Social media has become the new medium for communication whether personally or professionally. With billions of active users on social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it’s only natural as a business to want to harness the power of this medium for marketing. Social media offers companies and brands to connect with their audiences, obtain feedback and create a positive company image.
While the usefulness of social media as a marketing tool is undeniable, it is important to understand which social network will work most favourably for your company or brand. Each network serves a different purpose and the wrong choice or poor maintenance of a social media account could be counterintuitive.
Before making the leap into the world of social media, businesses should identify their marketing objectives, for example, are they trying to increase brand awareness or improve customer satisfaction? They should also identify their target market to ensure they are connecting in the best way possible. The following are some of the most popular industries making use of social media and how they are doing so.
Entertainment
The industry with the most social media activity is certainly the entertainment industry accounting for the largest number of posts and shares on Facebook. Interestingly enough, visual imagery on its own does not entice social media followers, the interest lies in informative written content obtained through traditional links. In this industry content still reigns supreme.
Real Estate
Facebook is an incredibly useful tool for those in real estate. Agents, brokers, developers and property managers all make use of social media for virtual signs and showings. In this industry Facebook appears to be the most utilized platform allowing for highly targeted ads as well as the ability to easily get property listings in front of more people by asking friends to share.
Instagram follows in second place as a useful social media tool because it is a highly visual medium.
Marketing
The marketing industry is obviously the most proficient in using social media making use of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. The video component has grown exponentially becoming one of the most highly utilized mediums for sharing content. Social media has become fully integrated into marketing strategies within this industry.
Retail
The retail industry has gained tremendously from the use of social media for both large and small retailers alike. Daily deal sites like Groupon have become a cost-effective means of advertising while social media platforms such as Facebook have become effective tools for customer satisfaction allowing retailers to obtain product feedback as well as allowing for the opportunity for customer complaints to be addressed immediately.
Education
Let us not forget that Facebook began as a study tool at Harvard university by Mark Zuckerberg and since then educational institutions have made tremendous use of Facebook along with other social networking platforms, allowing students and educators to connect with each other in a completely different way.
Post-secondary institutions have gained the most benefit from the use of social media, using ads to boost applications and encourage campus visits as well as making use of these platforms to communicate events, curriculum and more.
Furthermore, they can use social media as a tool for alumni relations and fundraising.
Restaurants
Instagram is perhaps the most-highly successful platform for the restaurant industry because of its visual appeal.
Social media has become a key marketing within this industry allowing dining establishments to create viral campaigns and visually appetizing posts.Social media has given restaurants the opportunity to quickly build a positive reputation and gain a large following, something that used to take months or even years to do before.
Fashion
Not surprising that the fashion industry has made incredible use of social media as a marketing tool. Sites such as Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram have been extremely valuable for sharing content at lightning speed. Visual imagery evoking an emotional response is what this industry has mastered when it comes to the use of social media.
In addition, social media has also become a valuable research tool in determining what fashion followers enjoy and more importantly what they are wearing.
These are a few examples of the different uses for social media within different industries and how they are a critical component to a marketing strategy. To learn how your company can reap the benefits of social media marketing and determine which platform is best for you, contact the experts at Social Know How.
