Mobile
Not too many years ago, a business would use a variety of media to promote itself. TV ads, radio commercials, newspaper ads, direct mail and all types of print publications would carry the message. That was business marketing 101 – but it was also years ago. Today, there are still radio and TV commercials, newspaper and magazine ads, but they’re not the dominant media any more. Plus, most small businesses simply can’t afford to use them.
So, what are businesses using in 2020? The answer may surprise you: social media. Yes, the same Facebook app that your kids and friends (and you!) use is not being used to promote many businesses. So are Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. They are far more effective to target specific groups of people, and they are far more cost effective than trying to run TV commercials in a larger market.
Here’s a word of caution: when using social media, you want to be sure of the identity of the person you’re communicating with. That applies to business pages as well. Use Nuwber to provide the true identity of the individual you’re corresponding with, simply by entering their name. email address or phone number. You’ll have peace-of-mind knowing the real identity of your correspondent, and if it doesn’t match with who they say they are, move on to other individuals.
The king of social media is without a doubt Facebook. You start by setting up a business page and then post relevant information about the business. Catchy headlines, good images and short copy will bring viewers to click on your page. From there you can use tactics that include “likes” and other online activities to promote your business. Plus, Facebook provides analytics to let you know how many people viewed your page, how long they stayed there and more.
You could also have customers post relevant info about products or services they’ve used from your business in order to provide “social proof” that your business is viable and that it offers top-notch service and products. Some businesses run contests online via Facebook and have people subscribe to your business page so you can out public updates for subscribers to view.
YouTube
When it comes to watching videos, nobody comes close to YouTube. Nobody. Just look at the numbers and you’ll see why: each month, over 2 billion people were active on YouTube, with 30 million users active on a daily basis. YouTube has over 5 billion videos shared, spending 40 minute or more watching videos. Speaking of watching, there are 5 billion videos watched each day, with 1 billion of them on mobile devices.
The bottom line is this: 73% of adults use YouTube, and 63% of businesses use YouTube to promote their business. If you want to be successful with online social media, you have to include YouTube in your mix.
How tweet it is! Twitter has 330 million active users each month. Plus, 73% of small businesses are on Twitter, and 67% of Twitter users are more likely to buy from the brands that they follow on Twitter. Businesses can tweet out interesting news or facts about a business product or service, along with links to a specific product or service page that provides information and a link to make a purchase.
Other businesses use promotional tweets as an inexpensive way to promote their products and services. You can also use Twitter to drive people to your website to make a purchase and learn more about the products you offer.
Pinterest is a lot more than pinning recipes or sharing pins. It’s a place where you can set up a Pinterest profile for your business, creating boards that relate to your products and services. Others use Pinterest to post images along with some short copy that provides additional product information to generate a lot of views and provides an opportunity for users to share their own images as well.
Others use Pinterest to hold contests by having customers pin images of your products to their own Pinterest boards. Prizes are offered to the pin that generated the most re-pins, or are handed out randomly.
LinkedIn allows you to create a profile along with links to your website. You can have product reviews, articles, press releases or other key information that appeal to your customers and others in your network. In addition, a business can add presentations, brochures, videos and more to their profile under the “summary” section in order to provide in-depth content that anyone can download and view. As you can see, it’s not just a profile about the owner – it’s a business tool that helps to generate customers!
As you can see, all of the popular social media companies have made their platforms available to businesses to use, to drive customers to their respective websites, to sell products and promote services. Social media is now the smart and most cost effective way to promote your business.
