As a startup, it can be difficult to attract customers to your brand because it takes time to build trust and credibility with buyers. Thankfully, there are ways you can utilize social media to cultivate brand awareness and start building lasting relationships with your audience. Here are the best social platforms for driving startup sales.
As of 2020, Facebook has over 2.7 billion active monthly users, making it easier to reach customers and build brand credibility. One of the most prominent features of Facebook is its Pages where businesses can connect to and interact with customers, as well as share contact info and business hours. Facebook is great for targeting middle-aged or older audiences but is not the right platform for reaching younger age groups.
The photo-sharing platform, with around 1 billion users, has a younger audience with about 64% of users under the age of 34. Instagram is great for businesses that want to share photos of their products, as well as discuss value and goals with customers. Instagram Stories is a more interactive way brands can post and get a sense of who is viewing their content. However, the downfall is that Instagram is not businesslike, so posts should be engaging and interactive in order to attract users.
[Read more: How Brands Are Using Customer Social Content to Drive Sales]
For small businesses that are more about their voice than image, Twitter is the perfect platform. Using hashtags (#) and mentions (@), brands can easily interact with users and target specific audiences. On Twitter, your content can also go viral within minutes due to the platform’s 330 million active user count. However, since it’s an easily accessible platform, users also expect responses from brands within an hour, which can be difficult to manage if businesses aren’t as active or don’t check their replies, mentions and direct messages.
YouTube channels are perfect for creating tutorials, videos about the brand itself and previews of upcoming products.
Visual or niche businesses will thrive on Pinterest. The platform is great for posting pictures of products, step-by-step instructions on how products are used and creative ads that will draw customers in. One thing to remember when using Pinterest for business is that in order to maximize the reach, businesses should create a strategy for how to best reach their audience.
[Read more: CO— Roadmap for Rebuilding: Perfecting Your Social Media Strategy]
Snapchat
One feature of Snapchat that is beneficial to brands is Stories. Users post photos or videos to a Story, which lasts 24 hours. Businesses can use this feature to post interactive content and see who viewed their Story, which can be beneficial for those looking for potential customers. The only downside is that only users who add the business account back can view their content.
YouTube
YouTube channels are perfect for creating tutorials, videos about the brand itself and previews of upcoming products. This makes the interaction more personal because viewers can see the work that goes into the brand and meet the staff on a more intimate level. Another benefit to YouTube is the ability to partner with influencers who already have large followings and can promote products and spread the word faster than a business that’s just starting up.
This platform is best for creating pages to showcase a business and directly reach out to potential customers. It has over 300 million monthly users and is 277% more effective than Facebook in terms of customer acquisition. LinkedIn’s platform is best suited for freelancers or those with in-home businesses. The site isn’t tailored for e-commerce, so it’s unlikely customers will buy products via LinkedIn ads. However, they are likely to engage with brands that reach out to them or are active in posting.
TikTok
Primarily geared toward Generation Z, TikTok is a platform for video content. Content frequently goes viral based on users’ likes, shares and comments. Brands should maintain a consistent posting schedule, tailor content to audience’s likes and engage in challenges or trends. Using hashtags can also be beneficial for businesses to succeed. Brands can create their own hashtags or use ones that are already trending to attract attention.
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