Webinar: Social Media Breakdown
By Chelsea on May 10, 2017 in Social Media
Video Transcript
Welcome to Paperstreet’s social media breakdown. I’m Chelsea, your voice and hostess for this webinar. Without out further ado, let’s get started. So what will you be breaking down? First, we’ll start with the big four, then what’s up and coming, and lastly the one thing you must be doing on social media. The big four. This consists of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus. These are the four pages that Paperstreet recommends all clients have set up for their business.
First up is Facebook. Probably the most well-known social media platform, it is the largest network with over one billion, yes you heard right, one billion users worldwide. These days, Facebook is an expected part of being online. On Facebook, you can share content, photos, links, it’s also a great place to connect with other users by liking posts and commenting.
Twitter, the platform where posts are called tweets and a little blue bird insists your posts be 140 characters or less. Twitter is also the best place to make use of hashtags, although you should only stick to one or two per tweet. Now, the character limit may sound like a disadvantage, but really it’s a perk of Twitter’s platform. In today’s fast paced world, Twitter’s rapid and scan-friendly setup appeals for those who want a quick fix. Twitter is also a great place to make a personal connection, you can join or start a conversation with a simple tweet.
Next up is LinkedIn, AKA the professional network. LinkedIn really does bring an advantage to businesses. On other platforms, you’re competing with cute pet photos, baby photos, funny videos, and home decor ideas. On LinkedIn, you’re catching people in work mode, giving a much better odd for the possibly of a professional connection or perhaps a new client.
Last up for the big four is Google Plus. There are other advantages to having a Google Plus page other than keeping Google happy. Having a Google Plus page helps to enhance your map page since the two go hand in hand. Now, while Google Plus isn’t the top network for, well, networking, you should post content to entice users so they’ll be likely to engage with you on other forms of social media. Also, keeping your page current has the added benefit of helping to influence local map rankings.
So, what’s up and coming in the social worlds? First up is Instagram. Now, you might be saying, “How does a platform based on people taking photos of their lunch have to do with my business?” I’m here to say Instagram is so much more people standing on chairs to get a good shot of their meal. Last May, Instagram rolled out business profiles that among other things, added a button that people could use to contact the business. Now eight million companies have converted their accounts to Instagram’s version of Facebook Pages. According to the company, they’ll be adding other ways for people to communicate with businesses through the app. Not to mention there are a rising number of people who are using Instagram like the new age Yellow Pages. In one month, more that 20% of the app’s monthly audience used Instagram to visit a brand’s website, get directions to a business location, or contact a company by phone, email, or direct message. So still think it’s just a place to share photos of food?
Next is Snapchat, yes the app with a friendly ghost and shared content that disappears after 24 hours made our up and upcoming list. First off, it’s worth mentioning that both Instagram and Facebook have borrowed the platform’s model, creating their own seemingly very similar stories. You know what they say, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Snapchat has grown at an incredibly rate, reaching 161 million daily active users in less than a decade. Now that’s nothing to sneeze at. Snapchat also offers Snap Ads, and it’s creating new ad targeting options to help advertisers reach the people who are most likely going to interact with their brand. For all those reasons, we think it’s a good idea to keep this social platform on our radar.
Now, last on our up and coming list is LinkedIn. If you are saying, “Wait, LinkedIn is one of the big four.” First, good to see you’re paying attention, and second, yes, you’re right. But with all the new updates they’ve been making, they also fall in the category of up and coming. LinkedIn has recently overhauled its entire desktop site. Well, they have more that 467 million users, only 23% of those users visit the site every month. Yikes, not great. The redesign is meant to create more value for LinkedIn members. Some of these changes include a new home page feed, modeled in the style of Facebook, new search features, and chat-like messaging. Stay tuned to see if these changes result in a positive user experience.
So what’s the one thing you must be doing on social media? I’ll give you a clue, it’s already been mentioned. Any guesses? All right, the answer is engagement, and no, not this kind of engagement, this kind, liking, sharing, commenting, direct messaging, retweeting, this is what we’re referring to when we say engagement. In our department we have a fondness for analogies, so think of it like you’re attending a party. Yay, everyone loves parties. Now, do you walk in, sit down your soap box and only talk about yourself? No. Because you know that would get a negative reaction and a couple of looks like these. Instead, you go around and talk to people, ask how they’re doing, start conversations, and engage. See where I’m headed? That’s exactly the goal for social media, it’s called social networking for a reason. Now, don’t get me wrong, you should be actively sharing content, but that’s only half of the circle, the other half is engagement. But now how do you do that? Monitor your pages and make sure to respond to comments. Don’t be afraid to lend your expertise an article or issue, use hashtags to your advantage, search for your local area, see what the current buzz is and see if you can join the conversation. Just remember to be genuine and not spammy. The goal is to build real and positive connections.
Now, one last tip before I let you go. Gain an edge and unify your marketing. At the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, Internet marketing is a real team effort, both on the Web and in the workplace. All parts support each other for the best end results, and having it done all under one roof can be a serious advantage. Ta-da, we made it to the end, and thanks for sticking with me. I hope this was a good refresher on social media and you learned something new along the way.
Transcription provided by Speechpad.
