Social media is an essential part of running a business in 2020, but for a lot of people, creating and up-keeping social media channels can seem like a daunting, or impossible, task. Even though you probably use Facebook regularly to keep up with friends and family, you may be completely clueless on the world of Facebook pages and Instagram Business accounts, and could be missing out on lots of business, purely because you’re disconnected.
I want to kick this post off by saying that you shouldn’t be embarrassed to not know much about the world of social media; it’s a world that’s constantly changing, and at times even for those who are deeply invested in it, it can seem like an impossible task to stay ahead of the game. However, with a simple set of apps, and a basic understanding of how the different platforms work, you’ll be well on your way to utilising social media to grow your business.
What is it?
Facebook has a couple of different levels to it. At a basic level it is a way to share pictures, posts and memories with your friends and family; this is done through a personal Facebook account. This is the type of Facebook I’m sure you are all familiar with.
However, did you know you could also use Facebook to promote your business? By creating a Facebook page, which is different to a Facebook profile, you can set up a page for your business, which you can then use in a similar way as a profile to share text, images and video.
Why do I need it?
Facebook currently has 2.6 billion active users on their site, which is a heck of a lot of people to be missing out on reaching! Plus, with a Facebook page you can create cheap targeted ads, that will appear on the feeds of those that Facebook thinks would be most likely to engage with your business. You won’t get that type of customer profiling or targeted ad campaign through a regular style of advertising.
What can I post?
On a Facebook page you can share and create as you would on a Facebook profile, with the added bonus of having access to ads and analytics. You can share text, images, videos, links and much more.
What is it?
Instagram, at its core, is a photo sharing app. You have a profile where you share a photo alongside a caption and hashtags. It’s a great visual platform; but don’t worry, your profile doesn’t have to be crammed full of professional level photography, you could also share quotes or branding too.
The Instagram Story feature allows you to add short clips of content to your ‘story’, which is a part of your profile that disappears every 24 hours. This means it is great for sharing your daily routine, announcing something and interacting with your audience. If you want to keep something from your story on your profile permanently, you can add it to a highlight reel.
Why do I need it?
Instagram currently has 1 billion active users, most of which use Instagram on a daily basis. It’s one of the easiest social medias to use hashtags effectively on, and a great way to reach out to a slightly younger audience than Facebook.
What can I post?
As Instagram is primarily a photo sharing app it is only possible to share photo and video, not text. However, you do have a caption alongside your media, so don’t worry, your voice will still be heard.
What is it?
Pinterest is another highly visual photo-sharing app. It allows users to collect and curate ‘boards’, which are effectively online pin-boards. You can group together images of the same theme and keep them organised on your profile.
A massive bonus of Pinterest is that you don’t need a lot of followers to have a massive reach. I only have 220 followers on my profile, but this last month I gained over 582K impressions on my pins. Pretty impressive, huh?
Why do I need it?
If you are selling a product or sharing content, your main aim is to get a customer to reach the point of purchase. However, say for example, one customer really wanted to buy the pair of shoes you’re selling, but they can’t afford them right now. On Pinterest they could save the pin of the shoes that you’ve created to a wishlist board, and then return to your site later that month once they’ve got paid.
Plus, if you create content alongside your business, much like we’ve done with the blog you’re reading right now, then you can create blog post pins, that’ll link back to your site and drive traffic.
What can I post?
Pinterest is an incredibly visual app, so you can only share photos. As I said with Instagram, this doesn’t just mean photography, using apps like Canva you can make highly professional blog post covers, posters and other media to share across Pinterest and other social medias.
What is it?
Twitter is a fast-paced information sharing app, where the main focus is on the text you’re sharing; though you can share media too. The defining feature of Twitter is that your posts, or ‘tweets’, can only be 280 characters long.
Twitter is a great way to get information out there in a fast and simple way, and it’s also my favourite app for engaging with followers and building community.
Why do I need it?
Building a community is a main aim when growing a business, and Twitter is a fabulous way of doing that. By engaging in conversation, replying to tweets and getting involved in trending topics, you will very quickly build up a strong community.
Twitter is also great on a personal level, for gaining instant knowledge on current trends and news articles. More often than not I’ll see breaking news on Twitter, before I see it broadcast on the news. Staying on top of the game like this is not only a great boost for you personally, but also keeps your business in the loop.
What can I post?
If you’re not a highly visual person then Twitter might be the place for you, as it is primarily a text based app. Small, succinct posts that get straight to the point are the best way to share content on Twitter; if you find yourself needing to say more, or share a collection of information, you can always link posts together in what is known as a ‘Twitter thread’.
These four apps are clearly not all of the social media apps available, but they’re a great place to start. With Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter you’ve got a wide range of audiences and forms of content covered, and they’re all relatively easy to understand. I’m going to be publishing more posts in the future, delving into each social media platform in a little bit more detail, so make sure that you’ve signed up to our blog so that you don’t miss out on information that could help your business; you can sign up on this page.
If you’re still struggling to wrap your head round it all, why not let us take the stress off your shoulders? We offer a couple of different social media options, from set-ups to management; check out our packages here.
If you have any more questions don’t be afraid to email us on info@globaldigitalmarketing365.com.
Chloe Grant
Creative Director