What is the first thing that you grab when you are going out? Your cell phone isn’t it? Actually, we all do that. We feel as if we are like fish out of the water if our cell phones are not with us wherever we go, literary where ever we go.
We mainly use our cell phones to communicate, through phone calls and texts, but mostly through social media. Do you know that the world’s population is 7.8 billion people as of November 2021 and that more than 4.48 billion use social media! Yes, 56.8% of the world’s population is active on social media.
If you are an entrepreneur in Lebanon or willing to be one and start your own business, then these numbers should ring a bell. If the majority spends their time scrolling through social media pages then you should have a presence on them to get noticed. In other words, your business should have a strong online presence. Social media will give you the exposure you need to reach a bigger audience.
What are the advantages of social media business-wise?
Social media is “free” marketing! Your customers can help in spreading the word about your brand and share your products/services with their friends. Also, social media helps you create a strong and direct relationship with your customers, it helps you understand their needs and concerns through the ongoing engagement on your platforms, and in this way, you can fulfill their needs or improve and upgrade your services/products.
How do you get started with social media?
The first thing you need to do is to set your social media objectives. Ask yourself the following: what impact are you looking for? Do you want more followers or more clients/customers?
Step two is to choose the right platform. If you are wondering how you can know which platform suits your business well, it is simple; you need to determine where does your targeted audience spend their time, on which platform? The answer will guide you from there. For a video production company, for example, YouTube is an obvious choice.
Know your target audience, and research keywords that are relevant to that market. Use them in your postings, ads, and conversations when responding to their posts. Keeping track of the latest SEO techniques helps you increase your traffic.
Now it is time to create your profile and a calendar to ensure a regular presence on your platforms. Create posts that encourage people to comment and share. Use both images and videos. The most important thing is to create different kinds of posts. In other words, don’t sell your service/product all the time, this will turn people off. Publish informative posts and funny posts along with your “selling” posts.
This leads us to a key point… monitoring and responding. By monitoring and responding we mean that you need to make sure you reply to your audiences’ comments and questions and mentions. This will help you build trust.
Finally, your social media platforms will lead your targeted audience to your website so make sure you have useful and updated content on it.
Social media platforms
As we previously mentioned, it is important to choose the right social media platform to promote your business, depending on your targeted audience. Each platform has its own characteristics; this article will help you understand them to be able to take the right decision.
Facebook is the world’s biggest social media network with roughly 2.91 billion monthly active users, so if you are an entrepreneur who sells to consumers or a firm that sells to businesses you should have a presence there; because many users go to Facebook to find recommendations and offers. On Facebook, you can post a variety of content, including websites links, videos, and images.
Instagram focuses on sharing photos and videos. It’s ideal for showing off products or giving people an insight into what happens behind the scenes of your business.
Twitter is typically used to post news (280 characters maximum) and provide links to website pages and publish images. You can also comment on other people’s posts or “retweet” them with your network of followers.
LinkedIn is a professional network; it is completely different from all the above platforms. LinkedIn became the tool that connects millions of professionals around the world. It is an excellent platform for getting introductions to potential partners, building a profile for yourself, and recruiting people or even freelancers for your business.
In conclusion, it is true that social media is a great marketing tool and an inexpensive one most of the time, but you should be aware of one important thing, competition became intense on social media so it is crucial to understand well your targeted audience and provide them with interesting content, and of course keep track with the latest social media features and changes.
