How to Use Different Online Platforms for Your Business
Most business owners recognize that in this modern world marketing needs to be done online. The old traditional media of television, radio, and print are no longer the only game in town and online platforms offer more targeted and more affordable ways to reach potential customers.
However, many businesses also make the mistake of thinking that simply deciding to use online platforms is already an effective marketing strategy. Because many of these platforms are free to use and many people and companies have found success marketing there organically, it gives the illusion that if one simply post content online, customers will automatically come. Precisely because the barrier to entry is so low, it is actually a very competitive landscape. The way to find success on online platforms is to understand how each one is different, reaches different types of audiences, and thus they must be used in ways tailored to their unique nature in order to truly be effective in helping a business market itself. Here are some things to remember when planning a business’ online marketing strategy.
Each Platform Has a Unique Culture
Online platforms are not created equal. The slight differences in things like their interfaces, and what formats they allow mean that each platform will attract different communities of people who will all have their own types of culture within those platforms. To be able to have your content connect with the right audience to turn them into the right kind of customers, a business needs to know how to create content that best fits that culture.
For example, Facebook allows people to share links to external websites and other platforms easily. The culture there is for people to share all kinds of content with their personal social network. Instagram, however, while also owned by the parent company Meta, works differently. The culture there has more people interested in photos or visuals, with the ability to share links or content outside Instagram itself being very limited. Instagram users want to see content created specifically for Instagram. This is why a Facebook campaign can be used to engage a business’ customers with articles from other websites or the business’ own website with its followers. The content can have a lot more text, sharing more details about a product or service. An Instagram campaign by that same business will have to rely more on visual content created specifically for Instagram, with more emphasis on visuals rather than the text of a post.
Even within a platform, different communities within it may have different cultures, and marketing campaigns need to take that into consideration. On Instagram, for instance, certain types of users spend more time on Instagram Stories, which disappear after 24 hours, rather than actual Instagram posts. Stories are for users who feel the need to check constantly lest they miss out on fleeting content. Posts on Instagram are for more permanent and less time sensitive content and will appeal to users who aren’t as time sensitive with regards to updates. So the type of content, announcements, or ads to be posted on a platform like Instagram needs to be tailored to match the various formats as well and the various cultures formed by these different formats.
Search Engines vs. Social Media
Many businesses think that all online platforms are social media platforms. But there are some widely used platforms such as YouTube have social media functions but are not social media platforms. YouTube is a search engine (the second most used one after Google itself).
This is important to remember because social media platforms tend to have wider reach, but the attention span of its users are very short. Thus, content created for it must be short, concise, and attention-grabbing. It’s more for audiences or customers who are not actively looking for a solution, product or service. While some users do search for specific topics using hashtags on these platforms, most rely on the platform’s algorithms to serve up content based on their interests.
Search engines and online directories, on the other hand, are for ready buyers and audiences, similar to how the Yellow Pages works. Users of these platforms tend to type in specific search terms or words to look for information or solutions to specific questions or problems. This is why users on these platforms tend to have longer attention spans, since they are already naturally interested in the topic of the content served up to them. This is why a Facebook user typically only spends a few seconds to a minute at most on a video shown on that platform. It’s meant to be something quick to watch during idle time. So it’s ideal for interruptive ads to create awareness. A YouTube user though may be willing to watch a video 15 to even an hour long if the subject matter of the video is relevant to their search. This is why content for search engines can be longer, more detailed, and spend more time trying to convert a user’s interest into action. This is why both types of platforms need to be used by businesses in marketing, but for different stages of the customer journey.
You Still Need to Pay to Get Assured Reach
The advantage of using online platforms is that most of them are free to use and it is possible to reach a wide audience organically without spending a peso. What most businesses don’t realize is that there is no set formula for making content spread or go viral. Depending on the platform, there isn’t a guaranteed way for content to even be viewed by more than a dozen people. The thing to remember is that these platforms are also owned and run by private, for profit companies that make their money through advertising. This is why they make sure their algorithms provide users with what they want to see but make it hard for a content provider to simply gain reach for free. They want to monetize access to their users’ attention, which isn’t too different from what older traditional media like TV or radio stations used to do. Remember that when one posts something on say a social media platform, that post is competing with literally millions of other content that was posted at the same time to be shown on a user’s feed. This is why a business should still pay to either boost or advertise on these platforms to be able to regularly reach their target audience. Otherwise, only one out of maybe dozens or hundreds of posts will be the only one that will actually be seen by platform users and audiences. Paying to gain reach will also help jump start attention for a company’s content, which will then snowball and eventually let the algorithm of the platform reward the content with organic views for free. Again, this may not be the only way to gain attention and awareness on online platforms, but mixing paid placements with naturally engaging content will greatly increase the likelihood of one’s content reaching its intended audience. Even online, one needs to spend money to make money.
Each platform also has different ad or paid boosting formats. Understand how each format works based on the culture of each platform and that will tell you which ad product will work best for your business. For example, a boosted Facebook post will seem more organic and will reach people already following your Facebook page. It’s meant for audiences who have already shown interest in your business and you are trying to convert that interest into an action like buying something. Or it maybe for simply keeping an existing customer engaged or buying more. A Facebook ad on the other hand is shown on the feeds of people who have never heard of your business and who don’t follow your page. These ads are about creating awareness and interest in your product, service, or company so the content for this needs to be more about something relevant to the user and should assume the customer doesn’t know about your business’ terms, products, or benefits. Even on the same platform, different paid formats reach different people.
So understand how each platform works and make separate strategies for each one to make sure you reach many different audiences and markets as well.
Learn more about what digital media platform best suit your business, talk to a DPC Representative at 632 8555-8500 or email us at contact@dpc.ph. You can also connect with us via our website www.dpc.ph or social media accounts for more details.
