The best social media networks for your business

The major social networks are a powerful advertising tool because of their large user bases. Depending on the network and the ad, thousands or millions of people can be reached at the same time. Paid social advertising is probably the quickest and effective way to establish a large brand presence with the right budget and amount of targeted advertising. Any digital marketing strategy should include a presence on one or more of these networks.

Also keep in mind that attention spans tend to be short on social media, and it can take lots of experimentation to find an optimal formula for a product or service.

Instagram

Instagram is most effective for companies in industries such as food and beverage, clothing, or those who promote travel destinations. A great picture of a place or product can grab a user’s attention and intrigue them. Hashtags that are relevant to the product and the business location will also aid in searching. This network is not as effective for products that require explanations or provide services rather than a tangible item. The real trick with trying to get customers to enter a sales funnel from this platform is to have great, professionally edited pictures with succinct and relevant text descriptions. The best performing ads from any industry on Instagram do not even look like ads when a user is scrolling through their feed.

YouTube

Creating a YouTube ad is tricky because a video needs to grab a user’s attention within a few seconds before they can skip the ad. A video production can also be a larger upfront investment than a small post on the other networks. Many of the most common ads on YouTube feature an explanation of a product or service from a charismatic spokesperson, which is great for businesses that focus on health and fitness or online learning. It can take some trial and error and expert advice to find a winning formula for your brand.

Twitter

Twitter allows for a high degree of interactivity because users can mention or respond to anyone at any given time. Hashtags are also a convenient way to associate a brand with a certain collection of keyword terms. However, the character limit and the ability to scroll through large numbers of tweets quickly can cause problems. There is a small space on a user’s screen to grab their attention among all of the other accounts they follow. Companies that can target B2B ads to relevant industry interests seem to flourish on this platform.

Facebook

Facebook is still the king of social media because of the longevity of the platform and the fact that just about everyone on the planet has a Facebook page. Facebook boasts about 2.3 billion monthly active users and 1.5 billion people who long in daily. Facebook is also the most valuable platform in terms of user spending. The audience on this platform tends to skew a bit younger, which is a good fact for advertisers to keep in mind. The recent scandals involving privacy are going to cause changes to advertising guidelines among other updates. Many of the best performing Facebook ads are run by businesses who can offer a free trial period or discounts on products to grab attention.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the only large social network that tends to be very purpose specific. It depends on a user base that is actively job searching, running a business page, or networking to advance their careers. The downside of running ads on this site is that LinkedIn promotes its own internal products through frequent messages to users and the main page feed tends to become an overload of articles and information. This platform is best left for businesses who have a specific need to connect with working professionals or job seekers. Recruiting and staffing businesses obviously do well here, as do companies who provide education and career advancement services.