When you use social media the right way, you can develop brand awareness, communicate with your loyal customers, and even generate more leads. Social media can, undoubtedly, play a big role in the success of your digital marketing efforts.
But there is a little problem—and that is finding the top social media platforms that is best for your small business.
Worry not if you do not know whether you should stick with Facebook or work hard to have a presence on Instagram. In this article, we will help you find the social media channel that is in line with your company goals.
But before anything else, let’s discuss WHY you should use social media marketing in the first place:
4 Reasons Why Your Small Business Should Use Social Media
No matter how established or niche your business is, it can definitely benefit from being on social media. Here are some of its top advantages:
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It Develops Brand Awareness
When you have a presence on social media, you aren’t just letting people know you exist. You also keep your business top of mind. But, it’s not enough to create an account and post whenever you feel like it. You need to be active regularly to increase your page’s number of followers.
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It Builds a Connection with Your Audience
Your relationship with your customers doesn’t end after you’ve sold them your product or performed your service. You need to let them remember why they engaged with you, and social media can help with this. Having a set of loyal, repeat customers means your business is doing something right.
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It Improves Your SEO
Do you have a blog on your website? Sharing it on any of your social media pages can give it more viewers. Your audience can then like it and share it with their friends. When people click on the link, your site gets more page visits. This will show search engines like Google that people find your content valuable.
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It Generates More Revenue
What happens when you build brand awareness, connect with your audience, and boost SEO?
You guessed it—more success and money for your business!
Now, many brands are on social media. But not all of them are gaining something from it. It’s likely because they do not know which one is best for their business.
So to make sure you avoid making the same mistake, we have listed down the best social media platforms for businesses as well as their pros and cons.
Here are details you need to know:
The Top Social Media Platforms for Small Businesses
Let’s get one thing clear before we share our list. We’re not going to give you a specific platform that will make you the most popular page on social media.
What we WILL do, though, is help you learn how to use each platform to the fullest. You can then pick which of these are the most ideal for your business and objectives.
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Facebook
Like it or not, Facebook still reigns supreme out of all the social media platforms that exist today. More than 1 billion users check Facebook every day, whether it is to update their status, greet someone “Happy Birthday,” or find out the latest news.
Facebook isn’t only good for users, though. As a business owner, using this platform is a great way to give your target audience a unique experience with your brand. You can create polls, ask questions, run targeted ads, and even make a private group.
However, these are some cons of using Facebook:
- Ads can be costly
- You need to engage with your audience consistently
- If your page is suspended, you’ll likely have to rely on the Facebook team to get it back
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Twitter
Twitter is unique from other social media platforms because of its character limit. All kinds of individuals use it—regular people, celebrities, politicians, and businesses.
The key to winning at Twitter is to be different from your competition. You need to have a distinct voice that will make you memorable. Also, you have to keep replying to your audience and sharing quality content.
Twitter is great because you can easily reply to followers and use hashtags. But, with millions of tweets sent out every minute, it’s also easy to get lost. You will have to tweet multiple times a day to remind your followers why you’re relevant.
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Instagram
Instagram has grown exponentially. From having over a million users 2 months after it launched in 2010, this platform now has over 1 billion active users. Hence, it’s one of the best social media platforms for any business.
Instagram may have just begun as a place where people share photos. But today, it has more features—like its popular “stories.” Instagram is now a place where brands can show off their products/services, personality, and values.
If your target audience is the younger generation, then you should consider Instagram instead of Facebook. It’s more visually appealing and is specifically designed for mobile devices.
However, it’s not perfect. It has misleading metrics and you have to post even more regularly on the platform than you do on Facebook.
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YouTube
YouTube can be a powerful asset for your business. It’s where people go not just for fun but also for learning all kinds of things.
YouTube allows you to interact with your audience in a refreshing kind of way. It’s a great platform to reveal your newest products and teach customers how to use them. You can also use your YouTube channel to supplement what you’ve written in your blog.
However, it takes a lot of effort to create videos and your audience may expect a lot in terms of audio and visual quality.
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Pinterest
Pinterest is another platform that is growing in popularity, with millions of users browsing it daily. It’s a good place to market your business if your target customers are women or millennials.
However, some businesses do better on Pinterest than others. Since people are looking for stuff they could use a lot, posts have to be visually appealing and shareable.
You would probably do great on Pinterest if you have a travel or photography business. But then again, if you’re really creative, then you shouldn’t have a problem increasing your traffic with this platform.
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LinkedIn
This may not be one of the social media platforms you would think of for marketing your business, but don’t underestimate it.
Sure, LinkedIn is known for being a platform where professionals find or get hired for jobs. But it’s also a place where you can share content about your business.
One downside? It’s not designed for e-commerce or entertainment. It’s better for networking with other businesses or professionals.
Wrapping Up
There is no such thing as the ultimate social media platform. One business can do well on Facebook while another has better luck on Instagram.
Your success on social media will depend on what type of brand you have, who your audience is, and how much effort you’re willing to put into posting high-quality content.
We hope this article helps you find the platform that is the right fit for your small business!
Want to Be Successful on Social Media? Put Your Trust in Proweaver
With over 10 years in the digital marketing industry, we have helped thousands of businesses make a name for themselves on social media. We would love to do the same for you.
Please feel free to call us at +1 (949) 242-9506 for more information about our social media marketing and other digital marketing services. We look forward to helping you soon!