One common complaint among businesses is poor online sales. Some only make sales on social network apps like WhatsApp and Snapchat where their customer base is populated with friends, family, well-wishers and a sprinkle of customers acquired through personal selling, and wail about not making sales on other social media apps like Instagram. To leave this zone, you would need to fully garner knowledge on the features of the other apps and do a cross-check to know if they correlate with your line of business.
Not every kind of business will need to have an appearance on Twitter, and some will spend hours making posts on LinkedIn without ever making any sales there. The reason is, that there are one or two social media apps that are best suited for your business. Your target market may not be everywhere, but they are concentrated somewhere. It is up to you to understand which social media will work best for you and give you the best results.
TIKTOK
For businesses centered around fun and even fashion, i.e comedy, skits, fashion hacks, TikTok would be a perfect app to help your business grow. The app has a friendly, jovial atmosphere and is populated with numerous features that make content creation fun like: the presence of filters as on Snapchat, the ability to search for sounds to score your video, and response/duets: for users to engage with other users, the ability for hashtags to exist as a real, functional organizing principle for various “challenges,” jokes, repeating formats, and other discernible blobs of activity. TikTok grants you 60 seconds to create magic and boom! You have gone viral.
CLUBHOUSE & TWITTER
For businesses centered around information (disseminating, sharing, or selling information) where you’ll need to have a one-on-one conversation with witnesses, the clubhouse app is quite appropriate and can be combined with Twitter as the app has a chronological timeline of quick, 140-character bursts of information that instantly lends itself to breaking news situations. It enables journalists and bloggers to communicate and engage with readers and enhances the crowdsourcing of new ideas. But this does not mean you cannot extend your blogging and writing to Instagram and disseminate information there. But on Twitter and Clubhouse social media is where you find the audience that are actively seeking out information, and are ready to engage on serious topics.
For businesses centered around the professional community i.e technology, advertising, coaching, education, graphic design, web design, marketing, coding etc, LinkedIn serves you best. From the brand name “linked” it gives an offshoot of what the app specializes in. LinkedIn is ideal for building connections for fellows of your professional network, and even potential partners. If you have a product, or solution that is tailored to career-minded individuals or people in a professional network/industry, explore the potentials of LinkedIn. Build a community around your brand here, and you will easily convert them to leads once you have established your place as an authority.
This platform is centered around visuals. In fact, we can say the more visual-driven your product is, the more suited you are for Instagram. Businesses around photography, food, fashion, and clothing will find Instagram very appropriate, as it is a visual medium with photo and video sharing features. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters. Instagram has a virtual photo gallery structure that allows leads to see your works as soon as they tap on your profile. Content creators and influencers dominate the app, but a lot of business owners will confirm that they get good leads from this platform.
Facebook is often linked with Instagram, as they are owned by the same company. But the two platforms work slightly differently. If your business has a target market that stretches up to the age of 50, Facebook will work well for you too. Statistics show that Facebook might be the easiest social media platform for the middle-aged and even older generation to navigate. You can create groups and pages for your business on Facebook, and give out content of value regularly on this platform. For instance, if you run a fresh fruits supply business, your Facebook group could be a good platform to regularly educate your community on the benefits of those fruits, how and when to take them, etc.
For businesses centered around intimacy i.e counseling, a helpline for depression, domestic violence, rape, prayer group, etc WhatsApp is most preferred as it is very secure and personal. Once you communicate with a person, business or brand via WhatsApp, one can assume a certain level of intimacy. The app makes room for a personal one-on-one conversation with features like voice notes and video calls.
Businesses centered around building a community can also use WhatsApp. SMEs centered around visuals can also take advantage of the app using Facebook and Instagram features that enable you to run sponsored ads, directing people to your DM. For SMEs that are their Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter DM’s are always filled up, WhatsApp can be a refuge for replying clients.
Businesses in other spaces like food, retail, fashion, and luxury can use Whatsapp to build a personalized or more intimate connection with their customers and enhance brand loyalty. Once a customer feels that you are just a chat away, they are more likely to give your business due loyalty.
YOUTUBE
For businesses that broadly deal with exposure, YouTube is perfect! If you are into explaining hacks, DIYs, coaching, travel, skincare tips, and more… This app is for you, it is the 2nd largest search engine next to Google.
With a maximum of 15 minutes (verified accounts can go longer), you can give your subscribers all the exposure they need to have about your business. For your travel or business, you would want to give them an in-depth tour of your space, hotel, etc that a 60-second TikTok or 2 minutes 20 seconds Twitter cannot give.
Keep in mind also that practically every business can find a use for YouTube. What are those solutions you offer? Why not create video content offering value in your sector so that you can connect with your potential audience on Youtube as well? If you run a fresh yogurt business, for instance, you can have a YouTube channel where you share recipes and food combinations that can be done with your yogurts. If you deal in clothing, you can have video content showing several ways to pair that new Blazers suit you have in stock.
Final thoughts
Keep in mind that every social media platform has features you may be able to tweak, to make it work for your business. However, you will find the most results when you concentrate your marketing efforts on those platforms where your target audience is most active. After all, what is the point of finishing a bucket of paint on your bedroom, when it can not get the admiration and compliments you desire?
Choose one, two, or even three that best increase your brand’s visibility and sales, have a significant population in your niche market, and focus your efforts there.
Whichever social media app you are sticking to, do not forget to dominate and leave a track record that a Smartpreneur was here. Which is your favorite app and what are those features you have been using for your business?
