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Social Media has become our second reality. We use the internet for various reasons, among them being socializing, entertainment, as well as business, education, and many more. For business communication and marketing, the social networking platforms offer are numerous advantages that we need to consider.
Firstly, let’s address the question: What is Social Media? Simply put, it is the collective term used to describe all mobile and web platforms used to transform communication into an interactive dialogue. These platforms include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn and many others. “Interactive dialogue” is the key phrase, as it directly suggests the importance of these platforms for a business. In the following article, Klain puts forward 15 essential points regarding a company’s presence in Social Media.
I. General Information
- Almost 15 million Romanians, that is 74% of the country’s population, use Social Media, and their number is growing. This percentage indicates that the target audience can be found in this environment regardless of the industry in which a company operates.
- In Romania, the most popular platforms are Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. However, it is important to note that the traffic on these platforms fluctuates rapidly. For example, TikTok has recently experienced substantial growth, surpassing Instagram in terms of number of users in Romania. Nevertheless, Facebook continues to be the most widely used platform in our country. These dynamics should be taken into consideration when creating intelligent communication strategies.
- According to a Klain study, 9% of Top 1000 Romanian companies by their revenue had a Facebook page in 2022. Therefore, we can deduce that a company’s success and its online presence are linked.
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- In Social Media we are storytellers, not just business people. The main goal for a business in Social Media is often that of creating a community, rather than selling. Even though the ultimate objective is profit, the communication on Social Media is intended to form a community of followers genuinely interested in the product or service offered.
- Being present on Social Media can develop the business strategy. Being online means interacting frequently with the relevant audience. This dialogue helps in the process of making a decision for your business: the collected data can aid market research, reviews can highlight strengths and weaknesses and various surveys can be created to better understand the needs of your customers.
- Everything is monitored and controlled through data. A digital presence involves not only creative texts and human interactions, but also tracking through numerous measurements. There are numerous tools that provide details about views, engagement rate, clicks, mentions, conversion rate, reach and many other measurements.
II. Content
7. Who can you communicate with in a Social Media platform? The short answer to this question is: everyone who is part of your target audience, including existing and potential customers. When you engage in this environment, it’s important to interact with those who already know your brand, as well as attract new consumers.
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- Communication means trust and gradually building a buying decision. With the advent of the internet, the process of gathering information about a product or service has become more accessible and convenient. Having all the tools at their disposal, consumers make purchasing decisions based on research through Google searches, websites or Social Media. Therefore, in many cases, the business that manages to have the greatest visibility in this medium and provide the most relevant information will be chosen by consumers.
- Choosing the right platform is essential. Each network has its specific features, both in terms of published content and active audience. For example, on Instagram, you will build a strategy to target the age group has the biggest presence there (18-25), while on Facebook you can reach older age groups, up to 65 years old.
- Creative ideas – the only solution to stand out. Right now, social networks are experiencing an oversaturation. In this context, the content you publish needs to grab the attention of the consumers. A content writer can thus play an essential role by implementing creative ideas and ensuring that the communication strategy produces results.
III. Tips and Tricks
- Monitor your competition. In the Social Media era, knowing what your competitors do in the market is easy. The Social Media content is public, making it much simpler to see what the competition is doing, as well as analyze their strategies and identify ways in which you can differentiate yourself.
- The sooner you enter Social Media, the better. Your presence on Social Media will only yield results over time. It’s a constant and long-term process that a business should follow from its early stages. The faster you develop your brand image, the greater your chances of capturing a larger audience is, before other competitors intervene in the process.
- Videos, please. By far, the most useful and appreciated form of content is video. The importance of video content lies in its ability to capture the attention of followers in a way that simple texts or images can’t.
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- Following trends ensures your relevance. On Social Media, a business should be up-to-date with the latest trends. Following and practicing them (such as specific types of posts or activities on TikTok) can be both not only fun but efficient. This is also how you can showcase to consumers that your brand is human, authentic and rooted in the daily existence.
- Influencer Marketing – a path to success. With the advent of digital era, a new “human typology” emerged: the influencer. An influencer represents a public figure who the ability to inspire or persuade fans to act in a certain way, with the help of their community. Integrating an influencer into a communication strategy can prove extremely useful. According to a Mediakix report, a partnership with an influencer can raise your engagement rate by 8 times.
As a marketing and business communication medium, Social Media covers such a vast area that summarizing it into a few ideas is challenging. The 15 points addressed in this article aim to provide an overview and showcase the fact that the online presence of a business is a requirement for any enterprise seeking success.