What are social networks?

 

Social media is a computer-based technology that facilitates the exchange of ideas, thoughts, and information by building virtual networks and communities. By design, social networks are based on the Internet and provide users with rapid electronic communication of content. The content includes personal information, documents, videos and photos. Users interact with social media channel via a computer, tablet, or smartphone through web-based software or a web application, often using it to send messages.

While social media is ubiquitous in the United States and Europe, China and India now top the list for social media usage. It appears it's trending largely because of a series of viral top trending videos published by many channel owners.

What social media channels are the best for your business?

Quality always trumps quantity. It's better to choose two or three channels and consistently post high-quality, engaging content rather than spreading to more channels and posting low-quality content. Focusing on a couple of networks allows time to interact and engage in conversations, which ultimately leads to more conversions and customers.

Whitney Hines, director of marketing for BMH Digital Agency, advises her team to be more concerned about the quality of the publications they create for their clients. It also asks customers to verify that the content reflects their organization and encourages them to interact and post additional content. Many wanted to chat with famous content creators. Well Jet TV gives these options to followers.

Pro Tip: If you want more advice from agency owners and marketing managers like Whitney on how to run a social media marketing agency, check out our guide.

But how do you decide which social media channels are best for your business or your client's?

Understand social media

Social media originated as a way to interact with friends and family, but was later embraced by companies that wanted to take advantage of a popular new communication method to reach customers. The power of social media is the ability to connect and share information with anyone on Earth or with many people simultaneously.

Globally, there are more than 3 billion social media users. Social networks are a constantly changing and evolving web platform.

According to the Pew Research Center, social media users tend to be younger. Almost 90 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 used at least one form of social media. Also, these users tend to be better educated and relatively wealthy, or earn more than $ 75,000 per year.

 

The many forms of social media

Social media can take the form of a variety of technology-enabled activities. These activities include photo sharing, blogging, social gaming, social networking, video sharing, video advertising, business networking, virtual worlds, reviews, and much more. Even governments and politicians use social media to interact with voters and voters.

For people, social media is used to keep in touch with friends and family. Some people will use various social media apps to network with career opportunities, find people around the world with similar interests, and share their thoughts, feelings, knowledge, and emotions. Those who participate in these activities are part of a virtual social network.

For companies, social networks are an indispensable tool. Businesses use the platform to find and interact with customers, drive sales through advertising and promotion, measure consumer trends, and offer customer service or support.

The role of social media in helping businesses is important. Facilitates communication with customers, allowing the combination of social interactions on e-commerce sites. Your ability to gather information helps you focus on marketing efforts and market research. It helps in the promotion of products and services, since it allows the distribution of coupons and specific, timely and exclusive sales to potential customers. Additionally, social media can help build relationships with customers through loyalty programs linked to social media.

Real world example

Although social networks have their positive side, many point to the platform and point out negative characteristics, comparing its excessive use with an addiction. Some dispute it contributes to inattention, stress, and jealousy. The National Center for Biotechnology Information links heavy use of social media to depression. Additionally, social media can often be a conduit for misleading information and falsehoods.

The 2016 US presidential elections have well-documented accounts of the impact of the ability to spread false information through the platform. Such a phenomenon harnesses the power of social media, allowing anyone to reach an audience of millions with content that lacks oversight or fact-checking.

Where is your audience?

The first thing you should research is what social networks your audience uses. There is little point in being active on a network if the people you are targeting are not using it. Define your target audience and compare it to these social media demographics. This will give you an excellent starting point. For example, if you're primarily targeting women over 50, Instagram is probably not the best option. Research suggests that you are better off with Facebook or Pinterest.

In addition to these stats, explore how competitors and influential voices in your subject area use the social media you are interested in. Look at the content that is being published and who the main content creators are. If the content related to your industry seems to be receiving a good reception, it is a good sign.

Depending on how deep you want to dig deep, social media monitoring or listening can give you different perspectives on how the topics you'll be posting about are already being discussed on various social media sites. This approach is ideal for highly diverse social networks like Reddit. You can do a keyword search related to your industry and see if there is an active audience for it. Don't choose social media based on news. Look for channels that are popular with your audience.

What Is Your Industry?

Not all social media channels will work well for your industry. For example, visually-driven industries like fashion, cosmetology, and food gravitate toward Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat. These networks are based more on images than text, so they fit perfectly. However, industries such as software and technology have been very successful with Twitter because they can select content and attract users to their site. The easiest way to determine which social media is suited to your industry is to look at the social media activity of your competitors.

Ask these two basic questions for each social media profile they have:

Are they active?

Do they get commitment?

The first question is important because companies don't tend to be overly active on a social media channel that isn't working for them. Whether they're driving traffic to your site or generating leads, there's a reason they're more active on one channel than another.

Participation on social media is crucial because it shows that there is an active audience. When we talk about engagement, it's not about the size of the brand's account. How many likes, shares, and comments do your posts have? Having hundreds of thousands of followers doesn't mean much if they're not active.

What social media channels already generate traffic?

Sometimes the answer to which social media channel to use is right in front of you. If you're in a position where you've been testing multiple social networks, but want to narrow your focus and improve your content strategy by one or two, this tip is for you. See how many visits your site currently receives from social media. You can find this in Google Analytics under Social Media Acquisition and Referrals.

If you're already getting traffic from certain social networks, start concentrating your efforts there. Look at your social media analytics to find your best performing posts, then create a growth strategy.

Think outside the main social media channels

More and more, there are more and more sites where users find some of the core functions of social media, even if you don't think of them as traditional social channels. YouTube has become a great search engine in its own right and users are very active in commenting on videos. If you want to go viral, funny videos might just help you get there. Reddit, as mentioned above, is a great place to do online listening research and take advantage of active niche communities.

Your review management strategy can be another key source of audience information, and will most likely fit very effectively with your social strategy. Similar to social media, if you run a business that relies heavily on reviews from sites like Trip Advisor, chances are your team is already tracking and responding to users. On the audience side, reviews give you everything you need to learn more about the core and vocal interests of your audience, just like you can get from "traditional" social media. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram cater to multiple industries. People don't come together for the sole purpose of getting news about their industry. Some people use Instagram to follow celebrities, others use it to keep in touch with friends. But with niche sites, users are there because they are interested in your industry. If you are looking for new opportunities on social media channels, these are ideal platforms to take advantage of.