Author: Lenka Dzadonova
Date of Publication: 14/11/2022
Social networks are gaining popularity in the search for information and also in purchasing decisions. In addition, they are becoming the most suitable tool for acquiring customer knowledge, developing or maintaining efficiency in building relationships. Thus, content created by electronic word of mouth on social media appears as a reliable, easily accessible source of information. Apart from these, they are essential platforms for advertising and promoting products and services. Lst, they allow companies to design their advertising materials using rich, dynamic and interactive media at minimal cost. On top of that, social media advertising has become one of the most popular digital marketing tools. With social networks like Facebook and Instagram being used by billions of potential customers every day, marketing professionals from various industries are now harnessing the enormous potential of these channels to promote brands and businesses. Hence, every social media has a lot to offer so let's check them closer.
Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass one billion registered accounts and currently has over 2.91 billion monthly active users. The company also currently owns the four largest social media platforms, each with more than one billion monthly active users: Facebook (core platform), WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Instagram. For example, Facebook's penetration rate in the United States in 2021 was 70.59 percent and is about to reach 76.87 percent by 2026. What’s more, 1.6 billion people worldwide are connected to a small business on Facebook, and in Slovakia it is the most effective marketing channel. As of July 2021, 98.5 percent of active users accessed their Facebook account from mobile devices. In fact, nearly 81.8 percent of Facebook's audience worldwide accesses the platform only via mobile. Therefore, social networks along with technological inventions offer many possibilities to promote a company and reach customers. With the help of precise targeting and usable statistics, ads are more effective and brands attract more clients. It also enables the simple transformation of a post into an ad or the possibility to create more advanced multi-platform campaigns using the ad manager.
Another social networking platform with a large number of active followers is Instagram. In particular, the Facebook-owned app allows businesses to promote their products and services through a variety of formats. Some examples are photos and stickers or even 24-hour stories and reels. So, users can easily be redirected to brand websites or an integrated shopping tab. In addition, the social network has created a "checkout" function, which is an online store directly on the network. This allows clients to view product images and purchase directly from their Instagram account. Instagram has also fueled the influencer marketing movement, with more creators now collaborating with brands than ever before. So, Instagram is great if your target audience typically buys via mobile. As we can see on graph no. 3 the number of active users has been growing rapidly in recent years.
LinkedIn has become one of the largest platforms for job seekers, employers and recruiters from around the world. The network is available in more than 200 countries and focuses on enabling business links and promoting industrial contacts between employers and working professionals.
Tik Tok
TikTok is a video sharing app owned by the Beijing-based tech giant ByteDance. It was originally launched on the Chinese market in 2016, but quickly became a global sensation. The app was considered a short-lived teenage phenomenon, but it has become an extremely profitable business model. In fact, it surpassed 1 billion users in September last year, and Tiktok ads can now reach an adult audience of 825 million people worldwide. Advertising aimed at younger adults, especially women, who make up 43% of internet users, will find an audience.
Taking a look at all the social media networks above, there are a lot of options that enable you to promote your business on social media. Moreover, they let you get more information about your customers and where you can find them. So, with the right marketing communication you can build a successful business. Good luck!