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When trying to reach customers, many businesses turn to social media and paid advertising. In a world where everyone is connected by the fingertips, both can help promote your product or service, but they work best when used thoughtfully and with a clear purpose.
Social media allows businesses to share information quickly, and reach customers all over the world. For many small or new businesses, social media is one of the most easiest and most efficient ways of marketing.
Social Media can help you:
Introduce your produce or service
Show examples of your work
Reach new markets and potential customers
Share updates and promotions, and make money digitally
However, it is crucial to know the strengths and weaknesses of each platform and how to leverage them to best serve your purposes.
Facebook
Facebook
Strength: Massive and diverse customer base, with over 3 billion daily users; offers highly targeted advertising
Weakness: Demands high amounts of interaction with followers to engage potential clients
Tiktok
Tiktok
Strength: High potential for virality, and excellent for short and creative videos
Weakness: Unpredictable algorithm, making it difficult to guarantee consistent results. High pressure to keep up with fast moving trends
Instagram
Instagram
Strengths: Excellent for targeting younger demographic, with many of its 1+ billion users being 34 or younger.
Weakness: Requires highly curated and aesthetic page to appeal to users
Youtube
Youtube
Strength: Best platform for long-form and educational video content
Weakness: High effort, time consuming production
X (Formerly Twitter)
X (Formerly Twitter)
Strength: Real time, fast paced interaction; Excellent for breaking news and customer service
Weakness: Very short lifespan of content, and very limited amount of characters per message
Linkedin
Linkedin
Strength: Main platform for professional networking
Weakness: Little room for casual content
Of course, it is important to consider with the introduction of short video content, which follows the Tiktok model, to many of these platforms, (Youtube Shorts, Instagram Reels) the opportunities for content creation are rapidly changing and limitless in potential.
Paid Advertising
Paid Advertising
Paid advertising allows businesses to promote products to a larger audience quickly. Online ads can appear on search engines, social media platforms, or websites, and are relatively inexpensive.
Advertising can help businesses:
Reach new audiences
Promote special offers
Increase visibility for a new product or service
However, ads require a budget and careful planning. If a business does not understand its customers, its message, or its unique selling point, advertising may not be effective.
For many new businesses, it can be helpful to first test demand and build a small customer base before investing heavily in ads.
To visit an in depth breakdown of digital advertising, watch the video above!
Click the activity above for a practice worksheet!
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