Thoughtful Strategic Planning – Excellent Execution
Overview of Social Media Platforms
Facebook is the largest and most frequented social media platform with over 2.5 billion monthly active users worldwide. Having an updated Facebook page is imperative to reach consumers looking for your product or service. Posting engaging and compelling content regularly on your Facebook page is critical to successfully use this platform. If your Facebook page is full of inviting content, engagement with your customers, and positive reviews, then you are far more likely to be in your customer’s consideration set when they are ready to make a purchase.
Facebook advertising can be used by businesses of all sizes to reach and sell to their desired audience in the most cost effective manner. The CPM, or cost per thousand impressions, on Facebook ranges from $5-10. This means that you can spend less than $10 and reach over 1,000 people. However, recent studies have shown that over 40% of Facebook marketers struggle to see significant results. This is because you must be skilled at writing compelling sales copy supported by engaging visuals that are routinely varied to test (A/B testing) for the most effective communication. It is not as easy as some people make it sound.
With over 1 billion monthly users worldwide, Instagram is a high-engagement social media platform. Of its current users, most are 18-34 years of age who spend a great deal of time on social media. Studies have shown that 60% of people who use Instagram say the platform is where they have discovered new products. Roughly 75% of Instagram users will take action on ads that they see on their news feed, and over 1/3 of Instagram users have used Instagram to purchase a product online.
Instagram provides a vast amount of people for businesses to target. The photo-centric platform is one of the most used mobile platforms throughout the world, and because it is owned by Facebook, advertisers have access to the most robust targeting features on the Internet.
Instagram marketing is an excellent platform to build awareness for your brand among potential new customers and further build brand loyalty and repeat purchases among existing clients. It is also a very effective platform to drive traffic to your website, gain valuable contact information, and grow sales.
Similar to Facebook, the costs associated with advertising through Instagram can be much lower than most alternative forms of advertising. However, you must be skilled at writing compelling sales copy supported by engaging visuals that are routinely varied to test (A/B testing) for the most effective communication. Tracking and monitoring the analytics for each ad is imperative to determine what communications are providing the best return on your investment.
Twitter is an excellent platform for businesses to connect with current and potential clients. Twitter has over 330 million monthly users, providing a large audience for businesses to connect with, and 66% of companies with 100+ employees use Twitter for marketing.
Twitter is an excellent platform to build awareness for your brand and reinforce its key benefits. By regularly providing meaningful updates and engaging content, businesses are able to define who their brand is for and how and why it can benefit key customers. It can also serve to create a greater level of confidence and trust among current and potential customers, which is essential for retaining and building loyal clients.
Over 290 million people visit Pinterest each month. Nearly 80% of Pinterest users are women, aged 25–54, who make over $50,000 a year and have higher levels of disposable income. Approximately 98% of Pinterest users try ideas they find on Pinterest. Collectively, Pinterest users drive 25% of all retail website referral traffic. Foods, fitness, fashion, home décor, and amenities are particularly popular categories on Pinterest.
Advertising on Pinterest can drive high volumes of engagement, traffic, and sales for businesses targeting consumers. Roughly 90% of Pinterest users say they visit the platform to make purchase decisions. In addition, 73% of Pinterest users say that content from businesses are useful to them. Businesses should consider advertising on Pinterest if they are interested in these benefits and the demographics of the platform match their customer base.
Similar to Google, Pinterest offers a robust search feature that allows users to search for content that they want to see. Advertising on Pinterest gives businesses the opportunity to promote to people who are in the act of searching for specific products that they sell. Considering this, traffic from Pinterest may be more qualified than other social media websites.
Similar to other social media platforms, the costs associated with advertising through Pinterest can be much lower than most alternative forms of advertising. However, you must be skilled at writing compelling sales copy supported by engaging visuals that are routinely varied to test (A/B testing) for the most effective communication. Tracking and monitoring the analytics for each ad is imperative to determine what communications are providing the best return on your investment.
With over 600 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is one of the largest professional networks. Roughly 50% of LinkedIn users have a college education and nearly half make over $75,000 per year.
Most often B2B companies use LinkedIn to reach the decision makers for potential customers. It also serves to build professional connections and drive traffic to their websites. Content, such as blogs that educate and add value, are often used to build awareness for brands and engage with potential clients in a non-promotional manner. Posting often and adding value with meaningful content helps brands build awareness in a quality manner and be top of mind when clients are ready to make a purchase.
LinkedIn advertising can help reach this professional, educated audience. Advertisers can target audiences based on occupation, job title, location, and other demographics. It also enables a business to advertise to recent website visitors, as well as email contacts that are in its database.
Similar to other social media platforms, the costs associated with advertising through LinkedIn can be lower than alternative forms of advertising. However, you must be skilled at writing compelling sales copy supported by engaging visuals that are routinely varied to test (A/B testing) for the most effective communication. Tracking and monitoring the analytics for each ad is imperative to determine what communications are providing the best return on your investment.
YouTube
YouTube is an online video social media platform owned by Google. Most popular among age groups 35 and under, YouTube is used by nearly 70% of ages 36+. It is the second-most visited website, right after Google itself. YouTube has more than 2 billion monthly users who collectively watch more than 1 billion hours of videos each day. Video categories on YouTube include music videos, video clips, news, short films, feature films, documentaries, audio recordings, movie trailers, teasers, live streams, vlogs, and more. Most content is generated by individuals.
TikTok
TikTok is a video-focused social networking service that hosts a variety of short-form user videos, from genres like pranks, stunts, tricks, jokes, dance, and entertainment that range in duration from 15 seconds to three minutes. Most popular among younger age groups 10 to 29, TikTok now has 1 billion active monthly users, making it the seventh-most active social network worldwide.