Social Media can be used not just for B2C markets, but also B2B:
There are other Social Media channels, but the above are the main ones. Once you have mastered these, you will be able to manage any other that you feel may be of interest to you.
See "Getting Started" for points to consider to help you formulate a Social Media strategy:
N.B. It is not the intention to provide detailed training guides to using these Social Media Platforms - these are only introductions to help you decide which ones could be of interest. However, should you need any training modules, you will find these in the Training & Recruitment section.
If you are active in B2C sales - then you will have to consider using Social Media to support and increase your sales. Even if you are not directly involved in the B2C market, but your business clients are, then it can be very helpful to track B2C sales trends to better support your business clients.
Take some time to research the platform, understand how it works, the audience "mix" and:
Explore their Pages and Posts to evaluate a few key factors:
Whichever Platform(s) you use, you must have a clear social media strategy in place before creating your account.
This does not mean however that you can simply publish exactly the same material and have exactly the same approach for each Social Media Channel. They are all different and will require different treatment - and your objectives for each channel may well be different in the specifics.
How well are you doing on your Platform(s) of choice? How do you compare with your competitors? Do you have a positive ROI? Why are you active on these Platforms?
Few marketers have the bandwidth to stay on social media all day, curating and sharing content as they go. Managing multiple Social Media Channels requires significant time commitment, organisation and synchronisation. Social Media Automation Services are designed to streamline and support these claims on your time.
The following are some examples of these services. You should check which ones suit your purposes and the channels where you are planning to be active.
Facebook is the world's largest social network with over 1.5 billion daily active users - and growing. Facebook Pages are the gateway for businesses to market to this holy grail of users. A Facebook Page that allows fans to “like” the business, brand, celebrity, cause, or organisation. Fans receive content updates from the Page on their News Feed, while the business is able to raise brand awareness, deploy and track advertising, collect detailed audience insights, and chat with users who seek customer service.
However, be aware, true Facebook marketing requires a consistent, long-term commitment!
Login with your personal Facebook account and go to Create a Page. Once there, you will have two options: (i) Business or Brand and (ii) Community or Public Figure. Click Get Started under Business or Brand (you’ll be asked for a page name and category. Keep in mind that you can change your category later on, but your page name is forever).
There are 10 steps to the process of setting up your business page (each Facebook Business Page template has preset buttons and tabs that cater to different types of businesses) :
Notes/Suggestions:
Social media image size standards are important — if you use the wrong size, you could end up with awkward cropping or pixelated images, so keep these recommended image sizes handy.
Your profile picture will appear as your icon every time your page’s content shows up in the Facebook News Feed and when you comment on other posts. Ideally, this will be your company logo. Square dimensions are best, but Facebook will crop the photo into a circle for ads and posts, so leave empty space around the edges. When you upload the image, you can preview the crop and make adjustments.
Your Facebook cover photo appears across the top of your page and is a great opportunity to deliver a visual element that supports your branding, draws attention, or elicits emotion from your visitors. According to Facebook, your cover photo is displayed at different sizes on desktops and smartphones — 820 pixels wide by 312 pixels tall on desktops and 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall on smartphones. 820 pixels wide by 462 pixels tall seems to work best for both mobile and desktop. But make sure you keep important text and design elements in the centre of the image and preview how the image will appear on mobile and desktop
Google indexes Facebook Business Pages, so the text you include on your profile can help you rank in global and local search engine results. When you create a Facebook Business Page, you’ll see tips that guide you through filling out all your page information. If you need to go back to make changes, go to your page’s About tab and click Edit Page Info.
All of these details will appear in the About section of your Facebook Page, where you can add even more information, such as your business’ story, awards, menu, etc.
Add Collaborators to Your Page
To add collaborators, go to your page settings and the Page Roles section. You can type in the name of any Facebook friend or person who has liked your page. Alternately, you can type in an email address associated with a Facebook account. Either way, you must be Facebook friends with anyone you add as a collaborator.
Role Options include:
Once you have filled out the basics, you can further optimise your page with customisation options. While on your page, click on the More drop-down menu and select Edit Tabs. From there, you can select templates that cater to different types of businesses such as Nonprofit, Shopping, Services, Restaurants & Cafes, etc.
To post on your Facebook Page, simply type in the box below your cover photo - you can add images, photos, videos, run a poll and schedule your post - click on "Share Now".
You can decide which content sticks to the top of your Page by pinning it. (The option "Pin to Top of Page" in the top right corner of a published post.
