Which network to invest in according to your target?
Today, with the proliferation of social networks and multi-channel, we are often asked if we should be present everywhere and all the time.
The truth is that it is not. Being present on the networks is certainly essential but it is better to choose those corresponding to your target and to master them well rather than multiplying the channels unnecessarily.
Quality always prevails over quantity, especially when the number of players in the digital sphere increases.
You will have to stand out among all the other publications that are always trying to be more original.
It is therefore important to establish which networks you need to integrate into your strategy in order to reach your target.
This is what we will try to clarify in this article.
I - FACEBOOK
Facebook is the social network with the largest community.
80% of its users are over 35 and ⅔ are women.
More adapted to B2C than to B2B, the platform offers you different ways to acquire and retain your customers.
First of all, the creation of private groups centered around a common topic or interest is one of the solutions that works best on the platform. Whether you work in B2B or B2C, you can showcase your expertise. You can also gather through events or contests in order to build loyalty among your audience.
As far as your communication is concerned, Messenger will be your ally, both to offer a qualitative and instantaneous after-sales service, and to retarget your prospects.
It is true that the reach of organic content has decreased in recent years and this is why Facebook Ads is so successful on the platform. Indeed, today you can reach about 2% of your audience with only free posts when in 2012 this figure was 16%. Certainly the interactions have decreased but the number of users likely to be reached remains very high since the platform has 2.89 billion active users in the second quarter of 2021. It is worth noting that a post has a lifespan of about 6 hours on the platform.
Finally, the Facebook Marketplace is very useful for e-commerce to offer a smooth user experience. Indeed, the Marketplace will allow you to sell directly on the network, avoiding your customers to change site to make their purchase.
II - INSTAGRAM
The most popular platform among 15-35 year olds, especially from urban areas, it is the network based on images, visuals and aesthetics.
There is a real gender mix, even if there is a slight female dominance.
Instagram is the platform with the most intuitive use, especially for the creation of qualitative visual content thanks to its filters, stickers and other tools at hand, which gives everyone the opportunity to produce their own content.
More adapted to B2C than to B2B, the platform offers 4 ways to acquire and retain your customers.
The first one is the care you give to your feed (the appearance of your publication profile) in order to work on your brand image. A strong visual identity that stands out from the tough competition is essential to launch yourself on the social network. This will allow you to attract the users present and hold their attention. Moreover, to better target your audience, a good mastery of the hashtags that accompany your publications is necessary.
Once you have subscribed to your profile, you can build loyalty thanks to storytelling, a technique that allows people to identify with and trust a brand, especially through stories. These are available 24 hours a day and offer the opportunity to your followers to follow you in real time. This technique is one of the ones that will make the attachment to brands on the platform much stronger than on other networks since the company shares its history. So don't hesitate to share your news and set up contests or polls for more interactions.
The formats of stories and real are those pushed by the algorithm of Instagram, for their instantaneous side and closer to your followers. Moreover, the real ones, a new feature of the platform, gives you more visibility first of all because the algorithm favors the use of its new tools, but also because you can publish them in different places (in the tab for the real ones, in your stories and even in your feed). This last format, unlike stories, is not destined to disappear after 24 hours.
The video format tends to take a greater extent on the platform that wants to be less and less a photo sharing network. Faced with fierce competition from TikTok, the CEO of the application confirmed this summer his desire to focus on video content more engaging than photos.
Indeed, we notice that the platform establishes a less formal communication between the company and its consumers and it pleases! The current lifetime of a post is about 21 hours, showing that a regularity (often daily) is required.
In the third step, setting up partnerships with influencers is a valuable asset as they have the trust of their community and are very present on the network.
In B2C, use Instagram's Marketplace and allow your consumers to buy directly on the app thanks to Instagram shopping and its features. This avoids your customers switching sites, negatively impacting your chances of selling due to the non-fluid customer journey (exit the app, search for your site, then the desired product) and therefore the waste of time and energy generated.
Finally, for B2C as well as B2B, the power of Instagram Ads is to be taken into serious consideration. Indeed, Internet users spend nearly 1 hour per day on the platform and their engagement rate is significantly higher than that of Facebook (1.22% for Instagram against 0.9% for Facebook, all types of content combined).
III - TWITTER
Twitter is the social network of the instantaneous. Its users are between 18 and 30 years old and are mostly men who will never post.
This leaves a huge amount of room for businesses and influencers to launch on the platform.
Twitter is a little less mastered than its companions because the strategy is completely different. In order to increase its notoriety and to acquire new followers and/or potential customers, the actors of this platform publish cleavage posts delivering an opinion or a humor, whose writings are limited to 280 characters. It is therefore important to be concise and precise in order to stand out from the 6000 tweets per second already published. So be patient and don't hesitate to publish several times a day, especially when you know that the life span of a Twitter post is 18 minutes.
These posts are meant to be followed, liked and retweeted en masse, so although the number of users is less compared to other networks, the reach is very high. Beware, however, of the easy bad buzz on the platform with the aforementioned strategy of publishing opinionated and divisive posts.
