At this point, you should be aware of social media as a successful business channel. The technology and features provided by sites like Facebook and Twitter help companies relate to consumers through innovative marketing and convenient communication tools.
Even if you don’t recognize new media’s place in small business, many social sites do. Popular channels want to become the go-to source for cost-efficient and effective technology solutions. When these social media platforms update their offerings, they usually do so with one eye on their business clients. Here are four new features available on the sites your consumers prefer:
1. Facebook messaging tracks customers
Many of your customers will turn to Facebook when it comes time for consumer service. If you have a public profile, it’s convenient for consumers to post a question on your page or send a request through the site’s messaging service.
Facebook wants to cement its place in consumer care by making its chat platform advantageous for small businesses, according to Wired magazine. In 2015, the social site introduced Business on Messenger, which offered companies unique features for collecting data on consumer interactions and learning about their customers. With each update, the new business messenger service attempts to offer better solutions for gaining visibility of communication history and drilling down into customer details.
Customers may try to contact your business on Facebook.2. Twitter ads now include hashtags
The Twitter hashtag is a feature unique to the site designed to help share information with contacts. By adding a “#” to words, the content of a message is automatically linked to other people discussing that topic. Small businesses can use the feature to see who talks about their products and services, and to share content through relevant networks.
Now, organizations can create more targeted linked content. Small Business Trends reported Twitter introduced hashtag ads so companies can promote certain topics. The marketing materials not only include hashtags but encourage users to add terms to their messages to become part of the promotion. If you decide to use the service, you not only have an opportunity to encourage brand awareness, you can track the success in certain metrics to learn more about your content marketing strategies.
3. Instagram provides information through partner program
If you’ve been in business for quite some time, you may recognize social media as an innovative tool but may not know how it fits into your existing practices. Brand new tools can be advantageous, but the technology is not always familiar, and you don’t want to waste time or resources on difficult concepts.
For example, Instagram is an excellent source to share visual marketing and educational content if you know what the audience likes. Recently, the site launched the Instagram Partner Program, which provides small business with guides through the platform’s features and potential, according to Adweek. You can find a partner in your industry – or a similar one – and learn from their experience to see how you can get the most from your marketing efforts and how online platforms can work with internal security business software systems..
4. YouTube option for local commercials
If you don’t want to constantly play catch up with popular trends, you may think about deploying a business strategy on a platform posed to take off in the near future. You can investigate new social channels or make investments in a popular site getting ready to add new features.
Bloomberg Business detailed how YouTube prepares to become a major video streaming contender by introducing original content and a larger library of TV shows and movies. If you want your ads to be associated with popular media, this may be great place to start. The Motley Fool suggested many small businesses ignore YouTube and miss out on the platform’s ability to target local audiences.