- April 8, 2017
- Posted by: Chase Gregory
- Categories: Marketing, Social Media
Even though many companies have been running social media programs for five or more years, there are still companies that have not figured out the best way to use the platforms.
So many companies think social media is all about how many followers or likes they have.
Not So!
We see some companies run effective social media programs with 200 or less followers or likes compared to some that have 10,000.
How is possible?
Because these companies are still reaching the right people with the right message consistently about their company and products compared to only being focused on getting followers that do not really care.
To run an effective social media program it should not be looked at in isolation. Social media should be looked as one more tool to help you communicate your company messages to more people compared to doing it only on a website or through a PR program. It should be part of your Online Presence Program #OLP
Nothing more… nothing less.
With so many social media platforms available it is critical to decide on two or three and do them well. Instead of trying to do everything because it is really tough to do them all well.
Here is our opinion on the platforms and how they might work best you depending on your goals.
Facebook and Instagram:
Both a real large number of regular users– so we typically recommend everyone use these platforms. You just need to keep your expectations in check. If you are a manufacturer of a really niche product you will never get lots of likes or shares. But you can find people who do care about your product or service.
What you can get back from both social sites:
- Done right your Facebook/ Instagram pages will show up in Google results for your company.
- Another place to put your content where people might find it
- Another place to share photos and videos you spent a lot of time/ money doing
- Another place to convince recruits to join your company
LinkedIn Company Page: Great for B2B communications. People are not as active here as Facebook or Instagram, but most business professionals have a profile today and use it monthly. LinkedIn can help you:
- Find the right person to sell at a potential customer
- Recruit quality candidates by using the advance search features
- Another link on Google search for potential customers to do research on you and your employees.
Twitter: This platform is not easy to do as keeping everything under 140 characters is tough to do well. Plus, they have been going through some struggles so we are not sure if it will be around forever. It should be part of your plan if have a tech product or during your trade shows/ events you are involved in.
SnapChat: Great if you want to reach young people and you don’t care how long the message will last. Just like Twitter is great for events/trade shows.
Pinerest: Best if you really want to reach women for your products. You will need to have high quality images to stand out so make sure before you head down this road you have a plan in place to take regular photos and what the themes should be.
YouTube: Big Big audience and a must for every company. Always post your videos here as these will show up in Google search.
Google + and Google other products: The jury is still out on this. But if you only want a local audience you better get your listing correct as this will drive more traffic than any ad will ever do.
Blogger: If you like to write or have lots of content this is great for SEO and getting people to follow you. There are people out there that have built an audience quickly but for most it can typically take a year to get really rolling.
To see a short portfolio of different clients on different platforms, visit our social media page: https://nsg.consulting/successful-social-media-programs/