Social Media Marketing Platforms for Business describes a comprehensive, step-by-step approach to effectively marketing a business or brand on social media. This informative guide details how to set up accounts for the most popular social channels, from Facebook and Twitter to Pinterest and Instagram.
The Social Media Marketing Platforms for Business report helps businesses and other organizations better understand their options for social media marketing and measure the value of social networks to grow brand awareness, customer loyalty and revenue.
Facebook.com
Though Mark Zuckerberg has gotten a lot of bad press over the last couple of years, there’s no denying that he built the (overall) best social media platform for business currently available.
In its third quarter of 2020, Facebook was reported to have earned $21.4 billion and a total of $78.9 billion from 12 months prior.
How is this platform generating so much income? Facebook ads.
Facebook has over 1 billion active users every day. So it’s no surprise that it’s become one of the best ways to find your target audience, build an email list, and get new customers. But that’s not all it’s good for.
It’s also a great place to interact with your clients once you’ve caught their attention. Many companies opt to create private groups on the platform where paying customers can join, interact, pose questions, and have a personalized experience with the brand.
And while Facebook’s user base has drastically slowed down over the last few years, there’s no question that it will remain one of the best social media platforms for your small business in 2020.
Bottom Line: Facebook is a tool that is right for just about any business. Though paid ads can become cumbersome and expensive, they’re totally optional. Your best bet is to have an active account to keep in touch and connect with users.
If you have the budget and time (not to mention the patience) you can look into exploring Facebook ads.
Use Facebook Pixels to Grow Your List
If you really want to take things to the next level, you can use Facebook’s tracking pixels to optimize your optin campaigns for super-fast growth.
Facebook’s ads work with an algorithm that constantly builds a more targeted audience for you. There are many factors involved, but one way you can help Facebook understand your audience is with a Facebook pixel.
These tracking pixels are put on your site. When a customer visits, the pixel will run in the background and determine if this user should see your Facebook ads at a later time.
But you can also add this feature to your optin campaigns, like popups.
Just imagine this scenario: A customer comes to your site and is looking through your content. At some point, you show them this campaign:
Your customer loves the lead magnet and decides to opt into your offer. But you’ve added a Facebook tracking pixel to this specific campaign, which means two things will now happen:
- You get a new contact on your mailing list
- Facebook knows to show this user your ads because they have a heightened interest in your business
Now each of your campaigns is working with Facebook to get you even more leads and sales.
Not only can you increase revenue through your email marketing efforts, but you’ll also see a larger ROI from your Facebook ads.
Instagram.com
Instagram is about as close to an “overnight success” story as it gets. Within two months of Instagram’s launch in 2010, it had over a million users.
Now, that number has grown to over 1 billion users each and every day, making it one of the top social media platforms for business.
Instagram started out as a platform for sharing photos and still keeps that as its core use. However, it has expanded to videos in a feature called “stories.” Thus, Instagram has become an excellent way for brands to literally show (rather than tell) their products, values, and voice.
As you can imagine, that means Instagram is an excellent tool for lead generation.
Bottom Line: Instagram is great if your audience is younger and typically shopping from mobile. Plus, Instagram created a “Checkout” feature which means it’s fully set up for eCommerce. Now, your clients can look at product images and purchase what they like directly from their Instagram account.
Grow Your Instagram Following
The big advantages of Instagram come as you gain more followers. But getting those followers isn’t always easy.
With a lead generation tool like OptinMonster, you can create campaigns that encourage users to follow you on Instagram.
In fact, you can use our pre-built template to encourage users to head over to your Instagram account:
All you need to do is make a few modifications to the text, add a picture, and insert links to your Instagram profile.
Then, in less than 3 minutes, you’ll have a campaign that redirects users to your Instagram and helps grow your following.
Facebook Messenger
While Facebook Messenger is a part of Facebook, you have to download the Facebook Messenger app separately from Facebook to use it.
It contains a few additional features outside of the ones mentioned above for Facebook!
Thus, Facebook Messenger is number 2 on our list of social media sites for business.
Facebook Messenger is an app that allows Facebook users to send direct messages to one another.
And lucky for you this functionality also extends to business pages!
Because Facebook Messenger is a part of Facebook, it has the same access to Facebook’s large user base and advertising platform.
You can definitely use this to your advantage!
Facebook has advertising campaigns that are specifically developed for Facebook Messenger.
When someone clicks on an ad, they will be prompted to start a Facebook Message with your business page.
And if they do, your business page can follow up with them in messages from that point on.
If your business model is more focused on lead generation as opposed to eCommerce or more immediate online conversions…
…then this may be a good option for your business!
Outside of using Facebook Messenger advertising, you can also set up automated messages for your business page.
This way, if someone messages your Facebook business page organically, Facebook Messenger will send an automated message back to them.
This is one that you have crafted.
Oftentimes, these automated messages say something as simple as, “Thank you for reaching out to us!”
Someone will respond back to you within 24 business hours. “Thank you and have a great day!”
Even a message as simple as that one helps build trust between your business and potential or existing customers.
Therefore bettering the chances of you making a buyer or repeat buyer out of them.
Number of monthly users: 350+ million
Demographics: Men and women, ages 18-49
Twitter gives its users a steady stream of information and new content from all over the Internet. It has millions of engaged users every month, and practically every brand in the world has an account to update its customers. This social network for businesses may not have the same broad audience as Facebook, but it’s easily one of the most accessible networks on the planet.
However, Twitter famously limits its users to messages of 280 characters or less.
That means you have to be concise, interesting, and informative all in one tweet, and that’s not easy. But when you do it correctly, people can favor or retweet what you’ve written so that you can appeal to a broader audience. Basically, when you want to expand brand awareness, Twitter is one of the best social media platforms.
Conclusion
Social media marketing platforms are a great resource for businesses seeking to reach customers through social media. These platforms offer various features that enable you to connect with customers, share data and provide a platform for community engagement that build brand loyalty.