Social media can be a boon or bane to business. It has its good side and its ugly side. But businesses are seeing the effective use of social media to improve their sales and help their companies grow. With the right social-media platforms to use and a responsible management of the platforms, it can be a boon to one’s business.
In the coming years, social media is expected to grow more in terms of reaching audiences and customers. The demographics is also important when you want to know which platform to use to reach your targeted audience. If your target is between the ages of 25 to 54 (I should say even older than 54), Facebook is the way to go because it has the most number of users in this age range. Creating a Facebook page or a Facebook account rather than a personal account looks more professional. There is a thin line though of where to draw the boundaries of personal and business when you use your personal account to include friends who are customers. There should also be a company policy for employees on the use of social media, for instance, to make sure that confidential office information are being protected and online bashing should be strictly prohibited which includes criticizing competitors.
I have an Instagram account but I am not a very active user and I think I have to reconsider using it again. There are 500 million users of this application according to their June 21, 2016, announcement. And since Instagram is owned by Facebook, it is easier to reach the Facebook users, too. However, for a business like mine, which is more financial in nature, I may not be able to maximize much from it. But for those who are selling their products, it is a good venue to showcase their products or for travel destinations—a good medium to show their place.
One of the trends now is also the use of video-live coverage. Facebook, Periscope, Instagram and Twitter launched their versions late last year. To be effectively used in business, live coverage can broadcast events related to their business. For those selling their products, they can use it to capture the launching of a new product. For those like mine that are financial in nature, we can launch live interviews or events that showcase, for instance, the latest updates on the economy, taxes, investments, etc.
As for which application to use for video coverage, one has to figure out where the audience they want to target spends more of their time on. According to a Wyzowl survey, the respondents of which are marketing professionals and online consumers, 83 percent of businesses believe that video gives them a good ROI and 78 percent of businesses that have used Facebook Live said it was an effective marketing tool. However, in the same survey the video should not be more than two minutes long, according to 95 percent of respondents, to maintain audience interest. Soon Facebook is opening up a 360-degree live streaming but only people with 360-degree cameras can do “Live 360” streams.
It is becoming more exciting as social media is helping businesses reach their target audience. Gone are the days when businesses spend thousands, or even millions, of pesos to sell their products. Some businesses may still be spending much but with social media, the ROI may be bigger and the turnaround faster. You just have to know how to maximize it and be a boon rather than a bane to your business.
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Wilma Miranda is the managing partner of Inventor, Miranda & Associates, CPAs and a BOD member of KPS Outsourcing Services Inc. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of these institutions.