The second way to stand out in the eyes of your target is to mix thematic hashtags (dear to your audience) and trends (which make your posts viral). This is essential to stand out from the crowd. You have to be in the reaction but also initiate posts creating movement. If you don't use thematic hashtags, your audience will not be touched. If you don't use trending hashtags, your post will have little chance to be visible and stand out from the crowd. And that's why a mix between the two is essential.
Finally, a customer acquisition strategy means competitive intelligence. Twitter is the network on which monitoring is easy to do thanks to the follow-up of certain hashtags or keywords that interest you. The same goes for users such as executives or companies you want to keep an eye on.
Unlike competing networks, monetization has been slow to develop. Twitter Ads already existed in order to highlight its tweets and its account, but the platform recently launched new features allowing content creators to monetize their work on the network. This takes the form of premium posts only accessible to the paying audience (the super follow) via a subscription. In addition, Twitter has made it possible for some American merchants to sell directly on the platform. This feature is still in trial and only in the United States.
Thus, both B2C and B2B strategies have their place.
Perhaps not yet at its peak, the social network could soon take on a new dimension.
IV - TIKTOK
TikTok is the fastest growing emerging social network.
Aimed in particular at young people under 25 years old, the craze for this network is not decreasing. Indeed, more than 1 French person out of 5 is present on the new social network and TikTok announces this year 800 million monthly active users in the world. Moreover, more than 1 billion videos are viewed daily. It is therefore a platform not to be forgotten in your customer acquisition strategy.
Still in this same perspective of acquisition, B2B and B2C professionals who have an interest in joining the platform are those who can create and share value via short video content. Note that the lifespan of a TIkTok post is double-edged: either it will only last a few seconds or it will go viral.
This format has been so popular with users that it has been democratized on all video platforms (Youtube with Shorts and Instagram with Real).
Secondly, if you want to increase your network and acquire leads, don't rely on a company account, your visibility will be diminished. Instead, post with personal accounts while putting the brand or company you work for in the forefront.
On the other hand, it is wise to establish partnerships with influencers, very present on the new social network. In order for TikTok's algorithm to highlight your content, associate with partnerships the videos challenges and trends to reproduce.
Whether you are a B2B or B2C company, TikTok Ads offers you the possibility to increase your visibility. There are different kinds of ads, such as integrated to your video feed or even directly on the platform.
Concerning B2C, the network launched this summer a trial purchase functionality directly on the platform, notably with a Shopify partnership, thus facilitating the user experience. TikTok plans to extend this functionality to all its merchants.
V - LINKEDIN
LinkedIn is the professional social network par excellence, specialized in B2B and perfect for generating new leads.
80% of its users are over 35 years old and have a higher level of education than the average of other social platforms.
This network therefore allows a different targeting than other social networks, based on the position, the activity, the company and its size, the turnover or other business targeted data.
It is the network on which to organize your B2B digital acquisition strategy.
To do so, companies must absolutely appear on this platform and highlight their skills and expertise.
Far from the divisive posts required on Twitter or the aesthetic ones of Instagram, LinkedIn posts are meant to be more professional and focus on more specific topics than on other social platforms.
This is what will first and foremost enable an organization to gain the trust and admiration of its target. The feeling of trust also comes from the presence of the company's leaders on the professional network.
It is the perfect network to develop one's brand image, share professional news, innovations and consequently, establish one's credibility as a specialist in their field with their audience. Posts are usually made 24 hours a day on the social network and therefore renewing and keeping up to date in one's field of expertise must be done on a daily basis.
Beyond texts, the platform offers more interactive publications such as polls that more easily engage your network.
Finally, you have the possibility to retarget your prospects according to their interests (for example, you are going to the same event, which can be a good starting point for a conversation).
Temple of prospecting and recruiting, you will also find many job offers and therefore why not acquire in your teams new salesmen ready to grow your customer file?
VI - YOUTUBE
Youtube, often forgotten when talking about social networks, is also the second search engine in the world after Google.
Platform with a majority of men between 15 and 40 years old, any person or company, B2B as B2C, can publish video content, in its place on the network.
Very effective to increase its visibility thanks to the 2 billion users of Youtube, the platform favors 2 techniques to increase your number of followers: the regularity of publication and storytelling. These two means contribute to the trust of prospects towards the organization. However, the lifespan of Youtube posts is much longer than on other social networks. Indeed, where other platforms require almost daily publications, a video publication on Youtube will have a lifespan of 20 days. The content created tends to last.
In addition, Youtube tries to compete with TikTok with its new format: the Shorts. You can add on these videos that do not exceed 60 seconds text, music and sound clips from Youtube.
Moreover, the creation of content on Youtube will also impact your SEO since Youtube belongs to Google. Thus, any publication on the network will affect your Google ranking.
Then, the advertising tool of Youtube is also one of the most effective ways to get known (in B2B as in B2C) and increase your customer acquisition. Generally obliged to view part or all of the advertising video, the platform that knows 19 million unique visitors per day in France will propel your exposure to a whole new level.
Moreover, whether it's in a video brand content or product placement strategy, partnerships with influencers will have an important impact on your visibility, your reputation, but also on your sales. Indeed, Internet users trust people they identify with more than companies directly promulgating their value proposition, and the relationship between a youtuber and his subscribers is stronger than on other social networks. Moreover, since the content posted has a longer lifespan than on other platforms, the visibility of your company or product will also be extended.
