Why the Social Media Platform You Should Use is Entirely Dependent on Your Business
As Mashable writes, inbound marketing is the best way to generate buzz and revenue for your business in the Internet Age. When you consider that 86% of people skip TV commercials and completely ignore other forms of outbound marketing, while 57% of marketers using inbound marketing strategies say they’ve gained new customers through inbound marketing methods, it’s not too terribly hard to see why you should be focusing on inbound.
It’s not unfair to say that, for the most part, inbound marketing methods aren’t terribly difficult. So long as you write interesting, engaging content, you’ll have the content marketing down pat, and that’s really the most important part. However, no inbound marketing strategy would be complete without using social media for businesses. Unfortunately, using social media for businesses continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of marketing online. If you’re one of the many business owners struggling to make a splash in the world of social networking, read on.
How to Choose a Platform for Social Media for Small Business
The most important part about using social media for businesses with any bit of success is to choose the correct platform. As Lifehacker suggests, different services sport different audiences and different functionality that may or may not be great for your business. Of course, the most important part here is going where your target demographics are.
A Brief Overview of Three of the Best Social Media Platforms
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Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform out there. With over 1.4 billion active users, it’s really the only social media site that every business should bother with, as Social Media Today writes. Every age demographic is represented on Facebook en force, with the median income being between $50,000 and $70,000. In other words, with an easy to use business page interface and a cheap advertising system, it’s often seen as the perfect site for all businesses, regardless of their industry or size.
The little bluebird social media powerhouse sports 450 million active users, but don’t let its markedly smaller size dissuade you from using it as a marketing tool. It’s proven to be extremely effective for small companies who have a great personal voice and story to share. Users are predominantly female, looking for interesting tweets on everything from celebrity news to breaking world news stories. The key to Twitter is having a human voice that people can easily get behind and share.
Like Facebook, Tumblr can be a powerful tool for all businesses out there, but it requires a more active, more creative marketing mind to find success. As Social Media Examiner suggests, this platform is perfect for the business that uses a lot of imagery in its marketing and any company that likes to be part of a dynamic, social media community. Note, however, that with 300 million users, it definitely has the smallest potential audience for your business.
Do you have any additional tips for businesses looking to make more out of their social media campaigns? Let us know in the comments below!
