A decade ago, marketing had a very different approach. It had billboards, magazine ads, newspaper ads and television ads. However, all these traditional forms of marketing have now taken a back seat as marketers pursue to reach the audience where they are most active. This is the tantalizing world of Social Media!
Social Media is ever-changing, always fresh and bubbling with exciting new opportunities, for every marketer who is innovative to grab their audience’s attention. While the trends and algorithms on these platforms are constantly evolving it’s an inviting challenge for every brand to put their best food forward and showcase their individuality and style.
In this blog post we will be looking at The Best Social Media Platforms for Business in 2020, and show you how you can make the most of it while leaving a positive impression on your target audience’s mind. These 5 game changing social media platforms are YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
YOUTUBE
Most brands tend to overlook the value that YouTube can give their audience. YouTube is the most popular of all social media and the fact that it’s a video viewing platform makes it one of the most engaging ways to capture an audience and keep them hooked on your content.
A recent study showed that when people viewed the content on YouTube it helped them relieve stress, anxiety depression and loneliness. So over all, YouTube gives its audience a very feel-good vibe. If you use a platform that people already associate feeling happy with, to promote your brand, the results can only be positive.
Here are a few ways you can get the most out of YouTube to market your brand.
1. Learn from your favorite channels and competition
Spend some time watching the videos you’ve liked in the past and the channels you’ve subscribed to. Notice what about those videos grabbed your attention and made a list of those things. Try to figure out what they do that helps them drive engagement, subscription and views.
Another way to do this is to check the youtube trending videos. Figure out if all of them are high production videos or are they casually shot. Take note of the design, tone, length, special effects, etc that jumps out at you and strikes you as uniquely interesting and eye-catching.
You can do the same with competitor brands. If you don’t know who your competition is then simply type your keywords in the search bar and you will find them listed out to you.
Then watch their videos while doing a SWOT analysis to understand their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and use this to your Advantage.
2. Video Optimization
There is a YouTube Recommendation Algorithm that decides 70% of what people watch. You need to optimize your videos Titles keywords descriptions etc, to rank higher on the YouTube Results page.
The title of your video is the first and most crucial aspect of your video that is the deciding factor as to whether someone will watch it or not. So you need to use relevant keywords at the start of your video title so that it doesn’t get cut off when it’s being recommended to an audience. Make sure you don’t use click bait titles because the search engine can detect it, and it won’t show the viewers your video. Besides this make sure that your video is a high res as possible.
Make sure you use a relevant, custom thumbnail for your videos, by doing so you help the search engines detect your content as unique and value adding to the viewers.
Make your description keyword rich by using the most important keywords in its first few lines. Add links to your website and social channels so that it helps your viewers know how to get in touch with you.
Add cards, watermarks, bumper ads and end screens to your videos. And don’t forget to remind viewers to like, share and subscribe to you.
3. Channel optimization
It\’s essential to prime your account for more subscribers and views. You can do so by completing your YouTube profile. You can add a channel description, icon and art. You could also create a channel trailer and add social media links to your banner.
Another way to optimize your channel is by organizing your playlist and by adding captions and translations.
4. Advertising with YouTube
You can easily target you think will be interested in your content through YouTube advertising. People are three times more likely to be influenced by a YouTube ad than a T.V ad. Here are the 4 kinds of Ads that you can engage in on YouTube.
- Skippable In-stream ads
- Non skippable instream ads.
- Video discovery ads
- Non-Video ads that is Banner and Overlays
5. Influencer Marketing
According to statistics viewers are 60% more likely to purchase products promoted by their favorite influencers because they are way more relatable to your audience than you as a brand are. An influencer, therefore, has the power to transfer this credibility and trust to your brand.
When you are collaborating with an influencer let them do all the talking, if you try to get to controlling it might affect the positive outcome your collaboration would have garnered.
Read our guide on 5 Essential takeaways for Influencer Marketing from the Lockdown period
6. YouTube Analysis
A lot of your YouTube marketing will involve testing or trial and error. For you have to constantly measure your growth and figure out what works for you and what doesn’t and make a marketing plan accordingly. This is when YouTube Analytics comes into the picture.
