Why is it that your social media marketing isn't recouping the money you have spent on it? Is it because you can’t track social media ROI? Or is it because you didn't build it to make money?
The challenges to social media marketing managers are, tracking social media ROI, not having an effective social media strategy, and choosing the right social media app for the business. The right social media app is an application that will work best for the business and the audience.
Question: Is there a bad social media app for your business?
What are the things to consider in selecting the application for your business? The bad and good depending on the type of business you are in, and the type of app you are using to promote your brand.
Years back developers were developing the web and apps only for computer users. Nowadays as many people use mobile devices, many websites have their mobile applications. According to HubSpot, there were over 3.2 billion people on social media in 2018. Opening the app through the phone is quite easy and timeless than searching the platform from the search engine.
Social media can improve website traffic, brand awareness and increase sales. If you are not sure how to increase sales through social media, check this out How to increase sales through social media marketing in 2021?.
People use these platforms to build their brands, organically or using social media Ads. When done correctly, building a brand on social media is a lot of fun.
There are different social media app, with different purposes. The main aim of those apps is to connect different people from different places.
What are the types of social media?
There are different types of social media marketing services. Among them are;
🛎️Social networking,
These are for social connection with family friends. Sharing pictures and videos for updating each other. Now they are used for people to connect online to share information and ideas. Examples are Facebook and WhatsApp.
🛎️Media sharing
The main aim of these networks was sharing of video and pictures. As the demand for these platforms has changed, some other features for improving the business environment have been added. Examples are Instagram and Pinterest.
🛎️Discussion forums
These are special for discussing different issues like politics and economics issues. An example is JamiiForum and Quora.
🛎️Community blogs.
These are the online platforms that are built for materials sharing, these materials can be contents from different blogs. An example of a community blog is Medium.
The difference between these social media now is blurred. Instead of social connecting, people discuss and advertise their business on social networks. The significance of social media is known, that's why the owners are trying to update their app to be accessible in a business manner.
Many social media platforms were in form of a website. Now almost all social media platform's websites are in form of mobile applications.
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What are the common social media apps for business?
Some commonly used social media applications are.
✨Instagram and Facebook
Many people love to use these photos for media sharing. Like photos and videos. They are not business-oriented. They were for connecting the family and connection but nowadays they both have business features added. Their business features serve the B2C marketers.
This is the application for connecting family and friends who have your contact. This also is currently having the business features that serve the B2C since it connects people of your contacts only. This was oriented for friends and family only for media updates and messaging and not a business. It was hard to have gained new customers who do not associate with you.
This is the smart and professional application that connects many B2B marketers. The media used are video and photos. This is for generating leads and increase website traffic.
This platform is used by professional people mostly the decision markers in the company. Building trust through LinkedIn can make your business more reputable than your competitors.
✔️Pinterest
On this platform, there is a board where you pin your favorable photos or videos. It allows users to search for similar interesting content. It is a useful application. Companies can share engaging content, and increase website traffic and authority.
✔️Twitter
Twitter is a great app for news. You can have a lot of information from different leaders, organizations, and celebrities. Many people use Twitter for discussing political, economic, and other social issues. Because Twitter is messaging the entire world, this is the place for personal branding and connection with another brand around the world. It is a good place for large businesses.
How to choose the right social media app
The correctness of a social media app depends more on the type of business and the demographic of your target customers.
A popular mistake for marketers is to publish content on every platform. In building the marketing strategies, always there is no one size fit for. People use different platforms, content, and some apps might not fit your business. That is why you have to choose the right app for your business. Since you can create a business page on Facebook it doesn’t mean you have to.
Do you want to know how to avoid other common mistakes that people are doing in social media marketing? You may read here about Common social media marketing mistakes and how to avoid them.
For the brand image, it is advisable to select the social media app that will fit your business. The below steps will guide you to choose the right social media app for your brand.
1. Know who is your target customers
Knowing who you're trying to reach is a good place to start. You have to know your buyer persona. This includes age, gender, locations, and interests. Is it B2C or B2B marketing? If it’s B2B, means you are dealing with the other business then your target customers are the top decision-makers of other companies. For the B2C company, the target audience is final consumers.
Knowing the demographics of your customers will help you determine which platforms will make it easiest for you to reach them. If they are interested in the written content then you will use the app that supports written materials. And if they are interested in videos, then you will use an app that supports videos they like.
For B2C, Facebook and Instagram can help you gain visibility. Also, those apps increase brand awareness and engagement with your buyer persona.
