Social Media for Your Business

Social media for business

Social Media? Your website is your real estate!

Much can be said about using social media for advertising your business. However, please keep in mind that all of the social networks, you never ever own anything. If one network goes down, all of your efforts & online presence are lost.

We like to build solid from the ground and we have seen it over and over: Your website is your real estate, it always belongs to you and you are in the driver seat of it. We keep saying the next best thing after your website is your mailing list. Still true, even in this time of social networks. A person signing up to your newsletter is in your database not somebody elses.

From here you are venturing out into the social media. Trick to it is, to keep content on your website and then share it to the Social Media, so everytime somebody clicks on it, they are coming back to your website, your very own real estate. Make it inviting and exchange details (newsletter).

Know your customer – know your social media

If you are thinking about engaging the social network platforms to promote your business, take a little time to think about your perfect customer first. This will actually determine which platform(s) you want to engage for your advertising.

List your 10 most perfect customers and see what they have in common, what social media they might use and where there interest lies. Then you will see which platform is for you.

It is almost impossible to do quality advertising over too many platforms. It is time consuming, not just for creating content but more so for responding to possible clients on the different networks. So choose your platforms wisely.

The chart underneath will help you choosing the right platform for your business. Know your audience. Remember, it is not the quantity but the quality that still counts. Do one platform well than few poorly. Create content not ads – the rules are 80% content and 20% calls to action. One great post a week will suffice. Post visual branded content. Write the article in your website and then share it to your social media, so people come back to your website.

The 6 most used social media network platforms in Australia

Facebook – World’s most popular social media

Used more by: Woman

Geographic: Living in suburban areas

Benefits:

Exposure to potential customers
Reach a targeted audience
Facebook insights
Increase website traffic and leads

Instagram – Mobile photo and video sharing network

Used more by: Woman

Geographic: Living in urban areas

Benefits:

Visual marketing
No edge ranking
Appears in all followers feed
Showcases your business personality

Tumblr – Microblogging social media network

Used more by: Women and Men

Benefits:

Fully customisable profiles & domain names
Could be used as a standalone website or blog
Engagement almost as high as in Facebook time wise
Content indexed by Google

LinkedIn – Business / professional social media

Used more by: Men

Geographic: Living in urban areas

Benefits:

Build a professional network
Search for a professional in your area
Increase exposure of brand / products / services
Credibility
Attract new business

Twitter – 140 character messaging

Used more by: Men

Geographic: Living in urban areas

Benefits:

Generating traffic to your website
Following trends in your industry
Promote your content – blog, video, etc
Direct access to your industry authority figures
Excellent and fast instant feedback & customer service

Pinterest – People pins photos into collections called boards

Used more by: Women

Geographic: Living in rural areas

Benefits:

Indexed and analysed by Google
Increased CTR when product pinned with a price
Superior sales conversion to Facebook or Twitter
Verified company page
Rich pins (enhance your pin through app)

Other social media platforms worth considering

YouTube – Video sharing network – second biggest search engine with 4 billion videos viewed daily

Save bandwidth of your website
Faster website performance
Demonstrate your products, services etc
Build email list (embed sign up in videos)
Build a content library
The content never dies
Indexed by Google

Google My Business – Engage with customers through Google for free

With a Google My Business Account, you get more than a business listing. Your free Business Profile lets you easily connect with customers across Google Search and Maps and collect reviews helping your search visibility on Google.