A few years, social media was seen by many as a bit of a ‘fad’.  However, since the monumental rise in popularity of Facebook and Twitter, and others that have come along, few would now argue against the importance of embracing social media as a business.  Indeed, as many of us use social media to keep in contact with friends, the key platforms also operate sections of their websites for businesses who want to promote their goods and services.  After all, Facebook, Twitter and so on offer ‘free ‘ membership, so they need to make their money somehow, and the way they do this is by encouraging companies to tap into their millions of members, offering targeted advertising campaigns.  That’s ultimately why when you log onto Facebook, for example, you see adverts – this is how this social media channel is monetized for the shareholders.

Different people use different social media channels.  Whilst Facebook and Twitter dominate the market, there are others such as Google +, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Instagram, for example, all of which offer something different.  And someone who uses Instagram may not use Facebook, and someone who uses Pinterest may not use Twitter.  People have their preferences, and so it is important as a company to target as many people as possible with your social media channels, and so why not set up company pages on as many platforms as possible.

That said, there is little point in setting up social media company pages and not taking the time to interact with the users.  In fact, this could do you more harm than good.  If users can’t see you active, this could give out the wrong impression.

So, as a general rule of thumb, all companies should have at least a Facebook and Twitter account.  And they need to be regularly posting to these with company news, product launches, competitions, special offers and promotions, and almost anything else that you think your audience might be interested in.  The more interesting your posts, the more likes and shares it gets, the more users like your page....and so on.  You can see how it can work in your favour.

There’s nothing worse, however, than zero activity on a social media account.  Therefore, if your Facebook and Twitter accounts are growing, and you’re able to regularly post, then consider Pinterest, Google+ and others, and actively post to them so that you hit a different audience.

As for paid for advertising on social media channels, this is a highly effective form of advertising being as most members can be targeted by sex, age, geography, interests and lots of other features, making ad campaigns highly targeted and accountable, perhaps more so than any other form of advertising available in the market.  To set up social media advertising, however, is often not a simple job and so why not discuss your requirements with digital marketing agency MultiChannel Creative – we have the in-house expertise and knowledge to maximise the return for your social media ad spend and we will work with you to manage these campaigns for a small management fee or even as part of your campaign, if this is something that is decided in the pre-campaign set up.

MultiChannel Creatives offers the full, turn-key digital marketing package and so contact us today to find out how we can work together on all aspects of your digital marketing strategy, of which social media is just a part.