You can track the following with YouTube analytics.
- Changes in subscriber count
- New or changing demographics
- Video playback locations and traffic sources
- Which device your video is mostly viewed from.
Instagram has one of the fastest-growing audience bases among all social media platforms. It’s long known that people are more interested in pictures and video content than the simple boring text format. Instagram provides its users with exactly that.
Since its launch, Instagram has grown exponentially both with its audience base as well as its features. You can do more with Instagram now than ever before, which is why it’s a great hub for marketers to reach their audience directly and in the most innovative ways.
Instagram has widened its scope from a single image post to carousals, 1-minute videos to IGTV videos, simple stories to interactive widgets and reels, and every day it seems to get better. This is the platform to get as relevant and responsive to your audience because this is where so much of the digital marketing action takes place.
So without further delay lets jump right into it and see how you can Make the Best Out of Instagram.
1. Use a Business Profile
It’s essential that you have a business account if you’re looking to use Instagram to market your brand. You simply need to go to “Switch to business account” in settings. The benefits of using a business profile is that your audience can directly contact you from your Instagram page like they would from your website. You can create and publish Ads on Instagram without using Facebook\’s advertising tools.
You can also use Instagram insights to measure your growth.
2. Use free Instagram Analytics tools.
Through Insights from Instagram, you can track impressions, engagement and can even get a breakdown of your demographics. You can also get specific weekly analytics for your posts which will help you compare your growth on a per week basis.
These free tools will help you analyze which content is working so you can create more effective content.
3. Sponsored ads
You can decide how much you want to spend on a sponsored ad by setting a budget. You can use just one picture or a carousel post to reach out to your target audience, and if you play your cards right you will have your clients make purchases because of these ads too.
For sponsored ads, it\’s important to use creatives that are both engaging and appealing to the audience you are targeting.
The Types of sponsored ads you could invest in are:
- Photo
- Video
- Carousal / Dynamic
- Stories
- Stories canvas
4. Partner with influencers
The fastest way to reach potential customers is through influencer collaboration. More people are buying products that are advertised by the influencers they follow. It’s because of one simple reason – they trust them!
So if you have a low follower base on Instagram and want to reach out to your target audience the best and fastest way to do that is through influencer marketing.
Make sure you collaborate with an influencer you is from your industry or represents the audience you are looking to reach.
5. Don’t over-post
Over-posting on Instagram can be very tempting but it is counterproductive. If your audience realizes they are receiving too many posts on their feel from your page they will want to unfollow you as soon as they possibly can.
At the same time you don’t want to completely go off the radar either. You want to remind them that you’re there but without coming on too strong. So the best way to do that is to post only during peak hours and those days when you know your viewers will be online.
… and There’s More
- Videos: Instagram also helps you uploads videos as long as they\’re a minute or less.
- Boomerangs: these are 3-second looping videos that play forwards and backward.
- Hyper lapse: These help you convert lengthy videos into concise postable content.
- Stories: There are many tools that you can use to make your stories interesting. Like type, music, live, superzoom, hands-free, and focus.
- Highlights: These help you preserve interesting stories on your page.
- IGTV: These are long-form vertical videos are posted on the app.
Over the years Facebook has taken on community influencing as its prime focus. Marketers usually use Facebook for paid advertising and community building. They have very effective tools and features that help you target your audience demographic in a way that’s cost-effective as well as efficient.
Here are a few ways you can use Facebook to market your brand.
1. Understanding the Facebook algorithm
Facebook usually prioritizes posts that have a lot of engagement on them – like likes, comments, shares, etc – Especially if they happen in a concise amount of time.
They also promote the content of people that have been liked by someone in their friend list.
It also deprioritised public or professional posts over posts from people that are related. Therefore, brands now need to build community-based content as opposed to promotional content.
2. Facebook Business Page
Facebook allows you to create a page for your business that is separate from your profile. This is great because it helps you post, advertise and focus all your content on your business.
