Social media marketing is a very broad term that includes many platforms and marketing techniques. It can be simply defined as using social networks to market your brand, products, and services and achieving your marketing goals. This includes the entire gamut of marketing goals like conversions, website traffic, brand awareness, and a lot more.
In this post, we will discuss some of the best social media marketing platforms, along with ways in which you can best utilise them.
The Ultimate Social Media Marketing Guide:
Best Social Media Marketing Platforms and How to Use Them
There are hundreds of social media platforms today, of which a few dominate the entire social media marketing landscape. Here are some of the most popular ones.
Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, even though it does not have the massive user base that Facebook Does. However, it does give FB tough competition with over 1 billion active monthly users. And, it is the most preferred channel for influencer marketing as two-thirds of marketers choose it over others.
Needless to say that Instagram is one of the most important social platforms and deserves its own social media marketing strategy and initiatives. And, with the launch of more business-friendly features like shoppable posts and Stories, it is becoming all the more important.
It is one of the most versatile social media marketing platforms and provides various content formats and selling options. From creating an Instagram store to simply engaging your audience via IGTV videos, you can do a lot here.
Marketing Tips
- Create and optimise your Instagram business account.
- Use a profile picture that represents your brand, preferably your brand logo.
- Use your bio to tell your brand story, describe what you do, provide contact details, and a website link.
- Select a username that is recognisable and searchable.
- Experiment with the different types of content like posts, stories, IGTV videos, and live videos.
- Make use of shoppable posts and Stories to increase sales conversions.
- Create your own Instagram store.
- Use popular industry hashtags in your captions to reach a broader audience.
- Create your own brand or campaign hashtags to take your Instagram marketing campaigns to the next level.
- Try influencer marketing and experiment with the different types of brand-influencer collaborations.
- Leverage user-generated content from time to time and use tactics like featuring users in your feed to encourage them to create content for you.
- Make use of Instagram’s built-in analytics tool to understand what type of content works best for your audience.
- Decide on a posting frequency and stick to your schedule.
- Leverage Instagram Highlights to save important Stories and showcase them right at the top of your profile.
Content That Works
- Tutorial videos, hacks, and DIY tips are a huge hit on Instagram.
- Instagram is a visual platform and therefore, high-quality, beautiful images are what will get you immediate attention.
- IGTV and live videos can be used for hosting interviews and Q&A sessions.
- Memes, GIFs, and other humorous posts also have a dedicated audience on Instagram.
- Experiment with Instagram filters and the various video options like Boomerang videos, Superzoom, etc.
YouTube
YouTube is the world’s biggest video search engine and video-sharing platform. And, being a video-only platform does not in any way diminish its importance as an important social media marketing platform.
Video is the most engaging form of content and is very versatile. And, YouTube is the best platform to share video content, if you know how to market it well.
Marketing Tips
- Conduct thorough keyword research and select the best keywords to target.
- Optimise your YouTube profile, video titles, and video descriptions with relevant keywords.
- Select video titles that describe the video and immediately grab attention.
- Always add CTAs to your videos, descriptions, and in the “About” section of your YouTube channel.
- Add website links in video descriptions and on your profile to direct traffic to your website.
- Integrate with other social media platforms by using social media icons and links.
Image via YouTube
- Leverage YouTube influencers to reach a much larger audience.
- Cross-promote your YouTube videos on other platforms as well.
- Optimise your videos, titles, and descriptions for mobile devices as well.
Content That Works
- Any form of medium or long-form video content works on YouTube, as long as it is relevant to your audience and engaging.
- Tutorials, how-to videos, unboxing, product reviews, etc. are some of the video types you can start with.
- YouTube is also a great platform to tell your brand story in the form of a video.
Facebook is the biggest social media platform by number of users. It boasts of a massive user base of over 2 billion and still growing.
The launch of Facebook’s business pages was something that took it from a social network to a full-fledged marketing platform. Any business that has an online presence has a Facebook business page. Brands use Facebook marketing in a lot of ways and not just to drive traffic to their websites.
Marketing Tips
- Create your Facebook business page and optimise it by selecting a good profile picture, name, and a compelling bio.
- Also, ensure that you select the most relevant business category.
- Create a custom URL that represents your brand and is memorable, instead of using the default URL.
- Always add a CTA button at the top right of your page.
- Here’s an example:
Image via Facebook
- Provide all relevant business information on your business page, including your contact details and a website link.
- Understand your audience by using Facebook Page Insights.
- Use a chatbot solution to immediately greet and converse with any new page visitor.
- Post regularly and at the times when you’re likely to get more engagement.
- Leverage Facebook advertising and create lookalike audiences to target specific sets of people.
Content That Works
- Short video posts that are engaging and useful.
- Posts with images work better than just text-based posts.
- Use emojis to make your text-based posts stand out.
- Experiment with live videos and stories as these are quite popular on Facebook.
Twitter is very different from other social media marketing platforms listed here, in that it started out as a text-only platform.
Unlike other platforms, which are mainly visual, Twitter’s power lies in short, crisp, and frequent tweets. It is very dynamic and requires a more frequent posting schedule if you want to use it for marketing purposes.
A lot of brands, influencers, and marketers have leveraged Twitter to build massive followings and market themselves. You can do the same if you know how to tailor your marketing strategy to match the platform.
Marketing Tips
- One rule of thumb for Twitter marketing is to tweet frequently and consistently or else you will lose your audience’s interest.
- Also, schedule your tweets and post at regular intervals, preferably during the best times to post on Twitter.
Source: sproutsocial.com
- Though the platform has traditionally been a text-based, use images in your tweets to grab attention and make your tweets stand out.
- Hashtags are your best friends when it comes to Twitter marketing. Find and use relevant hashtags to reach a much larger audience.
- Optimise your Twitter profile by selecting appropriate profile and cover images and username.
- Write an interesting bio describing your brand and what it stands for. Also, add your website link and links to other social media accounts.
- Ask people to retweet, it doesn’t hurt and might just get you more retweets.
- Twitter is the best platform to engage in social media conversations on trending topics, so, comment, retweet, and share your opinions.
- Mention relevant people or brands if you are sharing something related to them.
Content That Works
- Short, frequent updates from an event or any latest happening with your brand.
- Humorous tweets, memes, jokes, one-liners, anything that is witty and crisp.
- Useful, informational tweets on trending industry topics.
- Questions, quizzes, and polls.
- Teasers or links to content on other platforms like your website.
LinkedIn is more of a professional network than a social network but is an excellent platform for B2B marketing. Platforms like Instagram and Snapchat might be fun for personal use and even great for B2C marketing, but LinkedIn wins the show when it comes to B2B marketing.
This is a platform where industry experts share their opinions and informative content on current topics. If you want to establish yourself as an industry thought leader, then this is the platform for you. Of course, for B2B businesses, it is also a key lead-generation platform.
Marketing Tips
- Create an impressive profile that helps you make a good first impression on your profile visitors.
- Create a proper company profile, describing your business, products, and services, etc.
- Use keywords to get your profile to rank for relevant searches.
- Leverage the power of LinkedIn groups and join relevant ones.
Content That Works
- Informational articles on industry hot topics, consumer challenges, etc.
- Opinion pieces and thought-leadership content.
- Reports, studies, long-form articles, etc.
Before You Go…
The scope of social media marketing is vast and cannot be summed up by mentioning just a few platforms. The social media platforms mentioned here are the biggest and the most dominant ones. However, there are other niche platforms like Twitch, Snapchat, and others that you should explore if they are relevant to your business.
So, get started with social media marketing and remember the golden rule, “customise your strategy for each platform.”
