Your Complete Guide to Top Social Media Platforms for Business
In virtual business strategy, social media marketing is a titan that absolutely cannot be ignored. Understanding each platform's nuances and complexities, and using those to your advantage, is the key to separating your business from the pack and reaching consumers faster and more impactful than your competitors.
We've put together a complete guide to help you navigate the top social media platforms for businesses today so that you can avoid common roadblocks and speed forward toward success. So, buckle up and get ready to launch your business into the next gear with these crucial tips!
1. Facebook Business
Facebook is a giant in the social media world, and utilizing the platform to drive your business forward is a must for any competitive business owner. With that being said, it can be tricky to navigate and to determine whether or not your efforts are fruitful – that is, until you start using Facebook Business Manager.
How Do You Manage a Facebook Business Page?
Facebook Business Manager is a crucial tool that allows you to centralize your Facebook business assets, keeping them organized and secure. You can quickly and easily manage business tools, assets, and employee access to those assets.
Your personal profile will be used to create an account – but don't worry, neither employees nor consumers will have access to your personal information. Simply fill out the basic information for your business, and voila, you're all set!
Use the dashboard to link your Facebook Ads account and add other people you'd like to access your business's Facebook page (your digital marketing expert, for example). From there, you'll want to add your business's Facebook page (or create a new one from scratch if you prefer). If you manage the Facebook page for another company, you can request access to their page as well so that you have a one-stop shop for all of your Facebook business activity.
As you can see, Facebook Business Manager allows you to manage your Facebook marketing strategy seamlessly and simply, all in one centralized hub. The manager also allows you to connect with business partners, generate Facebook pixels, increase security, launch advertising campaigns – and so much more.
Looking for help with your social media marketing efforts? Our experts at WEB ROI can help! Contact us today.
2. LinkedIn for Business
LinkedIn boasts an impressive 774 million users worldwide and over 57 million companies using the platform. Which is to say, if you don't want to be left in the dust, you should seriously consider how to use LinkedIn to promote your business.
How to Build a LinkedIn Strategy for Business?
Begin by defining your goals. If you have a clear roadmap as to what it is that you'd like to achieve through your LinkedIn business profile, you can avoid unnecessary roadblocks and detours, clearing the way to your path to success. Whether you're looking to build brand awareness, generate qualified leads, or engage with your target audience, having a clear goal from the starting line will help you to use your time and effort effectively.
Your LinkedIn Company Page is of the utmost importance. It's the first impression you make upon curious visitors, so it must reflect your brand and your business goals. Your company page should clearly communicate information about your products or services, your employees, your headquarters, and so on. It should also include details like your company's logo, a link to your website, the size of your company, and any other information that interested parties might like to know. Utilize a cover image that accurately represents your brand's image to build credibility and trust with prospective customers and partners.
Optimizing a LinkedIn page is not unlike optimizing your website. It involves utilizing strategic keywords, generating quality content, and including strong links to relevant external pages. Just like when creating your company website, analyzing the page and content of your competitors is a great way to gain perspective and pinpoint areas where you can improve, and identify elements of your own LinkedIn Business page that set you apart.
Why Use LinkedIn Business?
LinkedIn is unique in social media marketing due to its abundance of opportunities for B2B marketers. More than any other social platform, LinkedIn is a place where professionals and high-level influencers, decision-makers, and business leaders congregate to build connections and share information.
LinkedIn Business allows you to access an entirely new audience compared to other social media platforms, and it can be precisely what your business needs to break away from the pack. Don't miss out on the opportunity to collaborate with other professionals or appeal to other companies with your products and services – the wider your audience, the greater your chance at success!
3. Instagram for Business
Instagram is a powerful tool for social media marketing, as it encompasses various factors that contribute to a company's online success. Instagram is unique in that it allows you to build your brand and gain awareness, develop a relationship with your target audience, promote your products and services, and gain valuable feedback about the performance of your posts all in one place.
How to Utilize Instagram for Business?
The visual-first platform is an excellent opportunity to show consumers what your brand is all about while remaining fun, aesthetic, and true to your company's values. It's an opportunity for you to ease up on the professionalism, just a tad, and instead show your target audience that you can exercise creativity as well. A successful Instagram Business account typically integrates promotion alongside straightforward non-promotional content, designed to build trust with your consumer and gain credibility for your brand and what you represent.
Aside from showcasing the personality of your business, you can pepper in posts and stories that will promote your products and generate sales for your business. You can choose to create teaser posts, which will alert your followers of soon-to-be-released products and services, gently urging them to buy. You also have the option to invest in sponsored ads, allowing you to target your specific desired audience, even outside your follower base.
How do you Measure Success on Instagram?
A great feature of this platform is that you gain instant access to their marketing tools and insights that give you valuable information that you can use to tweak your Instagram strategy with a free Instagram Business account. Instant information regarding impressions, engagement data, and more allows you to clearly see how users interact with your content, which you can then use to tailor your Instagram marketing strategy.
These insights are specific, as well. Rather than just generalized feedback, Instagram will show you particular insights on posts for a particular week. This provides you with specific information regarding the performance of your posts in one specific time period and the impressions you earned for that period, and which of your posts had the best performance.
4. YouTube for Business Marketing
When thinking about social media, most people don't tend to consider YouTube as one of the leading platforms. But did you know that over one billion hours of YouTube are watched every single day? That presents an outrageous opportunity for your business marketing strategy. If your competitors aren't adequately capitalizing on this opportunity, it may be just the tool you need to surpass the competition.
How Do You Use YouTube as a Marketing Tool?
YouTube is a fantastic platform for showcasing your products and introducing their features and functions to customers. Through webinars, behind-the-scenes shots, simulations, and more, you have various options as to how you'd like to demonstrate your products to your prospective consumers.
Video tutorials that demonstrate how to utilize your products best, and creative or unconventional manners in which your products could potentially be used, is one of the most valuable functions of a YouTube account for a business. Not only that, but your customers can easily picture how they might use the product in their very own lives! This allows you to build trust with your target audience, making them feel more comfortable with their purchases.
Why is Video So Effective in Marketing?
Videos open the door to many opportunities that you simply can't access through text or imagery alone. Aside from video tutorials or presentations which showcase your product and how to use it, a YouTube account can do so much more for your marketing strategy if you're willing to consider its potential.
Customer testimonials, for example, are a great way to build trust and demonstrate authenticity for prospective buyers. Showcasing positive reviews and recommendations from pleased customers will accelerate your success astronomically, as customer testimonials help buyers to feel comfortable knowing that your business has a proven track record.
Including video tutorials is another manner in which you can utilize YouTube to the advantage of your business. Think about it; what's easier to understand? A complicated, technical instruction manual or a visual, step-by-step video tutorial? With a video tutorial, your customers can pause and rewind instructions to follow at their own pace, significantly simplifying the setup process. Mainly if your product is somewhat technical and may be daunting to less-savvy consumers, showcasing video tutorials is a great way to demonstrate that anybody can use your products, not just the experts.
Work with a Social Media Marketer Today
WEB ROI is an expert digital marketing agency with an abundance of knowledge and expertise regarding social media marketing strategy. Contact the team at WEB ROI today to discuss how your business can utilize social media to propel your company forward and embark upon the road to success!
And don't forget to download our FREE Ebook - Social Media Tips to Drive Your Business Forward.
