There are so many types of social media platforms out there, it can be tempting to join them all—or ignore them completely. So, which of the following can businesses achieve by using social media? You may have already heard about digital marketing advantages, but today we will talk about social media usage.
By using social media, businesses can expand their reach and connect with a wider audience. Regardless of the industry, social media provides numerous benefits, such as increased brand awareness, customer engagement, and lead generation. With so many platforms available, businesses have the opportunity to tailor their marketing strategies to fit their specific needs and target audience.
Among the 7 popular types, not all social media platforms are equally effective, and if you want to be successful on social, you need to prioritize. Which platforms are worth your attention and effort, and which ones will give you diminishing results?
To help you understand the social landscape, we’ve classified a wide range of platforms into seven general categories. We explain specific use cases and what businesses can achieve by using them. If you’re ready to find the right match for your business, read on!
Which of the Following Can Businesses Achieve by Using Social Media?
Type 1: Traditional Social Media Platform
Examples: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn
You can use traditional social media sites to reach out to your followers and engage with them. These versatile platforms let you post both words and images to anyone you want. They have features like connecting, planning events, and promoting.
Traditional social media sites also collect a lot of data about their users. This helps you to create targeted ads and find the right people to share valuable information, announce local happenings or shows, or run competitions.
Type 2: Image-Based Platforms
Examples: Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok (photo mode)
You can use image-based social media sites to boost your social commerce. They have different features to let you shop within the app and avoid sending traffic to another site. You can reach your customers directly by creating a strong in-app shopping experience.
Instagram Shopping lets businesses make a storefront. You can tag products in your photos and videos and mention products in your bio.
Pinterest Shopping lets you link your store catalog and add shoppable links to search results. You’ll also get a Verified Merchant badge on your profile, which makes customers trust you more.
With the Snapchat Store feature (still in beta), brands with verified Snapchat Business profiles can upload a catalog and add a Shop tab on their profile.
If your business targets a younger audience, Snapchat is essential. The platform reaches 90% of the 13-24-year-old population and 75% of the 13-34-year-old population in 20+ countries.
TikTok Photo Mode is an image-based format that lets you create slideshows like Instagram’s carousels. You can add music to your images, and viewers can swipe or watch them automatically.
You can use this format to show off your products, share a deal or contest, or tell longer stories.
Type 3: Short Video Social Media
Examples: Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts
Short-form videos are great for getting attention and making your products stand out.
This type of content is easy to make and edit, so you don’t need a big social media team. Need some ideas? You can find plenty of trends on each platform to inspire your next short-form video. You may also opt for the best AI content writing tools that can write great scripts for short videos.
Just remember that your video content should be fun, informative, and/or motivational. Videos that are too sales-y won’t attract viewers. You need to be creative and entertain to get viral.
Type 4: Livestream Social Media
Examples: Facebook Live, Instagram Live, TikTok Live, Twitch, YouTube
Livestreaming became very popular during the pandemic. By the end of 2022, almost 30% of internet users between 16 and 64 years old were watching livestreams every week. You can use livestreams to introduce new products, talk to famous guests, or answer questions.
Livestreams usually have features like live chats and polls. They also let users communicate live with the hosts, so it’s important to pay attention and respond to comments during the stream. So, When looking to expand your business internationally on social media what should you do first? Go live with your products or services!
Type 5: Discussion Type Forums Where Can Businesses Achieve Using Social Media
Examples: Reddit, Quora
Discussion forums can be hard for brands to break into. Users are often suspicious of businesses trying to sneak in marketing messages into a community-driven space.
The secret to succeeding in discussion forums is to provide value for your customers. Share your knowledge and expertise and answer questions about your industry. Listen to their problems and offer helpful solutions.
You can also mention your brand and products in your answers, but only if they are relevant and useful. That should not be your main reason for joining discussion forums.
Be careful: Redditors (that’s what Reddit users are called) don’t like answers that have self-promotion. They will downvote this kind of post and make it disappear from the feed.
If you’re posting as a business, make sure to answer the original question. Only add links to your products if they are really helpful. Before posting in a subreddit, check the rules to see if you can include links to your own business.
Type 6: Private Community Discussion Platforms
Examples: Discord, Facebook Groups, Patreon, Slack
You may wonder what are the benefits of using social media when looking to advertise your business locally? Well, private community platforms are just what your business needs!
Private groups create a sense of community among their members. They can connect over common issues and help each other out without being interrupted by other topics. If you’re wondering which of the following can businesses achieve by using social media, these private community platform can give you the desired results.
You can use your private community to interact with customers, encourage user-generated content, and run contests and promotions that benefit members. You can also use the group welcome screen to ask members questions and get to know your audience better.
Type 7: Decentralized social networks
Examples: Bluesky, Mastodon
These type of social media platforms can help business achieve their goals. Engaging with users to build community and run UGC campaigns. Doing market research using social listening and using AI in digital marketing.
Decentralized social networks like Mastodon claim to be “radically different” from traditional social media platforms. But what does that mean?
Well, most of the social media platforms we’ve talked about so far run on centralized servers. One company decides everything on its servers.
But decentralized platforms are different from traditional social networks. They spread information across many servers. That means your data is not stuck on one server, and no one has power over it. Users can discover communities and interact across servers without fear of data collection or censorship.
Closing Thoughts – Which of the Following Can Businesses Achieve by Using Social Media?
So, could we answer the question: which of the following can businesses achieve by using social media? Think about this before you join a new social media platform: Where are your customers? If you have limited time and money, it’s smarter to go where your customers are already spending time. You may also get some answers to “how can you attract social media users to share your video content online?“
If you have some money that you can invest in social media marketing and ads, don’t hesitate to contact Notion Technologies. We can help you attract your customers to your page and get you some leads. Contact us today!