Before you promote your page, publish three to five posts and have at least another week’s worth of content planned out and scheduled. Experiment with different types of social media content such as video, images, short text posts, long text posts, links, Facebook Lives, Facebook Stories, etc.
In 2020, status (text) posts earned the highest average engagement rates, but it’s important to use a range of post types so you can appeal to a larger audience. Remember — the more often people engage with your content, the more often your posts will show up in their News Feed, so understanding what types of content your fans interact with is key.
To turn your Facebook fans into paying customers, you need to be strategic about posting content that directs fans to complete a form. For example, you could post:
You can also use Facebook Lead Ads to capture lead information from the Facebook platform. This feature allows potential customers to access your offers without ever leaving the Facebook app.
Facebook offers a unique opportunity for marketers to drive awareness for their brands, products and services. In Facebook, all paid advertising can be broken down into three elements:
When you create your first advertisement, Facebook offers two choices of editors: Ad Manager (suitable for most companies) and Power Editor (created for larger advertisers who need precise control over a variety of campaigns). To find the Ads Manager from Facebook, go to your homepage and find "Ads Manager" from the left-hand menu. Before you create an ad, you need to choose an objective. Facebook provides 11 to pick from, broken into three categories: awareness, consideration, and conversion. Once you select an objective for your campaign, Facebook guides you through the steps to define the audience, budget, and schedule for your ad set.
Once you’ve defined your campaign and ad set, it’s time to create your ads. In this section, you select the format, media, text, and links to create one or multiple ads. Again, Facebook will guide you through the process - and provide design recommendations.
To see the results of your ad campaign, go back to the Facebook Ad Manager. If you have ads running, you will see an overview of all your campaigns.
Facebook's Messenger Platform is a service that enables any business to build a bot through Facebook Messenger. From the perspective of the customer, bots make the shopping and customer support processes much smoother, eliminating the need to scroll through pages and pages of product choices or talk on the phone with a customer service rep.
Facebook offers a powerful, free analytics tool as a part of their ads platform called Audience Insights. This allows you to obtain demographic and behavioural data about your audience and that of your competitors.
Click on the menu in the upper left corner, "Audience Insights" .can be found under "All Tools" > "Plan". You can then choose your audience "Everyone on Facebook" or "People connected to your Page". Create Audience - and specify the characteristics from the options provided. The more you delve into Audience Insights, the more you can determine aspects such as location, device type, and the frequency of engagement on Facebook.
Instagram (owned by Facebook) is a photo-sharing app with over 1 billion users. Instead of words, the platform is built almost entirely around sharing images and videos. ("Instagramming" is now a verb.)
To start using Instagram, you'll need to download the app and sign up for an account. It's available for free.
Upon opening the app for the first time, you will be prompted to create a new account, or to log in with your Facebook account. If you choose to open a new account, the process is straightforward: You will be asked for your phone number or email address, full name, plus a username, and password. Once you create an account, it's worth noting that you can create and switch between multiple Instagram accounts without logging out; useful if you wish to run separate accounts for personal and professional use.
When you first set up your Instagram account, you can set up your profile. Your profile page is a hub for all your photos and videos, where you can keep track of who you are following and who is following you. It is also where you can access your settings.
Profile pages are often the first thing people visit, so it's best to keep your username, profile picture, and bio up to date. Your profile picture is the icon that appears with your username all over the platform, while your bio is a space to offer a brief description of yourself or your brand. You can also add a link to your website and your business location.
Keeping up with others on Instagram means making sure you are getting the right notifications, when you want them. The platform gives you the power to choose what push notifications it sends to your device e.g. when you get a new follower or when someone comments on your post.
Every time you open the app, you'll see the main feed of recent posts from the accounts you follow. At the bottom is a menu bar, which is accessible anywhere you are in the app. The five buttons at the bottom of the app are:
Uploading, Editing, and Posting Photos
To share a photo or video on Instagram, tap the large plus button, where you can select photos or videos from your phone's camera roll to post. Instagram allows you to select up to 10 photos and videos to post at once.
For every post, you can choose to apply a filter. Filters make it easy to edit shots with different visual pre-set overlays. For example, some filters, like "Mayfair," give everything a pink hue; others, like "Willow," turn everything black-and-white.
Once your post is to your liking and ready to go, there are a few more optional things you can do before you hit the "share" button:
Exploring and Finding People to Follow
The Explore page lets you search for users and browse content based on your interests. Tapping the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the app, you'll find a feed of suggested posts based on what Instagram thinks you're interested in. When it comes to interacting with others, Instagram works less like Facebook, and more like Twitter. In most cases, you don't have to send a friend request and wait for the other person to accept it. The only users that you'll have to ask to follow are those who have made their account "Private." When you tap "Follow" on a private profile, you'll have to wait for that user to accept you before you can officially follow them.
