The Beginners’ Guide to Social Media Websites

For startups and medium-sized companies, promoting using traditional media is hardly an option. Radio ads, TV commercials, and high-rise billboards are costly, and honestly, it’s not a very practical way for publicity especially in this digital generation.

With the rise of social media, everyone can now post ads at a lesser cost! From freelancers to large conglomerates, using social media platforms is now the norm to promote their businesses.

Today, there are MULTIPLE social media websites that you can utilize for your business. Although you can use all of them to increase your web presence, you still have to know which ones work for your business. So, if you’re a business owner or a digital marketer, you must know what your audience frequently use. Also, learning the different specialization of each one is definitely a must.

Let’s meet the BIG FOUR of Social Media Networking Sites:

LINKEDIN

Let’s start with the most professional platform out of the four. As we all know, LinkedIn is the ‘hub’ for job seekers and employers. Majority of the population in LinkedIn are business-minded people; and obviously, the site’s function is mainly for employment and connecting with people from different industries.

So, if your company specializes in B2B Communication, LinkedIn is the one for you. Setting up a LinkedIn account and regularly posting updates of your company can actually promote your company’s credibility.

INSTAGRAM

Are you a trendy business that promotes culture, lifestyle, food, and travel? If so, then you might need an Instagram account for that.

Instagram is an image-based platform. So, if you want to make it to your customers’ IG feed, you have to be highly creative with your pictures. Highlight your products in an “aesthetic” way. Also, flood your posts with hashtags! It might seem useless, but they can actually contribute to your company’s searchability–this means more digital footprint!

TWITTER

In my opinion, Twitter is the competitive underdog out of all of them. Did you know that in 2016 it already has more than 1 billion users? A large percent of those users are young professionals that dominate the market today. So, Twitter would actually be helpful in terms of familiarizing yourself with the trends that are popular to your customers.

The Twitter community was also responsible for popularizing hashtags. Hashtags are like keywords that  are mainly used for categorizing and for more efficient searching. These hashtags are actually very effective when it comes to your company’s searchability. So, better use those hashtags and always look out for those trending hashtags!

In addition, the microblogging setup of Twitter actually works for companies that posts real-time updates. So, if you’re a company that frequently post updates, this will work for you.

FACEBOOK

Also known as the ‘top dog’ of Social Media. Facebook is one of the ‘game changers’ of this generation. Not only did it revolutionize the digital realm, it also changed the marketing world.

With Facebook’s ingenious marketing features, digital marketing is made easier and more efficient. There are many things that you can do to sell your business on Facebook! Did you know that your ads can be targeted to users that are more likely to buy your product? That’s right, your ads will be more effective if you ‘boost’ your facebook posts to targeted users. You can also schedule your posts according to your marketing strategy. In addition, communication with your customers and clients is also way easier on Facebook. Having a Facebook page can build a good impression to your customers because you can build a community among your Facebook followers.

Lastly, the reason Facebook is so effective in marketing is its ‘Insights’ feature. If you make a business page, there is already a built-in feature where you can quantify and analyze your results.

So, if you already have a Facebook page, which I’m sure you already have, you should try exploring the marketing features so that you can be more effective in selling your business.

So, now that you’ve met the four giants of Social Media, here’s a last reminder: you are living in the digital generation, it’s best to keep up with the technology. They were created to make our lives efficient, so we better utilize it to good use. Best wishes on your social media quest!