Social media is a powerful tool that has come a long way since its beginnings in the 1990s. It’s no longer just an online platform(s) for you to connect with friends and family— although it’s still widely used for this purpose— but it’s also a great business tool that can generate a stream of income.
Marketing on social media is the promotion of your brand and content to create awareness and promote sales across various platforms. It’s one of the most effective forms of marketing because around half of the world’s population uses social media.
What Are the Top Social Media Platforms?
There are a number of social media platforms, but some are more widely used than others. According to Search Engine Journal, the top 10 social media platforms (as of May 2022) are:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Snapchat
Which Platforms Are the Best for Businesses?
Businesses can benefit from all of the social media platforms listed above, but different businesses will see different results on different platforms.
Not all social media platforms are the same, so there may be some platforms that will yield better results for your business than others.
LinkedIn, with over 770 million users, is both a job search website and a social media platform— and it’s safe to say that every business should have a LinkedIn profile.
This platform can help you connect with potential employees, as well as potential and current customers. You’ll be able to post job openings and other engaging content (like you would on other social media platforms) to engage with your network.
Facebook is, hands down, the most widely used social media platform in the world— with around three billion active users. Like LinkedIn, this is another platform that can be beneficial to every type of business, especially for these industries:
- E-commerce
- Financial services
- Gaming, entertainment, and other media
- Retail
- Technology
Facebook is also a powerful tool for social media recruiting.
Don’t limit yourself to job search sites when looking for employees— and don’t be fooled by what you think social media is all about. Facebook provides useful tools for marketing towards both consumers and job seekers.
YouTube
Although YouTube is a video platform (and the world’ second largest search engine after Google), it can be really helpful when marketing towards consumers— and job seekers.
With nearly 2.5 billion active users, you can post tutorials, testimonials, and many other videos to your channels for all to see.
When it comes to recruiting from employment, you can create short videos on what it would be like to work for your company.
Instagram, with almost two billion active users, is a photo and video sharing platform mostly used by those aged 18 to 24.
This is a good platform for businesses selling products, influencers, and life coaches. As for recruitment, Instagram can be helpful when looking for people to fill entry-level positions.
Pinterest is a great platform for small businesses selling products such as beauty products, clothes, home decor, and much more.
With 444 million active users, you can market to your customers, and they can purchase products directly from the site.
What Should You Be Posting on Social Media?
The simple answer to this question is content.
Social media marketing ties closely to content marketing, which uses meaningful content to create brand awareness and engage your target audience— which can be both consumers and job seekers.
Examples of content that you should post on your social media include:
- Pictures, including infographics, can be posted on just about any social media platform.
- Videos can also be posted on a variety of platforms, but longer videos are more suitable for YouTube.
- Text posts can be posted on LinkedIn and Facebook, but keep in mind that long text posts don’t usually hold the attention of your audience. For best results, keep them short and add a picture to capture your followers’ attention.
Bottom Line
So as you can see, social media is very helpful when it comes to marketing your brand towards consumers and job seekers— as you need both to ensure the growth and success of your business.
Don’t look at social media as just a way to pass the time or stay in touch with friends, it can be a very useful business tool no matter what type of business you have. Try at least one of these platforms to see how much more awareness you can create for your business.