Social media use can majorly boost your business, but it's integral that you find the right platform for your brand. Even with a dedicated social media marketing team, there's no way you can spread your social presence across every major platform, so it's important to choose carefully. Remember that it doesn't matter which socials YOU like to use, it matters which your target audience is using. Keep reading for more on the top social media sites for small businesses.
1) B2B Businesses: LinkedIn and Alignable
As you may already know, LinkedIn is THE site for professionals. Before making a page for your business, you'll need to have a personal account set up. Once you're logged in, select the "For Business" tab at the top right of the screen. Then, under "Explore for Business," press "Create A Company Page." You'll be prompted to select the type of business your page is for (if you're reading this, you'll likely be selecting "company") and provide basic details. When you're ready, click "Create Page." In addition to LinkedIn, Alignable can help build bonds with fellow businesses and clients alike. The site was launched in 2013, though it still feels relatively new to the market. Its primary goal has been to facilitate social networking and mutual referrals between small businesses. In order to benefit from Alignable, you really need to put time and effort into getting started and searching the site for businesses you know. While this can be said of any social networking site, Alignable's interface makes it especially crucial. It's also important to note that Alignable's default setup is to email every single person in your contacts list--so be sure to watch out and deselect that option!
2) Consumer Product Businesses: Instagram
As one of the top-used social media platforms, Instagram is the ideal site to showcase your products to Millenial and Gen X audiences. The visual interface makes it perfect for highlighting what makes your products stand out and how they look and work in action. Not only are video reels effective at showing off your products, they also tend to be boosted by the site's algorithm to reach more users than photo posts alone. Instagram also has great "shop" features within the app. This allows users to make purchases without ever leaving the site, which is especially ideal for marketing "impulse buy" items. A personal account is not needed to create a business account on Instagram, and it only takes a few basic details to get it up and running. Be sure to stay on top of trending hashtags, audio, and memes to really take advantage of the algorithm to find your audience and potential customers.
3) Consumer Service Businesses: Instagram and Facebook
Like Instagram, Facebook is a great app for sharing visuals and updates about your brand. While we always strongly suggest every business has their own website, Facebook business pages are a great place to post business updates, such as specials, operating hours, and more. Businesses such as restaurants, salons, and contractors (and more!) do well on Facebook because they can curate reviews and post about sales. Unlike Instagram, Facebook allows a wider variety of post types beyond photos and videos, which can make it more versatile for a wide variety of businesses. Over 20 years since its inception, Facebook is still the largest social media site, with over 3 billion monthly users. It's perfect if your target audience includes Gen X and Boomers, whereas Instagram tends to be better for Gen Z and Millennials.
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