Sending and Receiving Direct Messages
In addition to commenting on people's post, Instagram has a direct messaging system that lets you chat privately with anyone who follows you. If you send a message to someone who doesn't follow you, that message will be sorted into its own "message requests" folder. To start the conversation, the person on the receiving end must accept the message.
Once you're in a conversation, you can send all sorts of messages. These include basic text messages, shared Instagram posts, animated GIFs, and more. You can also "like" messages, or delete messages if you no longer wish to see them.
Instagram Features
You can use Instagram insights to learn more about your account's followers and performance. You can also view insights on your audience's engagement with specific posts, stories, videos, reels and live videos. If applicable, insights and metrics about your account include paid activity as well.
N.B. This feature is only available for professional accounts in the Instagram mobile app.
The following insights are available on Instagram:
You can also tap View insights under individual posts, videos and reels, or swipe up on your stories and Instagram Live videos, to view insights specific to that piece of content, including:
Pinterest is a visual discovery engine for finding ideas like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more. As of 2021, Pinterest is the 14th largest social network in the world with 459 million active users each month. The platform has historically attracted women and people who want to shop or start a new project. As of 2021, it’s becoming increasingly more popular with men and Gen Z-ers.
Pins are bookmarks that people use to save content they love on Pinterest. Pins can be images, videos or products. If you click through the Pin, you can visit the website to learn how to make it or where to buy it. You can also search Pinterest for products to buy. Find a product Pin and click it to visit the retailer's website.
Create and Edit a Business Account.
It’s free to sign up and you’ll get access to special content formats, customised analytics and more.
Setup Your Account
Edit Your Profile
Use our Piniterest's analytics and measurement tools to optimise your creative, fine-tune your targeting and help to improve your results.
Pins and Pin Formats
Boards and Board Types:
General Pinterest Terms:
Reddit: With over 234 million unique users and 8 billion monthly pageviews, Reddit is the 17th most visited site online. Reddit considers itself “the front page of the internet” because its primary focus is on social news aggregation. The core functionality of Reddit is that users submit content and then others upvote or downvote that content. The most popular threads rise to the top. Reddit as a whole is carved into thousands of individual communities organised around topics or interests.
Reddit generally hates shameless marketing, self-promotion, URL shorteners, and anything that makes you seem like you're only using Reddit as a place to sell your products or services. When thinking about how Reddit fits into a business strategy, it helps to consider it as an extension of your public relations activity. It’s an opportunity to talk directly with your target audience, be a part of the communities that matter to your brand, and build real relationships with those communities.
Speaking and engaging freely with others is how you get the most out of Reddit. - If you think, Reddit would help your business but you need help with managing your Reddit campaign, then SocialRise can help you gain more OnlyFans - the more Redditors notice you, more of them become paying subs. (If you're not sure, you can try the service for free.)
There are two types of submissions you can make on Reddit:
You can find hundreds of brands and business leaders doing the above - including, perhaps, your competitors.
Get enough upvotes and comments in a short amount of time, and your post could end up at the top of the subreddit and then eventually the front page of Reddit where millions of people will see it. The Karma system is how Reddit establishes credibility. The more Karma you have, the more seriously Reddit will take you. But there are two kinds: "Post Karma" and "Comment Karma". You get "Post Karma" for the upvotes you get on posts and "Comment Karma" for the upvotes you get on your comments.
There's no easy way to build Karma on Reddit. You'll need to consistently contribute to Reddit in meaningful ways. However, there are strategies to help you get going:
Reddiquette: Understanding the rules of Reddit. You can read up in full about Reddit’s own guidelines or Reddiquette, but it boils down to one simple rule: "Aim to contribute value with every action and consider the community first." Each subreddit also has its own rules and guidelines, which you can find on the right sidebar. Ignoring the rules can get your post deleted or get you banned from the subreddit.
Snapchat is a social media app that allows users to share short, temporary photos and videos with over 20 million daily users in the UK (October, 2021). The key thing to realise about Snapchat is that it is all about instant communication through your mobile phone. If you are focusing on Generation Z, a presence on Snapchat is a must, as71% of Gen Z use Snapchat as part of their daily routine (over 50% use Snapchat more than 11 times per day).
