Whether it’s for personal use to connect with friends or for a business use to target a large audience, today social media has become a primary tool for communication. With a whopping 2.34 billion users estimated within 2016, according to Statista this statistic is set to rise to 2.95 billion by 2020. That’s a lot of likes.
According to Go Gulf in 2014, 8 out of 10 SMEs used social media as a way of helping to drive growth, with 3 in 5 admitting that they’d gained customers because of it. With this in mind it’s no surprise that social media is becoming increasingly popular with business users. Not only can it help build brand awareness but it’s great for pushing out content and driving traffic back to your website.
To most people when they think of social media they think of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn for business. These well-established platforms are the four most widely used social media platforms in 2016 and you’d be hard pressed to find a business without a profile on any of them. But have you ever considered what other social media platforms could potentially do for your business? No? Well here’s our top three we think you should try:
Snapchat – These days the average attention span of an individual is brief, and when I say brief I mean eight seconds. Snapchat has mastered the ability to draw people in and get involved with simple snaps and short videos. By creating a story or your own company filter such as Cadbury, Starbucks or McDonalds, you can allow potential customers to get involved and follow your business in a short sweet and visual manner.
Periscope – This broadcasting platform allows you to stream live feeds worldwide. With different channels such as news and tech, it’s a great way to get your businesses spokespeople seen and heard by your target audience.
Instagram – This visual platform may not be the newest kid on the blog however it’s certainly moving up the rankings to be a much loved and used form of social media. Instagram’s business profiles allow you to track how interactive your profile is, through impressions and engagement on each posts, as well as giving you the ability to turn a post into an advert.
Social media has an important role to play in getting your business heard and therefore should be a crucial part of any wider marketing plans. As a B2B PR agency who specialises in technology with an interest in social media, we’re always interested to see what’s new and how it can help businesses communicate with their target audiences. So whether it’s Twitter or Instagram get hash tagging!
Kat Wilding is a regular contributor to the Skout blog
