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What Type Of Social Media Accounts Are Right For Your Small Business?

 
Once someone gets their small business up and running, it is time to start getting the word out and promote the venture. In the new world of business, the best way to get noticed by the masses is online, and the way to find a substantial number of customers is through social media. However, while social media is an effective way to promote a business, each platform has a different audience and each platform requires a different strategy when using them. It is also smart to choose the right platforms for the specific business. Find one or two platforms that are more comfortable to use, and then master those instead of trying every social media network available.

 

 
Find customers on Facebook

The number one social media network in the world today is still Facebook, with Statista reporting that there are 1.9 billion users as of April 2017. The important thing to decide is if a business needs a Facebook page or wants to start a Facebook group. The downfall of a Facebook page is that they often end up buried in possible customer's timelines, and money is needed to buy ads to send people to the page. However, Facebook groups can be better only if a business wants to use Facebook to open a dialogue with customers, which requires a regular presence. Regardless of which way you use Facebook, it is a place where all businesses need to sustain an online presence due to the number of Facebook users alone.

 
Dazzle customers on Instagram

It might surprise some people, but the number of Instagram users is almost double that of Twitter users, with 600 million as of April 2017. What makes Instagram so important to small business owners is that the site avoids much of the personal and political posts by people that appear on Facebook and simply uses photos and videos to send messages. A small business can really develop a strong customer following if they use Instagram to both display photos and videos of items the business is selling or marketing, and balance that out with humorous or more personal photos as well. Daniel DiPiazza, the man behind Rich20Something, built a following of 150,000 followers on Instagram in just one year by posting every day and delivering images that people wanted to share.

 
Deliver live updates on Twitter

Unlike Facebook, Twitter is a social media network for people on the go. The messages fly by, and when people follow a large number of friends, celebrities, and businesses, there is a chance that a businesses message is buried. With just over 300 million users, there is still a huge demographic that a business can latch onto if this social media network is used properly. The most important thing to do on Twitter is to post frequently and learn how to use the best hashtags to catch people's attention. However, this is a very time consuming social media network, and is only good for those with the time to devote to it.

 
Network with other businesses on LinkedIn

One final social media account that is perfect for small businesses is LinkedIn. The difference is that this is not really a way to sell products or find new customers. However, LinkedIn is the number one social media network for businesses when it comes to networking. Once a business signs up for LinkedIn, they can connect with prospective employees, search out partners for business ventures, and more. With all social media accounts, a small business must remember to keep their posts professional, but LinkedIn is the one place where that is extremely important.

 

 
This article was written by Shawn S. Lealos for CBS Small Business Pulse
 

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