{"id":28534,"date":"2022-04-03T19:45:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T19:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company"},"modified":"2022-04-03T19:52:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T19:52:36","slug":"your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company","title":{"rendered":"Your business: How social media can build (or sink) your company"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>With more than half of the world\u2019s population using social media, it would be silly not to have accounts for your business, right? Not necessarily\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n

The numbers present a strong case for giving your business a presence on social media platforms: 4.62 billion people are on social media, and daily usage is just under 2.5 hours.<\/p>\n

Looking at these stats, you\u2019d think this is the quickest way to reach your customer base, and for some this is true, but it all depends on who your customer is and how you will manage your social media accounts. (Spoiler alert: It could do more harm than good if you don\u2019t do it well.)<\/p>\n

Are your customers social savvy?<\/b><\/p>\n

Before you launch your business, you should know as much about your target market as possible. Not just the size of the market, their spending power or where they are located, but also how they shop, their age group, their access to the internet and mobile phone usage.<\/p>\n

If your product or service is aimed at consumers who have limited access to the internet, and therefore social media, investing time in trying to drive engagement on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram or the like could be time wasted and better spent on more traditional, tangible marketing collateral.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s another level to this. Your customers might be active on social networks, but which ones?<\/p>\n

Consider the following:<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/b><\/p>\n

Largest age demographic of users: 25-34<\/p>\n

Best for: Promoting business, special offers, product launches, answering customers\u2019 queries and reviews\/testimonials<\/p>\n

Youtube<\/b><\/p>\n

Largest age demographic of users: 25-34<\/p>\n

Best for: Video content, adverts, brand stories, how-to tutorials, product showcases<\/p>\n

Pinterest<\/b><\/p>\n

Largest age demographic of users: 25-34<\/p>\n

Best for: Visual products\/services such as graphic design, interior design, furniture, jewellery, d\u00e9cor, etc.<\/p>\n

Instagram<\/b><\/p>\n

Largest age demographic of users: 25-34, very closely followed by 18-24<\/p>\n

Best for: Influencer marketing, visual content \u2013 photographs or short videos, product showcases, competitions<\/p>\n

TikTok<\/b><\/p>\n

Largest age demographic of users: 18-24<\/p>\n

Best for: Experimental campaigns, “viral” marketing, influencer marketing<\/p>\n

LinkedIn<\/b><\/p>\n

Largest age demographic of users: 30-64<\/p>\n

Best for: Business-related products\/services, thought leadership, recruitment<\/p>\n

Think about which of these best suit your product or service, and which are popular with your target market.<\/p>\n

Are you social-savvy?<\/b><\/p>\n

The next step is to decide what you hope to achieve through social media. Are you trying to increase brand awareness, generate more leads or sell your product? This should also help you narrow your focus to only the platforms that will help you do this. It\u2019s better to run at least one social account well than to have dormant accounts on all the platforms.<\/p>\n

Once you have chosen the right platforms for your business, consider the type of content you will share (and how you will produce it). Do you have beautiful imagery, videos, stories, campaign collateral, etc.? And do you have time to post these regularly as well as monitor the response you get (called engagement) \u2013 answering any questions your followers might have and responding to feedback (the good and bad kind). Social media is most effective when communication flows both ways.<\/p>\n

Tip: Plan your posts in advance by developing a content plan. You can also outsource your social media management to a freelancer or specialist agency if it is worth the investment.<\/p>\n

Dos and don\u2019ts<\/b><\/p>\n

Social media can be a powerful tool to build your brand and customer base, but it can do the opposite if you\u2019re not careful.<\/p>\n

Do<\/b><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t<\/b><\/p>\n

MORE HELP FOR ENTREPRENEURS:<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. With more than half of the world\u2019s population using social media, it would be silly not to have accounts for your business, right? Not necessarily\u2026 The numbers present a strong case for giving your business a presence on social media platforms: 4.62 billion people are on social media, and daily usage is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":28533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,8],"tags":[274,315,1274,1273,275],"class_list":["post-28534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-entrepreneur","tag-entrepreneurs","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nYour business: How social media can build (or sink) your company - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With more than half of the world\u2019s population using social media, it would be silly not to have accounts for your bus ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your business: How social media can build (or sink) your company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With more than half of the world\u2019s population using social media, it would be silly not to have accounts for your bus ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-04-03T19:45:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-03T19:52:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/04\/img-6249fae7ed791.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Your business: How social media can build (or sink) your company\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-04-03T19:45:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-03T19:52:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company\"},\"wordCount\":607,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/04\/img-6249fae7ed791.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"entrepreneur\",\"entrepreneurs\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/your-business-how-social-media-can-build-or-sink-your-company\",\"name\":\"Your business: How social media can build (or sink) your company - 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