6 Different Types of Social Media
You can drive a lot of traffic to your site through digital marketing with different types of social media. The way you use each platform should be a little different with tweaks and changes based on demographic and content. Check out the different types of social media below and determine which ones you want to use to market your business!
Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.
Instagram is one of the most widely used apps in the world, and it serves a number of different purposes. For many, it’s simply a place where they can share their photos with friends and view pictures that others have taken. They can browse for similar pictures and see who else catches their interest, too.
However, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Instagram also functions as a major marketing hub for businesses and entrepreneurs. You can take advantage of stories and story highlights; IG TV, which allows you to post long-form videos; live streaming (whether by yourself or with a guest); and more. Many accounts have links in the bio section to direct customers to websites or specific pages. It’s a popular option for restaurants that have call-to-action links to order online, clothing stores with giveaways, and more. Upload photos of your merchandise, take pictures of clients, share videos of your process – make it digestible and attractive!
Instagram is also a primary hub for influencers to reach their followers. They put up posts, share content, upload videos, and more, so you can always reach out for a partnership and see if they’d be willing to work with you.
You can see a lot of success on Instagram when you actively engage with your audience via direct messages, comments, shares, reposts, likes, and more. The more an Instagram account feels like a “person” as opposed to a “page,” the more committed the following will be.
It’s important to not ignore Instagram, given that it has over 1.2 billion active users per month!
Main Medium: Photos and Videos
Alexander Shatov on Unsplash.
With more than 2.7 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the largest social media platform. It also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, two other commonly used apps. One of Facebook’s biggest draws is that it became the main place for everyone to gather – a lot of users maintained or kept their Facebook pages from the early days of the website, and still log in to check who they follow. Over time, it became an extension of many businesses, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and more.
Facebook allows users to share posts with extreme ease. Given how many people are on the platform, you’re guaranteed to get eyes on your business one way or another – whether it’s through paid advertisements with Facebook, constant back-linking and marketing with a team, or any other method. However, you can’t treat Facebook as something passive; activity is important, and updates from dormant pages won’t get viewed that much.
Main Medium: Written Content and Posts
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When it comes to short-form content, it’s hard to beat Twitter – and nearly 400 million monthly users would agree. The primary feature of Twitter is the character limit on individual tweets: 240 characters. This translates to a handful of sentences at a time. You can, of course, link your tweets or use a TwitLonger, but those tweets are not as readily digested by followers as short ones.
Twitter’s appeal lies in bursts. As a business, you can tweet out where you’re popping up for the day, a giveaway or contest, a reminder about a sale, and more. The long content and in-depth articles to get people to invest in your brand aren’t used here. Twitter was made to be concise, so keep it concise when you’re using it for marketing!
Main Medium: Short-form Written Content, Reminders, and Alerts
YouTube
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For video, no social media platform beats YouTube. It solidified itself early on as the singular location for videos, and it’s become the place for all walks of life to contribute. You can find anything from tutorials to music videos to dances to seminars on YouTube. If you run a company that can benefit from having an active video library, you should start shooting content and sharing it wherever possible.
Youtube’s reach is enormous – it has over 2.3 billion monthly users, and many of them stumble across other videos in the related sections. It can be hard for your video to get attention if it isn’t properly tagged, but if you promote it and put it on different platforms, you can drive traffic to it – and by extension, to your website.
Main Medium: Video Content
Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash.
LinkedIn is a networking site for professionals. Companies can post ads for jobs, seek out eligible workers, create and share events and seminars, write articles, and more. It’s one of the few social media platforms specifically designed with business and employment in mind. With more than 250 million monthly users, it’s a site that can still grow – and because of that, there’s more opportunity to be noticed.
If you want to stand out on LinkedIn, connect with related businesses in your industry. You’ll be in similar searches and will be able to tap into the same crowd as them and get the attention of the clients you want.
Main Medium: Networking with Posts, Ads, and Events
Yelp
Eaters Collective on Unsplash.
Yelp is more of a review site than a social media platform, but it does feature the ability to create accounts, track businesses, take photos, and leave reviews. Many people can ask for recommendations and give their input on the quality of a business – many meaning more than 178 million monthly users.
Why is Yelp important? Because many consumers shop according to the 5-star system – the closer a business is to 5 stars, the more likely they are to visit it. This is why it’s crucial that if you’re using Yelp, you’re getting as many glowing reviews as possible.
To effectively leverage Yelp and benefit your business, you should be an active member. Respond to customer reviews with positivity if they were satisfied, and address negative reviews if they were dissatisfied.
Main Medium: Written Reviews, Photos
Other Platforms
There are a few other forms of social media that you can use, like Reddit, Pinterest, TikTok, Snapchat, and more. Yet these platforms are more niche and have specific demographics. You’ll need to do sufficient market research to determine who uses each platform, Of course, there are always new apps on the rise, so you should keep an eye out for what’s getting popular and what’s on the way out!
Using Social Media for Your Business
If you’re in need of a consultation to learn how to leverage different types of social media for your company, or if you’re in need of a digital marketing agency, contact Promotion LA today. We have an extensive portfolio and a number of services that can help grow your business. Give us a call today and let’s get started!