Snapchat is a unique tool for businesses to connect with customers. The average consumer isn’t checking your website on a daily basis for any updates; but they are checking Snapchat every day.
There are three main options for advertising and brand promotion:
(Registration can only be done on a mobile device.)
Create an “add me” URL: - Click on the settings icon in the top right-hand corner when in your business’s Snapchat account. Then, click on ‘username’ in the dropdown list. This will show you what your unique “add me” URL is for Snapchat.
Create a Snapcode_ - A snapcode is a badge that people can scan using their phone or tablet. Scanning this helps Snapchatters find you easily and quickly. It works much like a QR code. (This could include your website, your email signature, your newsletter, send a text message and more.) You can add your business’s snapcode to marketing merchandise as well.
For even more details on how to create a Snapchat Business account, watch this video.
There are several ways to interact with other Snapchat users. Unlike most social networks, these interactions are all private, except for the stories feature.
See :Snapchat Insights: - The built-in analytics tool, to see who is viewing your content, understand what content is performing well, and drive a Snapchat strategy that works. If you need more support, we suggest that you visit Snapchat’s support hub.
3D World Lenses: - Unlike Lenses, which are primarily applied to your face, World Lenses affect the environment around you. They appear in the same row as Lenses, but only when your camera is facing outward.
Bitmoji: - If you have downloaded the Bitmoji app (Apple Store or Google Play), created an avatar, and linked your account to Snapchat, you’ll see AR-based lenses featuring your avatar as well as stickers in chat with your avatar. Bitmoji are designed to encourage user interaction on Snapchat.
Chat: - This is a messaging feature within Snapchat that lets you directly chat with other users.
Discover: - This is a section, right of the Camera screen, meant for brands and publishers, which can broadcast stories for all to see.
Filter: - You can jazz up your snap by adding a fun overlay with a filter. After you take a snap, swipe right or left on the preview screen to add coloured filters, the current time, local weather, speed overlays, or geofilters to your photo or video. After taking your snap and applying your first filter, you can press and hold and then swipe to add yet another filter.
Geofilter: - Like filters, you can use a geofilter to decorate snaps. Unlike filters, however, geofilters are specific to your location or an event you’re attending. On-Demand geofilters may also be designed and purchased by individuals or smaller companies and only become available when a user enters a specified location or event.
Lenses: You can aad augmented reality-based special effects and sounds, with a feature called Lenses. To activate lenses, go to the Camera screen in Snapchat, then long-press on your face in the camera view, and lenses should appear in a row next to the capture button. Swipe around to select the lens you want, and then tap the capture button to take a snap with it.
Memories: - Snapchat has added several features that allow you to screenshot or save snaps. The latest example is Memories. It not only gives you another way to store snaps in Snapchat’s cloud but also introduces a section for accessing media locally stored on your device.
Score: The number next to a friend’s handle in Snapchat? It’s a score - combining the number of snaps they've sent and received, stories they've posted, and other factors. You can find yours under your Snapcode located in the centre of your Profile screen.
Snap Map: - With this feature, you can share your location with your friends or followers. It also allows you to scroll around an actual map to see where your friends are located.
Snap: When you take a photo or video, or receive a photo or video, it is known as a “snap”. When someone asks you to snap them, they are asking you to send them a photo or video via Snapchat, or a message through the app’s chat function.
Snapback: If you "Snapback", you’re just replying to a private one-on-one snap that you’ve received.
Snapcode: This is a scannable code that makes adding new friends even easier. A friend can simply flash their Snapchat camera at your Snapcode, which will immediately add you, without you having to manually look up their handle and tap the “add” button.
Story: You can link snaps together and broadcast them as you capture them. They’ll appear to your followers as a “story” reel. They can tap through your story and watch every snap to experience your entire day. A reel can only be played back for 24 hours, after which, it disappears for good, though you can always save your entire story, or an individual snap from your story, to the Memory section of your Snapchat.
TikTok is a social media network for sharing videos; which are capped at 60 seconds – with a monthly user base of 800 million active users (May 2020). The largest demographic of TikTok users is teenagers and young adults, aged 16-24. It is famed for viral dance trends, lip-sync videos, and challenges. It is now home to hundreds of thousands of influencers, publishers, celebrities, and household brands.
The majority of TikTok’s content is light, whimsical, and entertaining. The bottom line is that businesses that thrive the most on TikTok are ones that post videos that are fun, light-hearted and visually pleasing, and that follow popular trends.