2. Which platforms does your audience use?
You already know the type of customers you are targeting, now on which platform could you find them? For instance, it is very hard to find decision-makers of a company on Facebook. Most people use Facebook for social connections with family and friends. People share their photos and images for updating their friends. Although Facebook nowadays has a page feature for business owners. But it doesn’t suit the B2B marketing. Because it’s very rare for the top managers to spend their time on Facebook. LinkedIn is suitable for connecting B2B companies. It will help you target current and potential clients and builds a personal relationship.
3. What are your goals
What do you want to achieve? Brand awareness, lead generation, or selling more products? Will it bring web traffic or generating sales? Your goals will determine the easiest and quickest app for you to achieve.
Travel companies, for example, can consider using Instagram to showcase their offers in a visually appealing manner. And if you want the app to help your website, ask yourself how will it help your website? It is critical to align the benefits of media platforms with business objectives.
Budget can be an obstacle to success in marketing. Small businesses have to make sure their promotion budget is well managed. Instead of running for the newest app, they should understand where they can find their target audience without blowing their budget.
Social media marketing services in Tanzania have expanded. Many small businesses and entrepreneurs use Facebook and Instagram for their business.
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4. The content formats
The content style will give you the answer on how to choose the right application for your business. What kinds of content do your company plan to produce consistently? Social media applications use different formats of content, some prefer videos others prefer photos.
If your company wants to provide online courses through social media, the applications which use photos only will be discarded. Additionally, those who target illiterate customers can consider apps that use video rather than pictures with words.
5. Which social media app fits your requirements?
Content style and the demographic of your target users will give you a clear picture of which types of online marketing services fit your company. Don’t use social media application that has many users. Use an app that will benefit your brand in business aspects.
You better research each application to determine its characteristics. If the app does not favor your business in terms of the target audience, budget, and content style choose other applications.
Do not invest money in something that doesn’t comply with your demands. This is to avoid the loss of money due to poor marketing strategies. Even social media needs a strategy. This strategy will guide you from the process of writing the content, the style, to where you should post. You can build an effective social media strategy by following 8 steps by learning here How to Create a Social Media Strategy in 8 Easy Steps.
❤️🔥Failure to build a strategy will be difficult for you to see the magic of social media. Bridging Technologies, a digital marketing agency is here to help you with social media.
6. Researching your competitors.
Since you are in the same industry, it obvious your target audience will be the same. Check your competitor’s pages and see the pattern of the content they post and how many audiences are engaging. Also, check when do they post, and what types of content the audience engages most.
You have to research what your competitors are doing, not copying them. Why Bridging Technologies is advising you to do this kind of research? It will help you in scheduling the right time for posting, as well as in your strategies planning. When you conclude which app they use the best, you can decide to use it.
Conclusion
The business needs to be noticed whether it is online or offline.
Before technology people were only using billboards and other traditional media to promote their products and brand. We are in the digital era where everything should be available on the internet. That is why in digital platforms like websites and online apps there is a place for business promotions Ads.
Apart from social media, you can use YouTube for educational media sharing. Google loves it and it increases brand authority. Brand authority helps you win over your business competitors. And this can make people consider you as the leader in a particular industry.
Everyone knows the power of the internet and platforms like social media in marketing and increasing sales. Nowadays people spend a lot of time on online networks looking for information than on their Tv. This is a great opportunity for companies to promote their services and products on online platforms. You can get help from a digital marketing agency like Bridging Technologies for social media services.
Some of your customers are online and if you don’t use social media, how are you going to find them? Thus, if you can’t knock on your audience’s door at least knock on their phones through the online platform. With quality content, you should be greeted with engagements. 😊
In digital marketing, engagements like comments are good things. They show how your content is relevant and it is a solution to the user’s problems.
Never underestimate the power of likes, follow, and reviews on social media. This is how people perceive you and your brand. And this has changed the processes of business. People, nowadays don’t pay for the Ads like Instagram, or Facebook Ads. They pay other users with many followers and engagements (influencers) to advertise their products or service. This is good for the budget but it may not be effective in marketing. The followers of influencers can be those who cannot be your customers. For effective influencer marketing use the influencer of your industry.
Also avoid bad reviews on social media, as it can ruin your brand reputation. The brand reputation built on twenty years can indeed be ruined within five seconds when a user clicks the send button. The marketing in social media doesn’t end after having the right online app. You have to follow the good practices of a particular online platform. Now it’s your turn to build your brand by using the right social media app.
About Author
A content writer filled with a desire to create engaging online content for innovative brands.
