Having a presence on social media is a vital component of any online marketing strategy and being active on social media can be extremely useful for an organisation of any shape, size and target demographic. With that in mind it’s important to know that some social media platforms are going to be more useful to you than others
Organisations can have official social media pages for a number of reasons - from simply communicating with their existing audience, promoting themselves to a new audience, or even to use it as a source of active market research. But some social media platforms will suit your needs better than others.
This blog focuses on the benefits of having an official organisation (or company) page on Facebook and LinkedIn, and doesn’t so much discuss the benefits of having a personal social media profile. However, you will need to create a personal profile before you can set up a page.
Facebook
Facebook is the largest of the social networking websites and is designed as a place where friends and family share and connect together online, which is made easy by features such as posting, sharing, liking and commenting on content that circulates within your network.
Due to its “connect with family and friends around the world” orientation, many users visit Facebook for recreational and emotional purposes – so if you want to optimise the success of your official Facebook page, you’ll want to share engaging and relevant posts on a regular basis (posts that contain images are even better!).
Facebook stats and facts:
- 50% of Facebook users visit the site more than once a day (adweek)
- Facebook is a popular outlet for most age demographics.
- The percentage of adult internet users who use Facebook = 82% of 18-29 year olds, 79% of 30 – 49 year olds, 64% of 50 64 year olds, and 48% of 65 + year olds. (pewinternet.org)
What types of organisations should have an official Facebook page?
Having a Facebook page will provide your audience with an easily accessible and informal line of contact directly to you. If this is important to you then get started on creating a page today.
Some specific organisations that could benefit from having a Facebook page include:
Membership, social and club based: If you already have an established member or audience base, then Facebook can serve as another vehicle to communicate with them.
Moreover, if you are newly formed, want to grow your membership, or want to target different demographics then having an active and engaging Facebook page will help too.
Organisations that regularly host events: There are lots of tools available on Facebook that you can use to gauge and build interest - you can even create and invite people to ‘events’, which they can then respond by selecting whether they are ‘going’ to attend, are ‘interested’ but not committed, or are‘not interested’ in attending.
Product-based and consumer driven businesses: On Facebook you can share new product information and run competitions to promote your offerings with existing and potential customers.
It’s important that consumer driven business pages are monitored frequently in order to ensure all customer queries and issues are resolved promptly.
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the largest social network for professionals, business leaders and entrepreneurs and tends to be more formal than many other social networks, including Facebook.
Here you’d usually connect with past and future employers and co-workers, people working in the same or similar field to you – rather than connecting with friends and family.
LinkedIn stats and facts:
- LinkedIn has over 400 million users and is rapidly growing ( LinkedIn)
- Among adult internet users, the percentage who use LinkedIn = 22% of 18-29 year olds, 32% of 30 – 49 year olds, 26% of 50 - 64 year olds, and 12% of 65 + year olds (pewinternet.org)
What types of organisations should have an official LinkedIn page?
Having a personal LinkedIn page can be helpful to many people due to its ability to let you grow and rekindle business connections, however, more informal organisations might not need an official LinkedIn page due to its strong ‘professional’ focus.
Some specific organisations that could benefit from having a LinkedIn page include:
Corporate organisations: On LinkedIn you can share your content and insights in order to build an industry leader status.
B2b oriented businesses: 44% of B2B marketers have generated leads via LinkedIn, whereas only 39% have generated leads through Facebook and just 30% through Twitter (Sensiblemarketing).
This is because you have a better chance of reaching the business decision makers on LinkedIn.
Recruitment based companies: With the LinkedIn’s ‘Jobs’ tool you can add job listings associated with your business, and then LinkedIn will recommend listings to the best suited potential candidates.
What about other social media networks?
There are other social media networks that might better suit your marketing objectives – including Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Google + to name a few.
Follow Expert’s ezine to get advice on other social networks and to learn how to set up your official social media pages. Sign up here.