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Social Media for Business: Five Platforms to Explore

  • October 4, 2019
  • By GR Harlow
  • In Advisory, Digital Marketing, Industry, Social Media

Snapchat

Snapchat is a mobile messaging app that allows users to share photos, videos and text, in a format that disappears after the user views it. It’s incredibly popular with younger audiences.

Snapchat is ideal for targeting Gen Z. 71% of Gen Z use Snapchat daily. Of this group, over 50% of them use the app 11 times a day! It is far and away the favorite of any social media apps for teens in the United States. 

Reach an audience with an ever-diminishing attention span. Customers’ attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. The average attention span is just 12 seconds, and for Gen Z, it’s only eight seconds! Companies need to make an impactful first impression and Snapchat is the perfect place to do so. 

Snapchat is perfect for creating limited time offers. Because of the short attention spans of audiences, it’s important to create a sense of urgency with your promotions. Because your content disappears forever after viewing, the viewer feels like they need to really pay attention to the promotion or offer in order not to miss out. 

Driving traffic back to your website is simple. Adding a link to your site directly on your image or video makes it very easy for your audience to reach your site. 

Take advantage of unique marketing opportunities. Want to have a little fun with your marketing? Get creative with one of the many fun ads and filters Snapchat offers. Are you hosting a special event? Create a Snapchat Geofilter

Facebook Messenger

Of course you know Facebook. But do you know the benefits of using Facebook Messenger? If you think the messaging app is only for personal communications, think again!

Each month, there are 1.3 billion active monthly users on Facebook Messenger. And over 1 billion messages are exchanged through Facebook Messenger each month. 11% of the world’s population uses Facebook Messenger! 

Facebook Messenger helps you get customers. Depending on your customers’ demographic, chances are they already hang out on Facebook. Why not reach out to them in an easy, direct way in a place they already are? From here you can send coupon codes and promotions, or launch a new product. 

Show your customers you care. Using Facebook Messenger allows your customers to reach out to you directly and spend less time waiting on hold when they have questions. The conversation is saved in Messenger and easily accessible for reference and follow-up. 

Pinterest

Pinterest may not dominate the social media platforms with its monthly usership, but 200 million monthly visitors is nothing to scoff at. It offers a quite targeted audience: half of all millenials and 68% of women between 25-54 use Pinterest. More women use Pinterest than men, however, 40% of all new users are male. 

Pinterest acts as a reference guide, journal, idea book, etc. for many people. 93% of Pinners (!) use the platform to plan purchases. 65% of Pinners have referred back to a saved pin while in a brick-and-mortar store. People love to pin everything from recipes to decorating tips to business ideas and more. In fact, there are over 100 billion saved pins on Pinterest!

Pinterest is a great place to sell products and services. More than ⅔ of Pinterest users have discovered a new brand or product on the site, and half have made a purchase after seeing a Promoted Pin. 

Yelp

While Yelp may not be a traditional social media site, as a business owner it is one that you can’t afford to overlook. It will take time to gather reviews and build a customer following, but it is worth it. Over 130 million users turn to Yelp each month for reviews and advice on where to dine, shop, etc. 

There are nine main business types that Yelp is best for: Restaurants and Food Service; Local Retailers; Nightlife; Entertainment; Home Services; Auto Services; Health and Fitness; Beauty Services; and General Services. Search for your competitors on Yelp and see how they stack up. 

Yelp provides a valuable service for very little cost to businesses. It is free to create and manage your business page. Add-on include a Call to Action (CTA) button, removing sponsored ads, enhanced slideshows and advertisements. What you save in advertising costs on Yelp you may make up for with staff time dedicated to monitoring and responding to reviews. 

Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for a review. As mentioned before, it will take some time to build up the number of reviews you have on your site. It’s okay to ask your customers and followers on other social media platforms to leave you a Yelp review to expedite the process. 

Tik Tok

Started in China, Tik Tok is the newest social media platform that is quickly gaining popularity around the world. Tik Tok has 80 million users in the United States and almost 800 million worldwide, and these numbers continue to grow. But what exactly IS it? 

Tik Tok is an app where users share 15 second videos and utilizes hashtags to let its users search for topics and themes. Though this platform sounds familiar, it has lots of fun and unusual features and content. Lip-syncing, dancing, parkour, live music and stunts are among the most popular topics. The editing functionality allows users to do things like make their own video using the audio from a different video, and recording their reaction to a video while they watch it. 

Tik Tok has a younger audience than most social media platforms, so if you’re marketing to millenials and gen Z-ers, you’ll want to explore Tik Tok. Its casual feel appeals to younger audiences, versus the more polished look of Instagram for example. 

The app is in the early phases of its paid advertising, so new ad formats and payment structures are constantly evolving. 

 

 

Be sure to check out our previous article about five other popular social media sites and how they can benefit your business. Call Blindspot today if you are in need a social media for business strategy – we provide the services and tools to get you in the right direction!

 

 

 

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