Modern-day users consume maximum content through videos, and thus you should look at your users as a part of a community. Sharing ideas through videos, and invoking the interest of like-minded people is what matters. Generation Z doesn’t like to be bothered by advertisements, and that is the reason why 51% of them use ad-blockers. TikTok can be considered as advertising that doesn’t look like advertising. So, you should consider using TikTok if:
The first step is simple: start by creating an account on the TikTok Ads Manager. Once your brand is approved, log in to your dashboard and finish the initial account setup- just follow the instructions.
TikTok Ad Manager gives you access to TikTok ads' family of apps giving you numerous options when deciding what type of placement is best. will determine where your ads appear on TikTok (and its partner platforms e.g. Vimeo and Canva). You can then configure your targeting after this, where you’ll have the option to target users based on demographics. This includes location, gender, age group, language and interest category.
There are currently five different ad formats:
You also have the option to choose between different calls to action depending on what you want your audience to do.
TikTok for Business: - A Step-by-Step Guide to TikTok Ads Manager.
TikTok Creator Marketplace: - Helps brands find TikTok users to partner with. It lets you access the influencers’ engagement, reach, demographics, views, and much more.
TikTok Analytics is organised into three main categories:
Overview: - To see follower growth, video views, profile views, likes, comments, and shares over the last 7, 28, or 60 days, or a custom date range up to 60 days; using metrics such as likes, comments, and shares.
(Creators with LIVE access can also view their analytics (for the last 7 or 28 days) on the LIVE tab, home to information like total views, new followers, total time, Diamonds earned in the last 7 days or 28 days, and more.)
Threads. The new kid on the social media block.
Threads was launched by Meta on the 5th July, 2023 as a direct competitor to X (formerly Twitter). But is it? Below we lay out the main similarities and differences between the two services.
We then set out the business considerations to be taken into account when deciding whether you should sign up for a Threads account. (Download the app from App Store or Play Store.)
According to recent statistics (September, 2023) Threads currently has 130 million users against the 541 active users claimed by X. Despite an initial massive surge in subscribers, in 2 days Threads reached 70 million users – but since then growth has slowed significantly. This would suggest that Meta has significant work to do to overtake X (or Elon Musk has to continue to create such confusion that X collapses from its own problems).
N.B. As competition between the two is fierce and both are reviewing exactly what their service offerings should be, the comparisons we provide may well be out of date in the near future.
This section was written in October, 2023. Updates will be provided as services develop.
The first point you should take into account is that despite being an independent app, Threads is an integral part of Meta’s Instagram. Without an Instagram account, you cannot access Threads.
When creating a profile, the app will give the option to import bio information and followers from an existing Instagram profile. From this point onwards, the two profiles – in Threads and Instagram – are linked.
The Threads layout is similar to an Instagram feed.
Threads allows you:
Threads will have the same content rules as Instagram, with the same controls for muting and blocking harassing accounts.
A verified Instagram account can keep their blue badge on Threads.
There are a number of similarities between the two services but also some significant differences.
Similarities
Differences
These all favour X.
Threads has launched without ads. Therefore, from a user’s point of view, this is a positive point. From a business point of view, this means that you should consider Threads purely as an additional communication channel to your Instagram followers; at least for the time being.
However, given that Meta is one of the biggest players in the online world, even if Threads is not yet for you - and you're active in the B2C space - then keep an eye open for future developments.
X (formerly Twitter) is an online news and social networking site where people communicate in short messages called Posts (formerly "Tweets") (maximum 280-characters). Another description of X and tweeting might be microblogging. As of July, 2023, X claimed 541 million active users worldwide.
Does this change of name matter? - The short answer is that it is too early to tell. In itself, probably not. What is more likely to have an impact is:
N.B. You may also see that the transformation is not yet complete. There are still many links which include "twitter" in the string.
X can help you reach a wide audience and connect with your customers.
Advertising on X helps you promote anything from a single Post to an entire account. With no minimum budget, there’s an X advertising option that will help any brand get noticed. X Ads offers 20+ product options to showcase your content and media in the best format possible.
Advertising on X is especially attractive because you’re not just reaching X users when you Post. You’re also reaching a wider audience of non-members who also read X.
First sign up for a personal account. Then, to use X effectively for your business create an X Verified Organization Account..
Your profile includes the following four elements:
Apply for X Premium ID Verification (formerly Twitter Blue)
Apply to verify your account - Getting that blue check next to your account name increases the trust users put in your business. You also receive prioritised support from X Services, allowing you to quickly receive the support you need.
X Premium costs USD 8 per month.