Social media apps dominate the internet. People will ask for your Instagram username before they get to know your last name. Introducing ourselves to new people has become akin to sending friend requests and follow requests. Statistics suggest that people interact with their phones, engaging in social media, as the first action they do after waking up and the last action before sleeping.
This only goes on to say how influential social media has become in our lives. Whether you are a professional working solo or a business looking to grow and dominate, you won’t leave this chance. Knowing about how to use different social media handles and different strategies to promote your business online will leave you as king of the jungle if you consistently apply what you are about to read.
Let’s explore some ways you can become the top player and grow as a business through social media.
1. One app or many?
Social media is an umbrella term that covers a broad spectrum of apps and platforms that allow users to engage online. Knowing the right app for the right implementation is crucial for your business growth.
Here are some popular apps that businesses use:
Instagram has only grown in popularity and use since its conception in 2010. Users can share images and videos. Networks are grown by sending and receiving follow requests. People can share other people’s stuff through their own accounts. This is very important for a business. If you handle Instagram the right way, your services/products will be marketed by followers without you having to lift a finger, quite literally. Fortunately, Instagram has implemented many business-specific features to cater to professionals and organisations.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Facebook is where it all began. It has been the hallmark of social networking for as long as time immemorial. Media sharing, regular posting, live updates, massive social network reach, ads, popular community groups, business pages, you name it and it will be there. Any business searching for growth will be quick to create a Facebook page and focus on promotion there.
YouTube
YouTube focuses on content creators sharing video-based media. The competition for increasing subscriber counts and growing your business’ channel is great, but couple that with some smart strategies and using other social media handles, you’ll be a flying content creator in no time. In 2024, a successful business that operates social media handles with massive followings is almost always accompanied by an up and running YouTube. This might be the right time to set up your own.
Some other popular apps are Twitter, Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Snapchat.
Make use of all handles for the uniqueness they provide their users with.
2. Choose your niche and target audience
If you are trying to cater to every person, regardless of their preferences and interests, you won’t grow as a business on any social media platform. It’s very crucial to know your customers and what attracts them to your service. Remember: they are there for what your service offers them personally.
A natural products business will target a nature-loving audience. An automobile business will focus on car enthusiasts more than video gamers. Likewise, a gaming business will seek customers among gamers, not house-cleaning service providers. It won’t make sense for a beauty brand to try and cater to book readers.
The above examples should give you a sense of how detrimental it will be for your business if you make the mistake of targeting the wrong audience.
3. Post regular content
‘Content is king’ is a common saying among influencers and creators, and for good reason, too. There’s no place for any inactivity if you want to dominate the social media world.
Every time you post new content about your service, there’s a chance of that post reaching a whole new plethora of potential consumers. Regular posting ensures that people know this business is alive and kicking.
Establishing an online presence requires consistent posting of engaging content that caters to the preferences of your target audience.
4. Connect with other brands, influencers, and businesses
Get this step right from the get-go and your business growth on social media will be skyrocketing.
Collaborating with similar brands opens up a whole new array of consumers that are just waiting to chance upon awesome businesses like yours.
Your social media handle may not have 50,000 followers yet. What do you do in this case? Find someone who has a similar reach as yours and approach them with a proposal to share content on each other’s page. The other page may have only 5,000 followers for now. But you know what? Those are 5,000 new potential followers that your business handle can gain.
No number of followers is small. If a collaboration helps you get just ten followers, then that collaboration was worth it. It means that your business came in the eye of many new people.
But to make sure you’re not getting scammed by a fraudster or impersonator, use Nuwber to verify the identity of a potential collaborator. You can look up the person you wish to create a lasting business partnership with instantly and check if they are worth establishing a trusting relationship.
This point also connects with influencer marketing. Brands and businesses hire individuals with a massive following and wide reach to spread the word about their business. This is called influencer marketing. It’s quite a popular method of getting your business out there. You may need to dish some money for this one. So, choose well.
Conclusion
To summarise, the growth of your business comes down to the way you handle different strategies.
Using the right social media handle to share the specific content it provides is a wise first step.
Knowing who your consumers are and creating content aesthetics that appeal to your target audience is a practical strategy you need to know.
Engaging with your followers and being active comes next.
And finally, collaborating with businesses in your niche will take your own business to a wider audience.
There they are, a few practical steps that you can implement to promote your business on social media.