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No matter what you may think, social media is gaining attention. People are becoming used to socializing and communicating using social media. You can’t just be running a brick-and-mortar business, you have to go digital! You have to get social with your business!

One of the reasons some businesses lag behind in their field is because they don’t take advantage of the latest technology to develop their business. They cling to old ways of doing business; become close minded to new ways of doing things and refuse to find how to make technology accelerates their business.

Before we look at the various social media platforms for your business, you need to understand that it is called, “social media platform” not a “social selling platform.” Please understand that the creators of the social media platforms didn’t create the media as a sales platform but as a social media platform!

The purpose of social media for your business is not to sell your products and services but to promote your offers and generate interest in your offers so that you can follow up on those interested people and eventually close them into sales. If you don’t understand this, you might think social media platforms don’t work!

Your job on social media platforms is one thing: build relationships with customers and potential customers. Business is built on relationships! You want to connect and build a strong relationship with your customers and potential customers so that you can optimize that relationship to build your business.

So use social media platforms to do the following:

  1. Connect with your customers
  2. Provide customer services
  3. Attract potential customers
  4. Build relationship with customers
  5. Do market research for your business
  6. Generate interest in your business offers
  7. Generate leads for your business
  8. Build more awareness of your brand
  9. Educate and share insights about your field
  10. Promote your business to a larger audience

Are you in business or starting a business? Use our business plan template to research, analyze and develop a strategic business plan for your business.

Now here are the top 15 social media platforms you can consider to expand your brand and promote business growth. The social media platforms you choose and use must align with your core strategy and your potential customer reach.

  1. Facebook
  • Facebook was launched in February 2004.
  • Facebook is a social media platform usable on mobile, tablet and desktops
  • Facebook was launched in February 2004.
  • Facebook has over 2 billion users worldwide
  • Facebook also has over 2 billion active users worldwide
  1. Facebook Messenger
  • Facebook Messenger comes with the Facebook interface.
  • Facebook Messenger is social media messaging app usable on mobile, tablets and desktops
  • Facebook Messenger has over 2 billion users worldwide
  • Facebook Messenger has over 2 billion active users worldwide
  1. WhatsApp Messenger
  • WhatsApp was launched in February 2009.
  • WhatsApp Messenger is a social media platforms app on mobile devices but usable on desktops.
  • WhatsApp Messenger has over 1.2 billion users.
  • WhatsApp Messenger has over 1.2 billion users worldwide.
  1. Instagram
  • Instagram was launched in May, 2005
  • Instagram is a social media platform that deals with images for mobile devices in particular.
  • Instagram has over 600 million users worldwide
  • Instagram has over 600 million active users worldwide
  1. Twitter
  • Twitter was launched in March 2006.
  • Twitter is a social media platform that allows you share what’s happening with 140 words or less.
  • Twitter is usable on mobile, tablet and desktops.
  • Twitter has over 1 billion users worldwide
  • Twitter has an estimated 328 million active users worldwide
  1. LinkedIn
  • Linkedin was launched in May 2003.
  • Linkedin is a social media platform for professionals usable on mobile, tablet or desktops.
  • Linkedin has over 500 million users worldwide
  • Linkedin has an estimated 106 million active users worldwide
  1. Google +
  • Google Plus was launched in June 2011 by Google.
  • Google Plus is a social media platform like Facebook often used by technology professional
  • Google Plus is usable on mobile, tablet and desktop
  • Google Plus has over 2 billion users worldwide.
  • Google Plus has an estimated 212 million active users worldwide.
  1. Pinterest
  • Pinterest was launched in May 2010.
  • Pinterest is a social media platform that allows you to pin infographics on related boards.
  • Pinterest has 150 million users worldwide
  • Pinterest has 150 million active users worldwide
  1. Snapchat
  • Snapchat was launched in September 2011.
  • Snapchat is a image messaging and multimedia mobile application.
  • Snapchat has 161 million users worldwide
  • Snapchat has 161 million active users worldwide
  1. WeChat
  • Wechat was launched in June 2011.
  • Wechat is a social media platform commonly used in Asia.
  • Wechat has over 1 billion users worldwide.
  • Wechat has an estimated 8.89 million users worldwide.
  1. Foursquare
  • Foursquare was launched in May 2009.
  • Foursquare is a local search and discovery service available for use on all digital devices.
  • Foursquare has 60 million registered users worldwide.
  • Foursquare has 50 million active users worldwide.
  1. Skype
  • Skype was launched in August 2003.
  • Skype is social messaging sites run by Microsoft available on all digital devices.
  • Skype has 750 million registered users worldwide.
  • Skype has 300 million active users worldwide.
  1. Viber
  • Viber was launched in December 2010.
  • Viber is a social media messaging platform that is popularly used in Israel.
  • Viber has 858 million registered users worldwide.
  • Viber has 249 million active users worldwide.
  1. Tumblr
  • Tumblr was launched in February 2007.
  • Tumblr is a social media micro-blogging sites popularly used by youths.
  • Tumblr has over 1.1 billion registered users worldwide.
  • Tumblr has over 1.1 billion active users worldwide.
  1. YouTube
  • YouTube was launched in May 2003.
  • YouTube is a video social media sharing platforms usable on all digital devices.
  • YouTube has over 1.5 billion active users worldwide.
  • YouTube has over 1.5 billion active users worldwide.

Are you in business or starting a business? Use our business plan template to research, analyze and develop a strategic business plan for your business.

Having known the social media platforms:

  1. Study the social media platforms carefully
  2. Study and know which one will best help your business and your customers.
  3. Study the social media platforms your customers and potential customers are currently using.
  4. Study the psychology of the users.
  5. Study the kind of information and posts your customers are sharing.
  6. Study and find the time your potential customers come online.
  7. Study and develop a strategy on how to use the social media platforms to build your business.

Well, here you are! It’s up to what you do with the social media platforms. You can choose to be obsolete and say these social media thing is not for me or you can learn it slowly and become excellent at using it to build your business.

Any way, if you need assistance to develop a social media strategy and manage your social media platforms, kindly contact us. If you also want to outsource your social media, blogging and content creation activities, don’t forget us—we’re here to help!

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