There are so many social media marketing platforms these days! Some are more beneficial for small businesses than others. Which is best for your business?

Facebook

Facebook is the most widely used social media platform in the world, the right platform for any type of business. It allows you to reach massive audiences—your existing clients—and enables you to attract new ones, through targeted ad campaigns. Its possibilities are endless for customer interactions, which should be a focus of every social media marketing strategy. Their powerful analytics tool will help track all the data you receive from your interactive efforts. Other useful tools on Facebook: e-commerce store integration, appointment reservation system, donation request for non-profits, and more.

Instagram

Instagram started as a photo-sharing mobile platform and has kept to its nature. One addition is a video feature: Instagram Stories and Reels. This platform is ideal to visually appeal to your customers and new leads. It is an excellent way for your business to show products versus telling about them. Like Facebook, Instagram allows you to connect your e-commerce store to your business Instagram account to sell your products. In general, this platform tends to reach a younger audience, who love shopping on the go; more so than Facebook.

Twitter

Twitter is great to reach a broader audience through its wide use of hashtags and tags. It is ideal for raising your brand awareness and directly connecting with your customers. Many corporations use Twitter to supplement their customer service team. However, this platform requires its own social media strategy and a commitment to post multiple tweets a day to engage with audiences.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a networking platform designed to connect professionals across the globe. LinkedIn’s main advantage for business is its recruiting system. It also has great content-sharing features. While this platform will not necessarily help you find new customers, it will help you find prospective business partners. It’s not a platform to use for entertainment or shopping, but to keep updated within your industry, connect with professional contacts, and seek new career opportunities.

Google My Business

Although this platform is listed as number 5, every business should have an accurate updated Google My Business listing. Your business, your contact phone number, website, email, physical address make for a trustworthy web presence; this is a MUST. This information pops up when users use the Google search engine to search in specific locations. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Google has integrated new features, helping your customers to keep up with the COVID-19 restrictions your business might have in place, as well as providing any business updates you might have, such as a new menu item at your restaurant, changing hours, or recent sales. Many folks make their decisions on which business to use based on their Google searches.

If you are starting to explore the world of social media for your business, start small. Set up an account with one or two platforms and concentrate on them. Facebook and Instagram are the best, are easy to use, and can be linked together. They will help drive traffic to your business and you will see results very quickly.