Top 5 Social Media Channels for your Business’s Marketing strategy!
In the pool of social media channels, selecting the right one for your brand may seem like a herculean task. Moreover, the channel you decide to market your products on will impact the customer interaction and engagement, generation of ROI, click-through rates and will be the deciding factor in lead generation. Some 92% of marketing professionals agree that social media marketing has generated more exposure for their companies. Even more impressive is the fact that some 72% of marketing professionals generate higher levels of loyalty from their clientele through social marketing. Some 50% + of marketing departments who have been engaged in at least a year of social media marketing indicate that new partnerships were achieved. (Stats Source- Social Media Explorer)
Furthermore, your social media goals, brand reach, and brand awareness are highly dependable on the channel you select. The target audience, marketplace potential, the channels used by your competitors, and the number of channels you can manage advertising on, are some of the important factors to focus on while you choose your marketing channel. It’s not only about the size of the channel but you need to check if your business goals align with the chosen platform.
Below we have gathered a list of social media marketing channels that you can check out while planning your marketing strategy. It includes some most common as well as niche-specific channels for you.
#1 Facebook ( 2.8 Billion+ Monthly Active Users)
Facebook is one of the world’s biggest social media platforms and the potential of the platform for advertisers is only increasing with the new features and ease of marketing provided. There are more than 65 million businesses using Facebook Pages and more than six million advertisers actively promoting their business on Facebook, which makes it a pretty safe bet if you want to have a presence on social media. It supports all content forms ranging from texts, videos, stories, AR and VR content, storefronts, etc.
It’s inevitable to note that the Facebook algorithm prioritizes content that focuses on meaningful interactions and can ignite conversation between people and communities, especially from friends and family. So, before you opt for Facebook as your marketing channel, make sure you design your campaigns aligning with Facebook’s algorithm.
Another important aspect of advertising is making videos! With over 100 million hours of video viewing per day, Facebook holds unmatchable potential for video marketing. Moreover, 92% of mobile video viewers share videos online, which makes Facebook a reliable video marketing platform.
Another reason to market on Facebook is its Dynamic Ads Feature. Facebook Dynamic Ads allows you to create a customized catalog for customers. So, based on viewer’s browning history you can retargeting ads and ensure higher conversion rates for your ads. As per the latest updates, you can use 20 different images from a catalog to showcase an item using Dynamic ads. So, if you are a brand dealing in cosmetics, accessories, apparel, electronics, or anything that you can make a catalog of, you should surely give a thought about marketing on Facebook.
#2 Youtube — (2 Billion Monthly Active Users)
According to Youtube, over 2 billion logged-in users visit YouTube each month, and every day people watch over a billion hours of video and generate billions of views. More than 70% of YouTube watch time comes from mobile devices. Besides, YouTube has launched local versions in more than 100 countries. It is a win-win situation for advertisers who wish to target people from a varied community or other language-speaking countries.
Viewers aged 18 spend 41.9 minutes on YouTube daily, on average. This includes usage across all devices: mobile, desktop or laptop, and connected TV. That’s an average of 4.9 hours per week or nearly 255 hours per year. While 40.9% of YouTube watchtime happens on mobile. Besides, Youtube is not only the second biggest social media site but is also the second-largest search engine after Google.
Marketers can involve organic as well as paid marketing strategies for advertising on Youtube. Marketers can make product review/ description videos, share backend stories, run campaigns, engage with Youtube communities through replying to comments, resharing customer videos on their channel, etc…
Moreover, there are some niche-specific statistics that further prove the potentiality of Youtube for marketers. People watched 100 billion hours of gaming on YouTube in 2020. 72% of people used YouTube to exercise or keep fit in 2020.
While 70% of viewers bought from a brand after seeing it on YouTube. It’s important to note that YouTube ads targeted by intent have a 100% higher lift in purchase intent than those targeted by demographics. People watching YouTube ads targeted by intent also skip ads less and watch ads for longer than people watching ads targeted by demographics.
Do keep in mind your brand objectives, research about your competitors, fix your goals and accordingly convert Youtube’s potential for your benefit.
#3 Instagram (1 Billion+ Monthly Active Users)
Instagram sees over one billion active monthly users and 500 million daily Instagram Stories. Instagram has taken over the social media market quickly and holds unparalleled potential for advertisers. From Reels to AR Filters to photogenic stories and posts, advertisers are effectively using the platform for building their community and increasing reach. Moreover, Instagram sponsored ads, Instagram shop, IGTV ads, in-app payment facility, etc. have further paved the ways for Instagram marketing.
Besides, Instagram has been reported as the highest engaged social media platform regarding audience percentage delivering 7X the engagement of Twitter or Facebook. Brands can make use of Influencer marketing and increase their brand awareness and engagement with ease. Another amazing part is that Instagram doesn’t force content on any of its users, users have the liberty to curate their feeds according to their interests. Meaning if brands can create valuable content for their viewers, the algorithm will support the cause and you will be able to attract your potential customers or be able to generate leads that convert.
#4 LinkedIn (740 Million Monthly Active Users)
LinkedIn now has almost 740 million members with over 55 million registered companies. Of those LinkedIn users who are frequently engaging with the platform, 40% access it on a daily basis, clocking up over 1 billion interactions every month. LinkedIn has emerged as the best social media platform for B2B interactions and generating powerful leads.
With LinkedIn, you can enhance your brand’s visibility, create targeted ads for lead generation, feature your product before interested users and manage your search engine reputation. Linkedin is undoubtedly the best platform for developing a personal brand, networking with industry experts, and creating personalized ads for LinkedIn inboxes. If you are a B2B brand, LinkedIn is a must. Moreover, even if you are a B2C business, you may use LinkedIn for SERM ( Search Engine Reputation Management), building the brand’s credibility, and so on.
#5 Twitter (353 Million Monthly Active Users)
Twitter is a micro-blogging social media platform with unraveled market potential. With over 500 Tweets sent every day, Twitter is the fifth most popular social media network. It’s nothing less than a jackpot for customer insights, opportunities to build your brand awareness, and present social proof for your brand. Twitter is also often used as a customer service channel. According to advertisers on Twitter, more than 80 percent of social customer service requests happen on Twitter. And Salesforce calls Twitter “the New 1–800 Number for Customer Service“.
If used correctly and strategically, Twitter can be the building block for your brand’s credibility and positioning. Brands can make the most out of Twitter by hopping on current trends and hashtags, engaging with followers, replying to queries, and of course through targeted ads.
Wrap-up
While developing your social media marketing plan it’s inevitable to analyze what platform your target audiences are most active on. Making your strategy according to the reach of the platform will not help you unless you do a detailed study about your competition and audience. Whether you are a local brand or an international brand, you need to constantly track analytics, engage with customers and check what works best for your brand.
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