Social media for business is a relatively new channel. Once upon a time, social media was seen as a passing phase, a fad that the children of the generation indulged in. Marketers could not have benefitted from such passing phases, except that social media stayed. It became a giant which encompassed even the interest of the adults. You could use it to research recipes, keep track of fashions, track politicians or even decide if you want a Wyoming llc.
Why is social media a great tool for your business?
Social media is the most reliable source to seek out long lost friends or to stay in touch with current friends and relatives. But it is also the best way to ask these same friends and family what car to buy or which software to use for accounting. It dawned on marketers that social media channels could be good for business.
Here are the top 5 social media channels for business.
1. Facebook:
Despite all competition, Facebook remains the most preferred channel of social media for business. It caters to all age groups and has the largest user base. Facebook has a penetration of 72% in the US, and a whopping 330 million users in India. Facebook also has a comprehensive analytics strategy in place, all one needs to do is to specify the product and the target group and Facebook comes up with a strategy to reach out to your target group at the optimum time.
2. Twitter:
This is an unusual choice of social media for business. But a lot of B2C brands are realizing that a quirky brand persona could also go a long way in bringing in customers. If you as a brand are looking for better brand engagement, Twitter is where you should be.
3. LinkedIn:
If you are a B2B organization, your best channel of social media for business would be LinkedIn. The platform is uniquely created for professional social media interactions and you can safely find most brand details here. A good example of successful B2B marketing through LinkedIn would be Knorr’s story. Knorr, a Unilever brand, is famous for selling dehydrated soups and gravy which are gluten-free. Knorr did some market research in UK and realized that customers have difficulty in finding gluten-free food in restaurants. To remedy this problem, Knorr, targetted catering companies and restaurants and published a series of gluten-free recipes.
4. Instagram:
If you are a restaurant or a fashion brand, Instagram is your go-to place. Admittedly, Pinterest has a bigger library but Instagram is the imaging platform. Instagram became so popular that as long ago as 2016 it had become the number one social media marketing platform, beating Facebook and Twitter. A great example of this is #sabyasachibride, the designer and brand now share images of real brides dressed in their bridal wear. It has enabled the designer to reach out to more clients as well as ensure that the customer feels unique and a part of an exclusive club.
Indian Brands reveal how they are using Instagram.
5. WhatsApp:
There exist several other social media for business platforms that are equally good but WhatsApp has the pulse of India. Every bit of your day-to-day communication, business discussions, even professional easy to access groups are on WhatsApp. Your office, your family, your friends, all your contacts are in one place and designated groups. Wouldn’t it be incredibly convenient would it be if the brand you interacted with, sent you text updates on WhatsApp? Say, you book your flight tickets from Goibibo and Goibibo immediately sends you a PDF copy of your ticket as well as your travel details on WhatsApp. This is the very reason why WhatsApp also has a WhatsApp for business version. There are concerns about data privacy with Whatsapp which you need to evaluate.
Given that Whatsapp and Instagram are owned by Facebook one way or another you will have to work with this giant .
