There’s no denying the fact that social media is a powerhouse when it comes to business growth. Business-to-consumer marketing, commonly known as B2C marketing is an area of your business that can benefit from using the right social media channels. 

Whether you run a multinational enterprise or a small shop, social media is a marketing direction that you should incorporate into your business strategy, and here’s why: 

• According to statistics by Smart Insights, the number of global internet users is 4.388 billion as of 2019. Of those users, 3.484 billion are social media subscribers. 
• About 90% of users on social media will contact retailers directly. 

There is no shortage of social media platforms available on the internet. With so many options available, it can be hard trying to choose one that will help your business. Here’s a list of some of the top performers when it comes to social media marketing.

Best social media marketing options

Facebook

Facebook is the world’s number one social media platform with the highest number of active users. The website has about 2.3 billion monthly users making it the most popular network in the world.

Staggering numbers right there, huh?

It’s no doubt that most digital marketers prefer to use Facebook to reach potential clients. Facebook provides both paid and free organic opportunities.

You can advertise for free on Facebook by doing any of the following;

• Creating a page or group, adding people and then advertising your products or services
• Joining groups related to your niche and posting your product or services
• Posting your products or services on your timeline

Free Facebook advertising requires real work, though. You must be willing to spend some time being active on the platform.

A good approach would be to positively comment on other people’s posts by giving solutions to their problems. Try providing expert answers to people’s questions, and you’ll see how people will naturally gravitate towards your products and services. 

Another way to advertise on Facebook is to use highly targeted Facebook ads. These ads directly connect you to people that are looking for your products or services based on things like;

• Geographic location
• Age
• Interests

Twitter

Twitter is a microblogging site that can allow you to post short texts to reach a large number of people in seconds. The beauty of this platform is that it allows you to do two main things: 

Add hashtags (#) 

Adding hashtags allow people to locate you quickly. Let’s take, for instance, a business website that sells chia seeds. 

All you need to do is write a short post, and then add the chia seed hashtag like this “#chia”. Anyone looking for chia seed will likely type “chia” on the search bar, and all the businesses that have used the “#chia” will show up.

Re-tweet 

Anyone can re-tweet other people’s content on twitter if it appeals to them. Re-tweeting can bring your business in front of millions of potential buyers. 

However, bear in mind that this is a, “scratch my back I scratch yours” sort of situation. In other words, you must commit to re-tweeting other people’s tweets as well.

Instagram

Millennials love Instagram, and this is where to be if your product targets a younger demographic. Instagram is highly visual, which makes it best for businesses in the fashion and beauty industry. 

Big businesses like Coca-Cola and Adidas have used Instagram to their advantage to reach masses. That is not to say that small and medium-sized businesses can’t benefit from using this platform. Using Instagram influencers is one of the easiest ways to reach the masses. Influencers can help boost conversions.

via GIPHY

YouTube

YouTube is the home of videos. People post anything from funny videos to videos of their child taking their first steps, to world news.

But, did you know that you can advertise your business using YouTube? In 2018, YouTube generated $3.36 in revenue, which was a big improvement from $2.16 in 2016. 

Here are some ways to use YouTube for digital marketing:

• Instructional videos
• Video blogs
• Tutorials
• Do It Yourself (DIY) projects

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an effective B2C social media marketing tool. LinkedIn is a professional network that allows businesses to reach wide audiences using their content. 

Using LinkedIn can easily allow you to acquire customer loyalty by building communities. You can post meaningful content on your LinkedIn profile several times a week to keep your clients engaged. It is that simple!

Another way to get clients interested in your products is to use LinkedIn publishing. Professionals on the platform are likely looking for high-quality content, and this is one way to spark their interest. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is yet another highly visual that allows users to incorporate short texts coupled with images or videos. The platform allows users to organise visually appealing pins, which users can also re-pin. 

Regularly posting quality content on Pinterest can help your business rank higher in search results. Search engines like Google use algorithms to rank websites, and you can greatly benefit if your website ranks amongst the first results.

Internet users rarely go past any search engine’s page one search results. A client is likely to purchase from you if you rank at the top because ranking at the top gives you credibility.

Snapchat

Although Snapchat is fairly new in the market, it is gaining traction amongst young users. Snapchat is already attracting B2C marketers because of its amazing ability to connect with consumers. 

The networking platform allows users to share real-time experiences without having to pass through various filters. Aside from posting content, Snapchat also allows businesses to directly connect with clients at a personal/human level. 

The most captivating thing about Snapchat is that “snaps” disappear after 24 hours. Therefore, users are constantly glued to their screens for fear of missing out. 

Google+

Google+ aka Google plus has over 2 billion registered users and 395 million monthly users. The social media marketing platform is, therefore, a marketing avenue that a business can’t afford to ignore. 

The majority of users on Google+ are between 15 to 34 years. 26.3% of those statistics are women, while the majority is men with 73.7%.

As you may know, Google is the world’s number one search engine. The advantage of using the platform is that Google immediately indexes anything that you post.

Google also uses a “local search” function to rank businesses. With this function, clients in your locality can easily find you.

Tumblr

Tumblr is for networking as well as a social media marketing platform. Tumblr has over 1.3 billion using the platform, making it a gold mine for any business that wants to market its products and services. 

Tumblr is user-friendly. Most importantly, the tool is free; making it ideal for small businesses that would like to post regular blogs for customer engagement. 

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is easily accessible for anyone with a smartphone. With WhatsApp updates, you can use video or images to display your products and reach anyone in your phonebook.

You can also create or join several groups within your niche and advertise your services or products. Like with Snapchat, statues disappear after 24 hours, which makes it that much more appealing. 

In conclusion

We know that high-quality content can help with improving a business’s authority. However, you won’t be doing your business any favours if you don’t have a way to bring the content in front of customers’ eyes. This is where social media comes in.

Different social media platforms can help a business reach more clients. All a business needs to do is adopt a strategy that works best. Key factors to helping a business achieve social media marketing success are being consistent, unique and engaging with customers at every opportunity.