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Promotion and customer research on social networks | Innovating
Focus 1: promotion and customer research on social networks
In the introductory overview of this new excursus dedicated to online promotion and customer research, we have provided an initial list of the main tools for advertising and expanding your catchment area. As it is easy to understand, the resources at our disposal are not lacking, thanks to the explosion of web marketing on all fronts. In recent years, promotion has moved from the old outbound marketing channels (above all television, radio and newspapers) to the new inbound marketing channels (blogs, online magazines, Youtube, social media). Each of these channels has strengths and weaknesses that you need to know, avoiding making the mistake of managing what you like and not what you really need. In this regard, we want to dedicate the first episode to social networks, among the more effective online promotion tools (but also more dispersive, if used incorrectly) for companies, businesses, ecommerce and business in general.
The typical attitude of entrepreneurs is to open accounts and profiles somewhat at random, just to be present with their own brand. Too bad that if the resources are lacking, what should have been a presence it becomes a heavy absence (in America empty Facebook profiles are called "graveyard pages"), with obvious repercussions in terms of image. So you need to have a coherent strategy with long-term availability, both from an economic point of view and in terms of the time to dedicate to each individual social network. Opening profiles here and there and then leaving them at the mercy of themselves is a sensational own goal, and if we also want an assist to the competition, free to expand on the same channels we thought we'd exploit to our exclusive advantage. A scenario seen and revised, from which it is good to stay away as much as possible. Here are our tips for promoting yourself and finding new customers thanks to the most popular social networks of the moment.
FROM FACEBOOK TO LINKEDIN: PROMOTION ON THE BIG 5 SOCIALS
In Africa they call them Big 5: they are the elephant, the lion and the other big hunting animals. On the web the same expression is used to identify the most important social networks, that is Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and if we want Pinterest, or other social networks that take the stage in rotation (a few years ago it was Snapchat, now it seems to be Tik Tok). This in the West, i.e. in Europe, the United States, Australia and partly South America, because if we go to Asia the situation is still different, with other social networks that our audience doesn't even know exist. Without going too far, we think it makes sense to tackle a little more specifically the three social networks that have dominated the scene for years and which can give concrete results to those who know how to use them to their own advantage.
1) Facebook
The king of social networks remains him. Although almost twenty years have passed since its conception, Facebook continues to lay down the law, contributing to the success of millions of initiatives and activities around the world. Registration is free and allows you to be present on the social network either with a personal profile or with a company profile. In the first case you can make friends with other people, in the second you can only receive "likes" and in turn add "likes" in the name of the page to other pages (not to people).
This is an essential difference, which must be understood immediately, in order to avoid passing off a personal profile as a company page and vice versa (behavior punished by Facebook with the cancellation of the page itself).
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WHEN TO USE FACEBOOK?
We at Innovando recommend using Facebook as the first representative social media. Although this social network cannot replace the classic website, it can nonetheless perform many essential functions, for example the collection of reviews to be implemented on the site itself, or the online sale of products with the tab store. Facebook is also the most direct and immediate way to share the latest updates and news on products, services, promotions and so on: indeed, opening a Facebook page is like opening a blog, both must be continuously fed, because without updates they lose sense and end up conveying a feeling of carelessness in the public.
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RECOMMENDED FOR WHICH BUSINESS?
Based on our experience, Facebook is the perfect social media to promote and enhance small-medium businesses. Excellent in particular for large-scale businesses, such as hairdressers, mechanics, bars, restaurants, hotels, sports facilities, ecommerce and shops.
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HOW TO PROMOTE YOURSELF AND FIND CUSTOMERS?
Facebook is considered by many to be a paid media, i.e. a social media in which it is a must to pay to get feedback. This interpretation is only partially correct: in the beginning, when the page is opened, it is certainly useful to increase the fan base with sponsored PPC campaigns. On the other hand, when the page is launched, it is always better to broaden the audience and find new customers through constant work of sharing quality content, capable of generating comments, interactions and, last but not least, visits to the website.
2) INSTAGRAM
Born as a game (a process typical of almost all social media) and then rapidly transformed into the most famous visual social network in the world (at least in the West), Instagram is today a formidable marketing and promotion tool, if only for those who have figured out how to use it. On Instagram there are no distinctions between personal profiles and company pages: what matters, as for Facebook, is constantly updating the profile, posting at least one photo or video a week. The possibility of creating stories and live broadcasts to add to the list of contents is very interesting, enriching the page and thus making it more captivating in the eyes of the public. Also not to be underestimated is the possibility of selling products, introduced after the activation of the Instagram Shopping feature in 2018 (official in Italy in March 2019).
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WHEN TO USE INSTAGRAM?
Instagram, even more than Facebook, is a social network with a total visual vocation: it is unthinkable to publish only written texts. The descriptions typically end up in the caption of the image or video, with the possibility of tagging other profiles and adding hashtags (the equivalent of what was and in some cases still are the tags of blog articles). Instagram can also be connected to Facebook, doubling the firepower of the profile thanks to the automatic sharing of photos and published updates.
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RECOMMENDED FOR WHICH BUSINESS?
Our social media managers recommend using Instagram to enhance brands with a strong photographic component: wedding planners, photographers, video makers, cooks, artists, decorators, interior designers, tourist guides… where a product or service or place can be described with photos and videos, Instagram becomes an essential ally.
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HOW TO PROMOTE YOURSELF AND FIND CUSTOMERS?
The best (and cheapest) way to promote yourself and find customers is once again to create interesting content, capable of involving the public and convincing them to click Follow (thereby displaying the updates published from your profile in their feed). While it is not possible, unlike Facebook, to insert a link in the description of each post, it is possible to resort to sponsored campaigns for single images and videos, setting a certain budget to activate paid ads. The larger the audience, the better chances there are of monetizing!
3) LINKED IN
And finally we come to the third social media by number of users and popularity. Let's talk about LinkedIn, the "business social media" par excellence, with millions of users and active professionals all over the world. Linkedin is a platform, more than just a social media, in which there are personal profiles and company pages, as well as discussion groups along the Facebook lines. Here the goal is to promote one's company and highlight the professionalism achieved. The number of links equals the number of Facebook likes and Instagram followers. To access some features, such as sending private messages, you need to subscribe to a subscription plan.
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WHEN TO USE LINKEDIN?
LinkedIn should be used independently of your showcase site, Facebook page and everything else. To make room in a sector it is crucial to build a circle of virtual relationships, exactly as it used to be with the professional contacts established at trade fairs or congresses. In this perspective, the help of LinkedIn can already give extraordinary benefits in the short term, especially if you are able to churn out valuable content and not simple self-referential messages. Knowledge of English and other languages could be strategic for raising the level of your business relationships and expanding your company abroad, from the United States to China.
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RECOMMENDED FOR WHICH BUSINESS?
If Facebook and Instagram guarantee good results for shops, consumer products, hotels and others, LinkedIn is a world apart, useful for the two extremes of the public: small and large professionals on the one hand and structured businesses on the other (less useful for SMEs, shops and ecommerce). Being present on LinkedIn with 500+ connections (currently the maximum shown on the profile) means having achieved a certain reputation in one's field, with the possibility of sharing and disseminating content to other members.
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HOW TO PROMOTE YOURSELF AND FIND CUSTOMERS?
Content is the king: whether it's Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, the creation of quality content is essential for promoting yourself and intercepting new customers. On LinkedIn, the typical content is a short update accompanied by any photos, graphs or tables. In recent times, the complete article has also spread, as it is about what can be done in a blog. Some of these posts/articles even get positioned on Google, with superlative benefits in terms of traffic and visits.
