Adding Social Media to your Marketing Mix

All businesses are resource-limited, but at the same time they must be actively promoting their business, or they risk losing share of mind to their competitors. Companies are increasingly turning to social media as a legitimate means to reach out to prospects. Using social media has the potential to make a big impact at a low dollar cost. However to be successful it does require a time commitment.

FACEBOOK

Facebook is one of the most well-known social media platforms. They have roughly three billion monthly active users, however because they are so widely representative, it is important to be strategic in order to target prospects. One of the most straightforward ways to participate is to see if there are any existing Facebook Groups that you could join that share a common interest with your core prospects. Your business can rapidly raise your profile if you can find such a group. If not, then you can work with Facebook to create a custom prospect list that includes the attributes of your prospects. Facebook tends to attract more mature demographic (30’s through the 50’s). Regardless of how you incorporate Facebook, it is vital to have a brand identity and to consistently post content so that you can develop a professional presence for your business.

YOU TUBE

YouTube is without a doubt the leading video-sharing platform. This web site is the destination for over two billion monthly users. Like Facebook, You Tube’s audience is very broad and encompasses a wide range of interests. The demographic skews a bit younger than Facebook, which lends itself to more eclectic options. You Tube has become widely used for “How To” videos. If your product or service requires some technical support, set-up, or is designed to have regular updates, then this would be a great place for your content. A commitment to regular videos is the strongest way to get your name and services to gain share of mind. And videos are very easy to share. This would also be a great place to de-mystify financial, investment, or tax concepts through regular short videos. Most explanatory videos tend to be about five minutes long to hold the prospect’s interest. Be thoughtful about naming your videos, so that you set clear expectations for the user. And like all social media make sure that you have regular content and stay on-brand.

LINKEDIN

LinkedIn is not usually included as a social media site since its primary focus is as a professional networking site. But wherever people gather on-line there is a social component and LinkedIn has nearly one billion members. The LinkedIn audience age falls squarely in the middle with 60% of their members in the 25-34 year age bracket. These are people, usually in their prime employment years looking to connect with companies. It also has a number of professional tutorials: LinkedIn bought Lynda.com and rebranded it as LinkedIn Learning. This video medium is a great place to showcase how your company handles a whole host of business situations: hiring, project management, customer service, as so on. If there are regular trade shows that you attend, this would be the place to let that be known. This might even be used as a call for resumes and take the opportunity to set up interviews. Short surveys and videos can be used here to add some interest.

There are a whole set of other social sites: WhatsApp (Owned by Facebook); Instagram (aka IG); TikTok, X, and Snapchat all of which are geared toward fast concise messaging and/or videos. This type of communication is usually most effective for personal communication for people in the age range of 20’s to 30’s. These are not likely to be a very fruitful way to prospect for customers. These are places for opinions and creative expression.

No matter which social media sites you decide to use, they will only be effective if your branding is consistent, you offer regular opportunities for communication and you are clear about the target audience. The potential for brand exposure is great compared to the time investment. Make the most of it.