If you are dealing with inbound marketing in this day and age, then you are dealing with social media. It is an essential way to reach a wide variety of target demographics that allows you to interact with them in a way not possible in the past. If you are not familiar with social media marketing techniques, then it can be a little tricky to know where to start.
Four social media platforms that are excellent for a business to venture into: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and of course LinkedIn. Each of these platforms has its advantages. Before you begin your campaign, you need to have clearly defined goals as to what you want from each platform. Think about what you want from each customer, do you want them to use your app, mine them for data, or re-tweet your company’s ad? With that in mind let’s take a look at each platform.
DIY Ads on Twitter
It used to be that you had to fit your pitch into 140 characters for Twitter, but since it has expanded to 480 characters, it’s a little easier to get your point across. Twitter also has an array of tools that can be used to aid in campaigns. Among these tools are promoted tweets, account promotion, tweet promotion, stats on follower increases and engagement analytics.
If mobile app downloads are your goal, Twitter has added a feature that lets a customer download or open an app directly from a tweet. Remember, as Twitter advises, avoid hashtags or @mentions to keep a potential customer from clicking away from your ad.
Interacting with Users on Facebook
Facebook has taken some hits recently with concerns about user privacy, but it is still king among social media sites. It is the third most visited website on the internet and number one among social media with 1.4 billion active users. Facebook makes it easy for companies to create targeted advertisements for the desired demographics. Facebook lets you create targeted ads for: geographical locations, user interests, followed public pages, and basic demographics like age and gender.
The conventional wisdom concerning the best time to post on Facebook is between 1 pm and 4 pm when users are the most active. 8 pm to 8 am are the least busy times. You may discover that finding the best time to post is more art than science and that your target demographic Facebook usage times may vary based on geography, gender, and age.
Leaving an Impression on Instagram
Instagram’s popularity as a photo and video sharing site has grown exponentially in popularity over the last few years. The site has become one of the best ways to target a niche customer group. Instagram now boasts one billion users a whopping 60% of those users are under 30 years old. If your target demographic is the young and trendy, then this is the social media platform for you.
Half of Instagram’s accounts are active every day. This translates to a better chance of gaining leads for your dollar. Instagram has tools that let you promote a post by geography, demographics, behavior, custom audiences, and lookalike audiences who are similar to your followers. Instagram even has automated targeting which searches for users based on a variety of criteria.
Making an Impact with LinkedIn
LinkedIn is still the top networking site on the internet and can be used effectively to generate new leads. This social media platform is quite different from the previous three mentioned as you are marketing to professionals. Any advertising on LinkedIn should be tailored to reflect where you are marketing. LinkedIn offers a pay-per-click ad that lets you set a budget for ads posted at different times with up to 15 variations. LinkedIn’s ad format lets companies tweak the times its posted and content for maximum effect.
These four social media platforms let your company interact directly with customers and build long-term relationships. Once you have found which platform works best for your company, new leads will continuously come in.