building customer relationships. Modern consumers demand much attention; it's best to engage with them by creating quality content, answering comments, and answering appropriate direct messages. Instagram is also great for reaching new audiences; so many people use Instagram daily, and it's easy to reach your target through paid advertising, hashtags, and engagement. However, Instagram can be difficult because you may need to know which hashtags to use. It may seem like you should stay away from famous hashtags, such as #fitness or #lifestyle; it's best to focus on specialised groups rather than mainstream because, although they receive fewer posts, they tend to have a more loyal following.
Twitter holds up to 237.8 million daily users worldwide, according to Statista, with Twitter's primary ages ranging between 25 and 34 years.
Elon Musk recently acquired Twitter and made sweeping changes to the platform; the advertising changes particularly impacted brands. Many top brands stopped advertising on the platform.
Twitter is fantastic for following trending topics. This benefits businesses because they can find an interesting topic that fits their brand. Therefore, creating content for the platform. Twitter is also great for getting information to your target audience and saving time by creating and scheduling a good tweet. However, Twitter does limit users with a post limit of 140 characters, meaning you won't be able to go into much detail, and the limit also includes links. Twitter also has something called follower limitations. This is where each individual can only follow up to 2000 accounts; this causes businesses to be left out of their target audience if individuals have already reached their limit.
According to Statista, LinkedIn is the leading network used by prospective employees. The global number of users is expected to increase between 2022 and 2028 by in total of 167.7 million users. Nearly 60 percent of LinkedIn users worldwide are between the ages of 25 and 34.
The great thing about LinkedIn is that it's less personal and more of a professional environment. Most users have the same goals, make connections, and network, which is great because you can take a direct approach. However, because it is a more professional environment, you must constantly be active and set time aside daily to be active on the platform. It's very time-consuming and unlike other platforms, checking on it now and then doesn't work. For example, it's like getting a puppy. You can't just leave it and expect it to do well. You need to give it attention, time, and effort to help it grow.
TikTok holds 656 million users globally, according to Statista, with the majority of people between the ages of 18 and 24.
TikTok started its life as Musical.ly, changing to TikTok in August 2018. Many people denied the transition, but as time went on, more and more people started to form a liking for the app and incorporated it into their daily lives.
@loudlocal Can’t go wrong with it. #coffee #work #officelife #coffeeaddict #foryoupage #fyp
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Your business can gain better brand awareness. TikTok thrives by being fast-paced, which is what the majority of modern consumers prefer. This means that brands that post content on TikTok gain more attention and appear in more unique algorithms. Another great aspect is that TikTok is perfect for making your brand more personal, as the majority use the app for more fun and creative content rather than serious and professional content. However, the audience is young, meaning that if your brand is looking for a more mature audience, it may not be the best audience.
If you want to know more about TikTok for your business, check out this blog.
There is no right or wrong answer regarding what you use. It all depends on your preferred platforms, your business, and whom you want to reach. However, do not just stick to one platform. Have a few different socials. If the majority of your potential customers are on one platform, focus more on that platform and put more of your effort into it whilst also putting an equal amount of effort into all your other social media.
Ask yourself these questions:
Get an idea of what content fits where before making your final decision. The best social media site would be one that you can leverage for your business's specific goals.
Thank you for reading.Need help and support with social media? Let us know. We're happy to help! 🙂
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