Social media has rapidly become a mainstay for online business and advertising. Las Vegas businesses rely on social media for everything from brand recognition to customer engagement, fueling their success with the power of digital innovation. Using social media channels for business can bring undeniable results — but only when targeting your customers of choice on their platform of choice.

The key ingredient to any comprehensive social media strategy is selecting the correct channel. Businesses have to meet customers wherever they are and come prepared to engage. It’s the only way to ensure your messaging hits the right note.

Online Business and Branding: How Social Media Helps You Thrive

Engagement is vital for any brand. Companies must produce informative and engaging content, often in the form of blogs, articles, or social media posts customers find valuable. But regardless of any other marketing strategies you employ, it’s essential to understand what resonates best with your audience. Thoroughly and in detail.

That means customer research. You should know who your customers are, how they think, and what they want from a business like yours. This is all part of developing a strong, detailed customer persona and writing content that speaks directly to them. Marketers can use social media to connect with their customers organically. It offers unparalleled reach and influence in every aspect of online business.

Build Relationships With Customers

Companies that regularly engage and interact with their customers online will habitually build trust and loyalty with them. It’s one of the primary benefits of investing in social media marketing, as it helps customers feel appreciated and valued. In return, they’ll be more likely to either buy from you or recommend your products to others.

Broaden Your Audience

You can use sponsored social media posts to reach new audiences, audiences that may have never interacted with your company otherwise. You can use data-driven methods from a platform of your choice to target the precise customers you want to reach. It keeps you from wasting money and preserves your most valuable resources for other ventures.

Analytics and Business Intelligence

Social media channels also provide excellent opportunities to source business intelligence. Any business needs data to conduct meaningful analysis and make more informed decisions. Tools like Facebook Insights or Twitter Analytics let you track the performance of your campaigns, measuring where and how you can optimize them for better results. These are invaluable tools for adjusting your marketing to match your audience.

Social Media Channels: Not All Created Equal

But effective use of social media means understanding and leveraging the unique characteristics of each social media platform. Some, like Twitter, are better for more technical businesses, while platforms like Instagram are ideal for visual-centric content. You’ll have to understand your audience to make the most of your social media marketing.

So, how can you find the best platform to use? There are a few methods you could try, including:

• Developing buyer personas for your customers to understand their preferences.
• Surveying your customers to see where they spend their time online.
• Researching what your competitors are doing. They’re a good source of business intelligence.
• Testing several social media platforms. Measure interactions and engagement on each one.

This will take time, so don’t be impatient. Take whatever time necessary to communicate with your customers, measuring your results every step of the way. Their organic feedback is the best data at your disposal for figuring out where to focus your future marketing efforts.

It’s a growth process at this stage of business. You should prioritize developing relationships with your customers more than any transaction. Think about the type of brand you want to be, and create content that speaks to that messaging — consistently and with authenticity. Instead of trying to please everybody, find your people and please them as much as possible.

Spending too much time working on social media platforms incompatible with your brand would be a mistake. If your company emphasizes business-to-business (B2B) marketing, Instagram may not be the ideal platform for you. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to experiment and see what works best.

The Right Social Media Platform

Knowing how to choose the right social media platform for your business is a matter of understanding the different choices’ strengths and weaknesses. Different types of social media are designed with different goals in mind, so be mindful of the platform that best suits your needs. Ask yourself:

• What kind of content do I excel at?
• Which content type do my customers want to read?
• Which platform offers the best return on investment (ROI)?

All platforms have their own uses and nuances that fit one business type better than another. Businesses often use LinkedIn to enhance their industry authority and connect with other professionals. Many home appliance companies benefit from video blogging on YouTube, providing product demonstrations and reviews for current and potential customers. It’s all a matter of finding what works and sticking with it long-term.

Use your strengths to your advantage. If you excel at blogging or short-form articles, platforms like Medium or even Tumblr could be ideal. They offer ample space for longer written content, and you can use shorter Twitter threads to attract customers to your content marketing. But if you’re better with image-based content, consider a platform like Snapchat as an alternative.

You’ll have to experiment to figure out what works best. That doesn’t mean throwing out social media marketing efforts haphazardly. Make a plan that outlines the precise goals you want to achieve, using analytics to choose between the various social media channels for business.

Working With Outside Help

A company like NeONBRAND can take the time to understand your Las Vegas business’s needs and implement creative solutions to meet them. Instead of relying on cumbersome (and uncertain) in-house processes, you can work with a team with extensive experience in social media marketing and all that it entails. If you need help picking the right social media channel or leveraging your brand’s full potential, contact us today to schedule a consultation.