Which is the Best Social Network for Small Businesses and Why?

Social media platforms are not just for socialising anymore. It has become a great marketing platform as well. Social Media for small businesses is a great platform to reach their potential customers. According to a survey, 27% of internet users say they find new products and brands through paid social ads.

Social media offers the best and most cost-effective way to advertise your brand product/service. So, the next question that would arise in your mind might be: How to promote business on social media and which is the most popular social media platform to advertise your business's product/service on?

Here are some of the best social media for small businesses to advertise on and a brief guide for which platform you should choose according to your targeted audience.

1. FACEBOOK

Facebook is among the first platforms on which the concept of social media marketing for small businesses was first introduced and popularised.

However, over the years, many platforms have come up, and this has led to user diversification. But, Facebook still holds the position for most active users among all social media platforms, with active users around 2 billion.

Here are some key points to remember while advertising on Facebook:

• As it is one of the first social media platforms, It holds a lot of user data which helps its algorithm understand user behaviour in a better way, like their liking, personality, and other details. This will help you to target the right audience.
• Facebook has groups in which people of similar interests are members. Introducing your brand in such groups can be helpful to reach a large number of people at once.
• Facebook offers paid ad options as well. Here you can run your ad campaign, and the amount will be charged per click by any user.
• While advertising on Facebook, keep in mind that most regular users here are of the age 18-44.
• Facebook is a great platform to make your customers aware of any upcoming event, new product launch, promotional sales, etc.
• Out of 2 billion Facebook users, 320 Million users are Indians, which is the highest number of Facebook users around the world.
• Around 80% of users use Facebook via mobile. So, make sure your ad campaign and website are mobile-friendly.  

2. INSTAGRAM

Instagram comes in the second position in terms of active users worldwide, with around 1 billion active users. Contrary to Facebook's audience & demography, Instagram is mainly used by millennials and teenagers.

Here are some key points to remember while marketing on Instagram:

• As mentioned, unlike Facebook, Most Instagram users are millennials, teens, or specifically of age group 13-30. Products related to this audience group will garner a lot of attention.
• Instagram audiences prefer to consume content of high quality. May it be in the form of an image or video.
• Instagram has 4th-most users of any mobile app. Thus, again make sure to make your content mobile-friendly.
• Unlike Facebook, Instagram does not have any groups. But, It has another option to reach a large audience at once via influencer marketing & hashtags.
• Here, users consume more content that relates to current meme trends or any news. This style of marketing is Moment Marketing.
• Instagram is the best social media for small businesses in sectors like - Food, clothing, footwear, gadgets, accessories, tour and travel, etc. Sectors that can be connected to the younger generation easily.
• Out of 1 Billion + users, around 120 Million users are Indian, which is among one of the highest in the world. Thus, making it a great platform for Indian brands.

3. TWITTER

Twitter is a politically & professionally exposed platform where users look for the latest trend, news and get in touch with celebrities or business persons. On Twitter, even if you could get a few retweets from users with many followers, there is a great chance that your ad campaign might go "viral."

Some key points to keep in mind while advertising on Twitter:

• Twitter has around 350 Million active users worldwide.
• Facebook and Instagram are more socialising platforms, while Twitter is much more of an interacting, debate-related platform.
• Twitter is mainly used by its audience to be updated about current affairs around the world and to express their view on some big events happening around the globe.

• The U.S. has the most Twitter users, followed by Japan and India. This can help you strategise your ad campaign according to the user's country.
• It is the most popular social media for moment marketing, Trend marketing, and trending hashtags.
• It is a great platform to take advantage of any event or news to get your brand in front of millions.
• To get an idea of how such moments can help you, look for Tweets of brands like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Zomato, Swiggy, Nike, etc., which are famous for their moment marketing campaigns and ad wars.

However, with all such advantages, Twitter only allows a specific word limit in one tweet. Thus, you need to improvise on your editing skills or hire a professional to explain your brand's product/service with minimum words possible.

Also, one needs to be a bit cautious while marketing with such the latest news or events. One must ensure that any communication done on Twitter should not hurt any person, community, or country's sentiments. Otherwise, your whole campaign can backfire on you, and your brand might be seen with an opposing view.

4. LINKEDIN

Linkedin is a professional social media platform. Rather than socialising, it is a platform for networking and getting in touch with business professionals and colleagues. Linkedin users are much more concerned about their professional life and sharing their career achievements to get in touch with potential employers or CEOs of big companies.

Some key points to keep in mind while advertising on LinkedIn:

• LinkedIn has around 720 Million users, out of which 71 Million are Indians.
• About 45% of LinkedIn article readers are in upper-level positions like - VPs, Managers, Directors, or Entrepreneurs.
• More than half a billion professionals worldwide gather on LinkedIn.
• Similar to Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn also provides paid ad options that can be used to run your ad campaign.
• LinkedIn is the most favourable platform for B2B marketers. Around 92% of B2B marketers have Linkedin in their digital mix.
• Advertising on LinkedIn should mainly be concerned with an individual's professional life or other business.

Thus, on the contrary to all other platforms where socialising and sharing personal life experiences with others is the primary concern, here, professional accomplishments are of paramount concern. This means it is useful for brands or companies which have some link to the professional life of an individual.

In Conclusion

Social media provides a vast range of platforms for the social media marketing of small businesses. There are many more platforms available for marketing with different target audiences as well. However, these 4 platforms are most widely used and are best for small businesses looking to reach out to potential customers.

While selecting a platform for your company, rather than looking for the most popular social media, look for the platform that suits most to your audience type and the product/service you offer. It will save you time and money to run campaigns on the platform with most users of your targeted audience.

Also read:

1) Which of the Social Media Platforms is Important for Marketing?
2) Social Media Ideas For Business.
3) How to Learn Social Media Marketing? A Complete Guide.
4) What Is Social Media Management? Benefits & more.

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FAQs

Q. What should I post on social media platforms?

Ans. Post content describing the product/service you offer in brief and simple language. Users on any social media platform prefer simple & relatable content that can educate & entertain them.  

Q. How long should my posts/videos be for social media?

Ans. Users on social media generally have a short attention span. Content that delivers the right message in fewer words & designing is preferred. However, some emotional content, even if longer than regular content size, can grab the attention of the audience.  

Q. How do I get more followers?

Ans. To gain followers, brands must post quality & relevant content. Keep in mind that on social media, quality is more important than quantity for your ad campaign success. Engaging with the audience is also very important to gain followers on social media.