Article Written by Katina Jaye Beveridge, ASBAS Advisor, Western Sydney Business Centre.
With the pandemic and global economic crisis driving the need for digital marketing, businesses have turned to social media as their primary marketing channel. It is only natural since these platforms are easy to use and produce great results.
In fact, according to Oberlo, 73% of marketers believe that social media marketing has been “somewhat effective” or “very effective” for their business. And more than half of social browsers use social media to research products.
3.5 billion people use social media worldwide. If your business is not on social media, then you are missing out on a lot of opportunities. But where do you start? Which platform would be effective for your business? Do you need to be on all social networks?
Building an online presence on social media takes a lot of work and time. This means creating unique and engaging content for each of these platforms. Hence, it is recommended to choose one to two social media platforms to focus on instead of trying to be everywhere all at once. With this in mind, you can concentrate your efforts rather than spreading yourself to thin.
Major Social Media Networks for Small Businesses
There are four major social media platforms you should consider when first testing the digital marketing waters. Each of these networks has their own tools for small businesses.
1. Facebook
Tools:
- Facebook Business Pages to showcase your business, products, and services
- Facebook Ads and Facebook Ads Manager to reach more customers
- Facebook Live for real time videos
- Facebook Marketplace for buying and selling items
2. Instagram
Tools:
- Instagram Business Pages with a link to your website
- Instagram Ads to reach more customers
- Instagram Shopping for shoppable images
- Instagram Stories and Reels for more customer engagement
3. YouTube
Tools:
- Channels to organize your videos and playlist
- Videos to showcase your product and how to use it
- Live videos to engage with customers
4. LinkedIn
Tools:
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator to help you find the right customers
- LinkedIn Marketing for branding and driving traffic to your website
Choosing the Right Platforms
Ideally, small businesses should start with one platform at a time. We cannot deny that there are also benefits to leveraging multiple social media platforms simultaneously. Choosing the right platforms relies on what kind of business you run and who your target audience is. Even though there may be an audience overlap between social media channels, some tend to cater more to specific audiences. You must be where your target audience is.