The advantage of having a business page is that it gives you access to Facebook Ads and Facebook Analytics. It’s best to avoid overly promotional content and to create and share content that’s relevant to your product and your audience relates to.
3. Page Preview
When people hover over your page name it gives them a preview of your page this is most often the first impression they have of you and is a deciding factor as to whether they will visit your page or not.
So make sure you optimize your page to attract new viewers.
4. Facebook groups
These are communities that you can join on Facebook where people come together to share ideas and opinions with a certain interest. As a brand, it will only help you to be part of such communities to get exposure to industry experts as well as customers and partners. Since it’s a targeted group they are usually receptive, so building conversations around your brand becomes much easier.
It\’s best to be helpful and supportive towards other brands and opinions in this group and build up a good reputation for yourself.
5. Facebook Business Events
Creating business events on Facebook gives your clients, customers, and fans endless opportunities to engage with you and build a conversation around your brand. These can include webinars, product launch, grand openings, live celebrations, etc.
6. Insights and Analytics
Facebook insights and analytics help you understand the growth of your brand and point out the aspects of your Facebook marketing that needs to be changed or optimized. Facebook insights give you valuable information like the likes, comments, dislikes, Video stats, etc that your content has received. It helps you analyze the engagement so you can tweak your content accordingly.
Facebook analytics doesn’t only provide you valuable information like active users, audiences sales funnels, etc, it also helps you monitor your ROI.
Read this amazing guide on the advantages and disadvantages of social media
Twitter is widely known as a social media platform for its 280-character limit. It\’s best used for short company updates, quips, and sharing links from other social media, YouTube, and blog sites. Twitter is what gives your brand a personality, and helps your voice what you stand for a brand. Twitter trends and hashtags can create a wide uproar in the community are used wisely.
Here are a few ways you can use Twitter to your advantage.
1. Choose the right handle, Profile image, bio, and headline
Make sure your Twitter handle is consistent with all your social media handles. Make it easy to remember so that it will be easy for your followers to tag you. Make sure your profile image and cover photo aren’t shabby rather that it screams your brand loud and clear. It should 100% authentically you!
When you’re crafting your bio make sure you keep it accurate, to the point, and targeted. Make sure you add some personality to it, don’t be afraid to say something original and witty. Add some hashtags to it and also tag relevant brands you are associated with. And if you can brag a little – Do it!
2. Tweet during peak hours
What is the point of tweeting if you aren’t getting any engagement? Make sure you tweet during peak hours. Do a little research on which hours are the best for you to post your content on and you will see your engagements shoot up when you post at these times.
3. Hashtags and Trends
Use hashtags in your posts but don’t overuse them. Tweets that use hashtags get higher visibility on Twitter but those that use more than 2 hashtags per tweet see exponential drop invisibility.
4. Advanced Searches
Advanced searches bring new leads right to you. All you have to do is put in an advanced search with your keyword or industry and you will find people who are looking for people exactly like you. Then you can reach them and convert them.
5. Add images and video
Adding images and videos to tweets increase the chances of them getting retweeted. But make sure to add relevant high-quality Images and videos. Adding them just for the sake of it won’t do you any good and might inf act hurt your credibility as a brand.
6. Conduct Polls
Polls are more than just fun for followers to compete, they can also help you do some valuable market research, initiate conversations, and get customer feedback. It does take some thought to come up with interesting ideas for these. But when you do you will realize they are every bit worth the effort.
7. Twitter Ads
If you don’t have many followers on Twitter but you want to reach out to your target audience Twitter ads might just be the best thing for you.
Although they are more expensive than Facebook Ads, Twitter ads are sure to promote you when you need it the most. The best way to go about this is to promote your tweets and the next best way you can advertise yourself on Twitter is through Conversational ads.
Conclusion
If there were just 3 words to surmise Social Media Marketing, they would be “Engage Engage Engage!”
Using Social media platforms to promote your brand will connect you to your audience in a more personal and effective way than any other marketing avenue. If you use it effectively delivering quality and value all the way you will be able to build a positive brand image within no time.
