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Making Social Media Your Business
Do you remember the days when “networking” meant going to in-person meetings or events and making new contacts? Today “networking” takes on a different meaning as the world of in-person interaction has extended to online interface. Whether ‘Instagramming’, ‘Tweeting’, or ‘Tik Toking’, nearly everyone is online on social media. Pew Research found that 72% of U.S. adults use at least one social media platform. With millions of engaged consumers spending hours interacting with social media content each day, social media platforms present interesting opportunities for marketers and businesses to drive brand awareness and ultimately sell more products or services.
Social media is so much more than just finding out what your friends and old classmates are up to. It can also serve as an important tool to help business leaders and sales professionals to develop their networks, keep up with the latest trends, and ultimately make purchasing decisions. Social media for businesses has evolved to become one of the main sources of information, education and interaction because it is readily available on mobile devices. |
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| Many companies have identified this opportunity and are using aggressive social media campaigns to gain a significant edge over their competition However, putting together a well-planned and well-executed social media program can be overwhelming. The first step is understanding the target audience and selecting the platform that will most appeal to them. Next would be to align your goals and objectives and understand what works and what doesn’t to get maximum awareness. But, because social media requires constant attention and updating with new content, it is far from the “one and done” style of advertising. Content must create interest and be fresh to hold on to existing audience and increase a “following” to get the widest new audience. |
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Why use Social Media
With today’s socially aware state of mind, providing insight into your company’s culture can go a long way to help sell your products and services and aid with recruitment as well. Here are a few of the ways manufacturers and suppliers are leveraging social media to work for them: |
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- Promoting products and brand awareness – social media can help to generate excitement about new products and features. As influencers note that by posting interesting product developments and even offering incentives brings more interest and more followers.
- Sourcing supply – although the tried-and-true ways to contact and source suppliers still remain valid, social media can provide interesting new alternatives. Social media brings the global market to our fingertips and allows us to search and focus in on specific attributes and selection criteria at any hour of any day 24/7.
- Gaining expertise – there are countless experts in a wide variety of matter leveraging social media - from YouTube videos to LinkedIn posts about events. When industry experts and customers demonstrate a product and talk about its benefits or a manufacturer shows “how-to” videos, it becomes more engaging than just reading content.
- Finding talent – nothing could be more important in today’s environment as high-skilled talent is hard to find yet vital to managing complex supply chain networks. LinkedIn is a great way to source top talent!
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Socially Connecting with the Right Audience
Understanding of our target customers and where they engage online is important. Age demographics vary dramatically by app. For example, according to the Pew Research Center, Snapchat is used by 65% of young adults ages 18 to 29, but by just 2% of adults over 65-years-old, a difference of 63 percentage points. While static ads fit on some platforms, others require video or audio content, which may be new to many.
According to Statista, a worldwide data analytics company, the most popular social media platforms and the percentages of uses for business marketers are as follows: |
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- Facebook – 91%
- Instagram -78%
- LinkedIn – 61%
- YouTube – 55%
- Twitter – 48%
- TikTok – 9%
- Snapchat – 4%
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| In the electrical market, the social media platforms most preferred are Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube and to a lesser extent – Twitter and Instagram. Let’s take a look at how these popular social media sites can help engage with our audience. |
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LinkedIn is primarily used to connect with other individuals and companies from the industry. It's ideal for B2B companies as it helps build brand awareness and make new connections with industry leaders and decision-makers. It's also the most effective platform for product launches and lead generation for manufacturers. Also, when comments, or “likes” are added, the post goes to the front of the feed for the followers. The “sharing” feature also allows it to appear on other personal or businesses’ LinkedIn pages.
Facebook, which started as a way to bring the social experience of college onto the Internet, connecting college students, then expanding out to family and friends, has become into the biggest social media platform for businesses. Now part of the “Meta” company, thanks to the size and targeting capabilities, Facebook is tied with Google as a top digital advertising platform. Statista claims that Facebook ads reach up to 36.7% of the adult population (by the way, Twitter is the lowest at 6.5%). An average Facebook user clicks on 12 ads per month and that volume of impressions raises brand awareness.
Facebook business pages differ from personal pages, although they look similar. Facebook business pages include tools for businesses and brands and allows updates in the “News” feed and allows followers to comment and provide feedback. There is also a “milestone” feature to highlight some of the biggest accomplishments, product releases and major events. Facebook is also the perfect platform for targeting advertising and to publish links to blogs that will lead traffic to your website. In addition, posts can be shared on to others’ Facebook accounts, providing added visibility.
Instagram, which is also a Meta company, is mainly a photo-sharing social media platform, so it’s essential to share visually engaging content. Instagram also allows interaction by creating polls and inviting questions, making it easy to collect valuable feedback. For example, some accounts use the questions feature to hold a weekly “Ask Me Anything” session, a fun way to answer common questions. However, posts on Instagram, like Snapchat, are short lived – videos only live on Instagram for 24 hours unless the video was shot directly through the app. Knowing the “ins and outs” of how a specific platform performs is critical. |
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Manufacturers can leverage YouTube to increase brand awareness by uploading videos that show products in action and “how-to” videos, such as how to install floor boxes or even something as simple as setting up Decora Smart® devices. Video is proving to be the most effective content formats for being visually stimulating and easily consumed. You may even want to share interviews with satisfied customers and use cases. Video content is also popular among all generations, and as the demand for video rises, so does the popularity of the platforms that support it – especially YouTube.
Socially Acceptable
Join the conversation and know what your audience wants to see and hear. Content for posts should be informative, inspiring and promising, but strive for a call-to-action in every piece. Regardless of the business type — whether product- or service-related — always link emotions felt by the customer back into the brand's message. You can effectively connect with customers by posting examples of their success and inviting them to share theirs.
The best way to grow your following is by sharing with others in the same field. Connecting on social media can help you reach a broader audience without having to share directly with competitors. Share valuable content that will be helpful to an industry, not just customers or followers of one company's page — make sure it helps everyone.
Leviton continues to lead the industry in innovative products, solutions and with on-going social media engagement. Follow us, tweet with us, post to us:
Facebook.com/leviton
Twitter.com/leviton
Leviton Distribution Posts on LinkedIn
YouTube.com/c/leviton
Instagram.com/leviton/ |
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| Leviton Mfg. Company Inc. |
201 North Service Rd.
Melville, NY 11747
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