Social What? - How to choose which Social Media platform is best for your business?
Social media has gone from “Social What?”, to an absolute must for businesses in 2020.
When it comes to marketing, social media has well and truly turned traditional marketing on its head, giving the every day business owner the ability to quickly & easily promote their business to the world.
There is certainly no shortage of social media platforms to share your content on and the number of sites are growing every day. And it’s no secret that sharing your content on the right platforms is crucial to being seen. But before you jump into the world of social media marketing, you should first consider which platform will best suit your business. Ask yourself this quick question:
Who are my customers? How old are they? How do they search for things online? How do they communicate? How do they engage with people online?
It’s important that you utilise the platforms your target audience uses, so they see you and can easily connect with you. Here’s our take on the top 4 platforms in NZ your business needs to consider to get noticed on social media.
Facebook is the biggest social network in the world, with an estimated 2.6 million users in New Zealand. With a fairly even split between male & female users, people aged 25 to 34 are the largest user group at 25%.It has the most users and is the most frequently used of all social media platforms - chances are your customers are on here too!
Your Facebook business page is about building relationships through long term commitment, not just an immediate sale. The idea is to show your brand’s personality and build a strong community presence. Share useful tips, ask questions or provide solutions to problems, and don’t bombard them with constant sales posts. It is important to get the audience interacting with your posts instead of scrolling past. Out of all the platforms Facebook definitely is easy, both to share content & to engage with your audience.
In New Zealand, Twitter has an estimated 330,000 users and this is mostly made up by young adults in the 18-29 age bracket with slightly more female users.
Here, people are all about ongoing conversations and fast, real time interactions. It’s a very much ‘in the moment’ platform. It’s the social media tool for you if you frequently have things to say, prefer to reach out directly and are ready for people to reply to you.
Twitter is also a big time commitment, so it’s important to know, if you want to utilise this platform you need to be active frequently to interact with your audience. If you can do that then it’s great for increasing your brand awareness, promoting your content, boosting SEO & website traffic and getting instant feedback from customers in real time.
Instagram won’t be for everyone, but if your target market is the younger audience, you should look to get active on this platform.
Instagram has over 1.5 million users in NZ with the most active age group being millennials in the 18 – 29 year old bracket. It’s currently the fastest growing social media network worldwide and is the best for engagement. This is because it is visual by nature, so if you have products or services that provide eye-catching images such as food, fashion or travel, you are in the right place.
Instagram is also the perfect platform to show behind the scenes to bring a human face to your brand and showcase your culture. Because it’s a visual platform, it’s really quick to post a photo & let the image do most of the talking. In our experience to really be noticed your images need to be clean, crisp, engaging & on brand, or it’s easy to get lost.
LinkedIn is more known as the professional’s network. In NZ it has an estimated 2 Million users, mainly educated professionals broken down into a fairly even gender split. The majority of these users fall into the 24 - 35 year age bracket.
It’s the ultimate B2B networking site and a great way to increase your brand awareness, build relationships and promote your services. Most businesses on LinkedIn tend to be service providers as opposed to retailers and manufacturers. You can also showcase your expertise in your chosen field by joining groups and discussions with other like minded people within the platform.
We love Nigel Latta’s recent analysis of Linkedin “Turns out, much to my amazement, LinkedIn is social media for grownups. There's actual content... and no one yells... and the general tone is one of support and positive engagement.”
If all this sounds horrifically daunting to you, don’t worry you are not alone. Our key takeaways for Social Media for trades & service businesses are:
Be clear, concise & consistent.
You don’t need to be on every platform. Choose one or two that suit your business and focus on doing these well.
Take awesome before & after photos of your work.
Pick 2 or 3 colours that match with your brand and use these consistently.
It’s common for businesses to outsource this task to the likes of a Virtual Assistant.
If you are a small to medium trade or service based business Released is the Business Support Network for you. We love solving the administration overwhelm & providing strategic support and systems that work for you & your business. We maximise your return by building an ongoing relationship with you & your team and you get access to our entire team of experts at the click of a button.
Get in touch today to find out how we can set your business free.