Which social network should I use for my business? This is a question that many of you have asked me and a very common one among entrepreneurs and business people interested in gaining visibility in different digital media. According to a study by the Hootsuite platform, 50% of the world’s population uses social media. Therefore, it seems extremely important for any brand to increase its presence in these media. Of course, the range is getting wider and wider. What resources does it take to be present in these media? Should you have a presence in all of them? Which one should you choose?
Being on Social Media is an indispensable element in your business strategy, as a large part of the population uses them to keep up to date with news about their favourite brands, get inspiration from other professional websites, find out about current affairs, etc. Although always without losing sight of the reason why we seek to have a presence on a Social Media for a company: to guide your audience to your corporate website.
They have two dimensions, personal and professional, and with your brand you must decide how to use them to achieve the objective you need. Let’s see what role the different Social Networks play, so that with your brand strategy, you can find the ones that best represent you and the ones that will bring you the most.
What is the role of Social Media?
They allow you to be in contact with your target audience and attract new customers through your content, your advertising on social media, your network of contacts, recommendations from one to another, etc. It is an online space where you can carry out different strategies that allow you to be visible to your audience, they get to know your brand, they can follow your news, projects, publications, etc. But above all, it is the possibility to create a direct relationship with the public and receive feedback based on useful criteria for your brand.
In the past, when there were no social networks, communication between company and customer was, as a general rule, very slow, fragmented and scarce. It was practically a one-way communication. Thanks to Social Media, we now have two-way communication. A closer and more direct tool for customers.
Advantages of having Social Media
Increasing visibility
The first benefit of social media for businesses is its ability to generate brand awareness through increased visibility. As you know, an important component of building credibility comes from creating a brand identity. Social media moves a large number of people and it is important to give visibility to your website through social media.
Builds reputation
In a world where customers expect impeccable service, social networks are a good way to meet this demand. It is a medium that, even if we are physically far away, creates a sense of closeness due to the personalised treatment offered to the client. It is a place to please and surprise potential and already established customers. All of this will contribute to generating a good brand reputation.
Acquire and retain customers
Social networks, which are free in organic terms, have allowed many brands to grow exponentially in a natural way through the simple network of contacts or followers that these platforms have. With different actions, new customers can be acquired and regular customers can be retained.
Increasing traffic
Another benefit of social media for companies is its direct impact on website traffic and search engine optimisation. These platforms become a source of traffic to the corporate website.
Increased communication
Last but not least is the two-way communication that is generated with customers. A very fluid and direct communication that offers us not only the reliability of communicating events, promotions and any news about our brand, but also of being able to receive valuable feedback from customers in such a direct way.
Social media as a means of reaching your corporate website
Social media is an important part of any digital marketing strategy. With billions of active users worldwide, it is an indispensable way to promote your brand at almost no cost. However, it is vital to make sure you are on the right platforms for your brand, as you don’t want to direct your efforts and time to a network for no return, do you?
Social media are tools that are available for use in our branding strategy to fulfil specific intentions. But not all of them are suitable for any project. We have to know what they offer us and if that is what we need for our brand.
But be careful! They are not the goal, but the way to reach it: to drive that traffic to our corporate website where to convert users into customers. Let’s not forget that a corporate website is the command centre for any kind of digital image of a brand.
How to choose the most suitable Social Networks according to my brand strategy?
Although there are many platforms or social networks on which to interact, not all of them are suitable for all companies. To select the most appropriate one, we need to understand certain key points:
- Objectives for being on social media:
Is our objective to sell a product or a service, maybe we want to improve the brand image, get leads…? - Where are the customers:
We must analyse the characteristics of the users of each social network and know perfectly the target of your company to know where to find the target audience. - Resources to manage these social networks:
What budget and time is going to be allocated to the management of social networks, to choose to be present in one or several. - Will ads be used on social networks?
Analyse the options offered by each social network to carry out advertising campaigns. - Visual brand expression:
With which social network does the visual tone of the brand fit best? A formal social network such as LinkedIn is not the same as a more casual one such as Instagram.
Which social networks are the best fit for my brand?
There are many social networks that can be very useful for different projects, but not necessarily for yours. To select the most suitable social network for your company, it is important to take into account certain key points such as objectives, target and resources. Once the above key points have been analysed, it is time to choose the ones in which you are present. To do this, we are going to analyse the characteristics of the most used or widespread social networks.
1.- LinkedIn
It is a labour network, where the dissemination of personal content does not make sense. LinkedIn is designed for people to present themselves to the world of work, create an online CV, keep up to date with job offers and publish content related to their sector of work, find profiles, publish job offers, etc. It is an interesting network if you want to position yourself as a specialist in a sector and attract collaborators.
2.- Instagram
Instagram is a visual network and it is images that take centre stage over text content. Instagram makes sense for the dissemination of creative material for illustrators, photographers, designers, artisans, etc.
You could say that Instagram is like a showcase available to anyone. Visual communication is what prevails.
3.- Facebook
It is the largest and most used social network, so it is very likely that your target is on this platform. With the option to create a company page where your audience can find out about your news, services, your day to day. Through messages and comments, you can establish a direct relationship with potential customers and redirect them to your website.
4.- X (Twitter)
X is to keep up to date with trends and take advantage of opportunities to intervene, issue messages and create dialogue, debates, generate quick encounters, etc. It’s a great listening channel to better understand and know your target audience. But it is always important to present an avenue where you can get more information or expand the debate, and that is your website or your blog.
5.- Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual-based social network and is well suited to brands wishing to promote themselves in this way. It also has shopping pins that make it easy to sell products directly.
The big advantage of Pinterest over Instagram is that the images you post are indexed by Google. On each image, you can include a description, tags and a web link.
6.- YouTube
It is the king of video marketing and also indexes and positions your videos in the Google search engine, so it is a great platform if you are looking to reach your potential customers through video marketing. It also allows you to get feedback through comments and generate community by inviting users to subscribe to the channel and keep up to date with your news.
7.- Vimeo
This social network is for video marketing, community and its videos are indexed in Google. Its use is more intended for the creative audiovisual sector and to find inspiration. Vimeo is your social network to keep up to date with the latest visual creations of the companies that motivate you or if you are looking to increase your reputation as a creator by generating an audiovisual portfolio.
8.- Google +
This social network is very important to create positioning in Google and to make your content more easily visible. It allows you to create a community with people related to your interests and create collections of products, services or topics that your target audience can follow to keep up to date with your news. By including links to your website, you are opening a direct traffic channel to your corporate website.
Conclusion.
In short, it is necessary to be clear about the objectives of our brand before choosing the right social media, as well as the internal management capacity. Each social network offers different opportunities and it is up to the brands themselves to decide on which platforms to invest their time and efforts.
Understand that social networks are the means, not the goal. They act as a “hook” to direct customers to your corporate website, which acts as a digital base for your brand.
Hi, I’m Roberto Vidiella.
I am the founder and Creative Director of VIDI. I am passionate about graphic design, and through this blog, I try to deepen my knowledge and share what I have learned during my career. If you leave me a comment, you help me to keep learning and improving, and I’m really excited about it!