Updated on October 27th 2020
Fact: Your business needs social media. It is essential whether you have a small shop or a behemoth of a multinational. And with more than three billion people using it every month, it is not going away anytime soon.
In light of what we are currently going through, social media is as important as ever. Indeed, COVID-19 has changed the way we live, creating an even more connected world. If you already used social media for your business, you’re using it even more. If you didn’t, well, it’s about time you get on it!
We want to give you a guide to the most popular platforms and how they can help you and your business, especially in our current situation.
2.5bn monthly users means that you will not get a more extensive audience reach than Facebook will bring you. A third of the world, the whole world, actively uses Facebook every month. Well over half of those users do so daily. It is the network on which Gen X and millennials are most likely to share content and amazingly, a staggering 30% of retail shoppers who have recently made a purchase discovered a new product on Facebook.
More Facebook users view content on mobile devices than they do a desktop, and as with a lot of social media, Wednesday is the best day to post on the platform. Specifically, businesses should make their move at 11am and 1pm on hump day.
As for content, Facebook is a great platform to share long format videos. Videos generate a lot of engagement and should be included in your social media strategy. During the pandemic many businesses have started to do webinars and if that’s your case, share it on Facebook! Facebook is also a fantastic place to share longer texts and interact with your audience through polls.
Half a billion daily active users and almost a billion active monthly users, of a somewhat youthful demographic, means that Instagram is a place to be seen. Over half of teens claim that Instagram is the place to learn about new products, and over half of users specifically follow brands.
The best times to post on Instagram are Wednesday at 11am and Friday between 10 and 11am.
This highly visual platform is the place audiences look to follow brands, and check-in with influencers to see what they are saying, learning, doing, wearing, and buying.
When using Instagram for your business, make sure what you are sharing is consistent with your brand image. The images should be high quality, the look and feel consistent, there should be a theme throughout the feed. Stories can be used to get more personal with your followers. Interact with them using the tools, stickers and maybe showing some behind the scenes or have real people talking to them so they feel like they are a part of the brand.
COVID-19 has people constantly on social media, so use your Instagram to also share the sentiment of what people are going through and show empathy.
Interestingly, Pinterest is often overlooked as a marketing device. Shame on us all for doing so, as the stats are amazing. Some 60% of women between the ages of 25 and 54 use Pinterest and a massive 80% of millennials say that Pinterest helps them find things to buy. With adult males being the largest growing demographic in terms of new sign-ups, it looks like it is still growing. 200m monthly active users are not much when compared with the Facebooks of this world, but when 10% of consumers are more likely to purchase when referred by Pinterest than any other network, the 200 million seems a lot stronger.
This platform is an amazing source of inspiration. If your brand is visual, take advantage of Pinterest!
What's interesting with Twitter is that it seems to be more of a power play than other platforms. More than half of its 317m active users are men, and it seems to attract high earners more than others, too. If Pinterest is the cosy trustworthy site to look for cushions, then twitter is the high-flying wall street executive site on which to get serious. It's the site on which President Barack Obama, no less, has a 100m followers (admittedly less than Justin Bieber but we are trying to make a point here).
It is fashionable among high earners in the U.S. and many people rely on it for their news. However, with 84% of these high-rolling twitter users using it to find coupons, deals, reviews, and ideas, we can not overlook it, no matter what we sell.
Twitter is also a great place to share news, so make sure you are also retweeting relevant content from other pages. In light of recent events, you can for example share news about how the virus is affecting your sector, competition or your own company. Engaging with other accounts can significantly boost your reach.
Businesses will have the best results by tweeting on Wednesdays and Fridays at 9am. Coupons, links, and offers are all winners on Twitter.
LinkedIn is the most popular place to be for the world's top CEOs. Richard Branson and Bill Gates both have well over 10m followers on it and its largest demographic, in terms of earnings, is the $75k and above. It is much more than a place for keeping your CV. It's the best room in the house for hobnobbing with the elite.
Over 13 million companies have dedicated pages on the site, and you should have one, too. In terms of B2B social media leads, Linkedin is to thank for a whopping 80%.
LinkedIn is the place to reach other businesses, business owners and professionals. The largest demographic on the platform is between the ages of 25 to 34. One particular industry served well by this professional platform is financial services. It's also the place for business to business marketing and not so much for retail traffic.
The best times to post are Wednesdays from 9am to 10am and at noon. LinkedIn is the first stop for someone looking at your business, so make sure you aren’t neglecting it. Posting job opportunities, articles, awards, and sharing research on your product or service will gain you more followers. Sharing about your employees, CEO, managers is also very important as it gives life to the business.
YouTube
Legend has it that YouTube began life as a video dating site. The first video was of founder Jawed Karim fanning his feathers at the zoo, and the name YouTube was registered on Valentine's day... How very romantic!
But what could have been the world's world's most popular dating site has since branched out a little since then after the founders recognised the massive opportunity available for business. The number of active monthly users is second only to Facebook. With two million video views per minute, it is the place to be spoken about. It's about the influencers that your kids talk about and what they think of your product. Some of the most popular YouTube stars are in fact young kids themselves, with videos of them playing with toys attracting tens of millions of clicks.
If you can get your product on YouTube, it will be seen. As mentioned before, if you are running webinars or virtual events during the pandemic, definitely share the end result on YouTube! Also, rumor has it that YouTube will soon become a shopping tool as well! So, if you have a retail business, keep an eye on this and jump on it when it goes live!
Snapchat
Another one for the influencers here but with a much younger average viewer than the old dating site we just mentioned, Snapchat can boast an almost incredible 10bn video views per day. Over a third of teenagers say that it's the best site of all, and a quarter of all active users post videos every day. That means word of mouth and endorsement for your business.
Outside of the duotheism of Facebook and Youtube, WhatsApp reigns supreme. With 1.5bn people registered across 180 eighty countries, WhatsApp is the most popular messaging app in the world. Some 29m WhatsApps are sent every minute.
People are looking more and more for the opportunity to connect with business the same way in which they connect with everyone else, and that, very often, means via WhatsApp. Opening dialogues with clients, using instant, private, and secure responses, and doing so on the smartphone will create the brand connecting today's consumer needs.
Tik Tok
TikTok, the video-sharing social networking service, is the place for your short videos. If your demographic includes anybody from early teens to thirties, Tik Tok is a must.
Available in more than 150 countries, and with over a billion users - 80% of which are active every month - it is a vital tool in reaching Gen Z. Tik Tok is actively recruiting influencers, and they are creating a buzz. In November 2019, it was the most downloaded app in the U.S.
The pandemic considerably boosted the use of TikTok and many businesses (especially B2C) successfully jumped on the bandwagon and participated in fun challenges and trends. If your audience is on there, why not give it a try? It’s all about having fun and entertaining your viewers - of course, as long as it makes sense for your brand and is in line with your brand image.
At Appetite Creative, we have the expertise, experience, and effectiveness to help you create a connected experience and keep your brand proud wherever it is. We can give your customers a nearly infinite number of news ways in which they can connect with you, whenever they want to, and wherever they are. You can also check out the list of Top Social Media Branding Agencies.
- Jenny Stanley, founder and managing director of Appetite Creative.