Which Social Media Platforms Should All Businesses Have In Their Arsenal For 2022?
As a business owner, you already know that having a social media profile is just as important as having a website. However, the social media landscape has been shifting in the past few years, with some relatively unknown platforms suddenly shooting to stardom. While giants like Facebook and sister platform Instagram have managed to retain the top spots, as a business owner, your goal should be diversification to maximise your brand’s reach.
Like everything related to the world of digital marketing, you need to have a strategy in place to be successful. You don’t want to waste time and money going all out on a single, often trending social media platform. The popularity of platforms can dip or plateau, which causes all that hard work to go down the proverbial drain.
A recent example is Clubhouse, an audio-only social media platform/app founded in 2020 and shot to stardom in less than a year. After its beta release, the app exploded and soon had an evaluation of $4 billion.
There were even rumours of its acquisition by Twitter that Elon Musk got in on the action, and his tweets added to the virality of the platform, which saw millions flood to it. Soon rooms were hosted by some of the leading celebrities in the industry like Mark Zuckerberg and, Kevin Hart, Grant Cardone, to name a few. Everyone assumed that Clubhouse was a surefire hit, but it fizzled out!
So, the question is, which social media platforms should businesses be leveraging in 2022? Here are a few of our top picks.
Instagram continues to be relevant and essential for businesses to exist in 2022. However, the platform favours products and services that are more visual-oriented. For instance, services like graphic designers, video editors, photographers, etc., can leverage the platform’s strengths better than, let’s say, an SEO expert or a copywriter.
Unlike Facebook, Instagram does not allow ads to be included within posts, but the platform has a well-laid out, highly customisable paid advertising system, not to mention that it is relatively inexpensive.
Facebook is the most popular social media platform with over 2.5 billion users and has dedicated business pages. Businesses can customise the page for their brand and open communication lines with followers or people who send the business messages.
Facebook has immense reach, a significant advantage for marketers and businesses as it offers numerous advertising options. Any business can start advertising by either boosting their post or advertising in the sidebar. The only drawback to Facebook is that your page and posts will never organically show up, except if people search for your business page.
In our opinion, having a Facebook page is second only to having a business website in 2022.
Twitter is a direct-connect platform where businesses can connect with their customers via 140-character tweets. Companies on Twitter need to be creative to grow their follower base.
Businesses should create content that inspires and educates their target audience. It’s an excellent way to establish a reputation and attract new customers. The only challenge with Twitter is growing the number of followers.
TikTok
TikTok was crowned the hottest social media platform in 2021 by many publications. The app shot to stardom and surpassed Facebook, and WhatsApp, to become a contender for the top spot. It was the first app ever that was not owned by Facebook or influenced by it to surpass 3 billion downloads.
However, Tiktok’s audience is mainly young people. Generally, people under 30. 25 percent of users are teens. One of the reasons for this is that most of the content on Tiktok is a series of short videos embedded with sounds and modern music. The sounds are audio clips taken from popular videos, and the app attempts to circulate these videos.
As a business owner, you probably considered getting on TikTok more than once but weren’t sure what content would capture users’ attention and then how to monetise that attention. The fact is that the platform’s marketing angle is still in its infancy, which may take some trial and error.
Once you learn what works, you can grow your brand faster than any other platform. A good and recent example of this is Chipotle, which grew in 2019 with the #guacdance trend. It mainly urged guacamole fans to show off their dance moves, which helped catapult the brand’s image amongst younger people, amassing over a billion views and counting.
Any business that wants to grow on TikTok will be required to tweak its content, making it captivating for younger people. Also, actively use and create your own hashtags while making it so that anyone can join. Finally, be sure to post consistently and watch as your reach grows.
LinkedIn has been around since 2002, and since then, it has grown past its original value, becoming the leading job board on the internet. Today, it is home to millions of professionals and high-profile market leaders who share their two cents on everything from business development to crafting a killer CV.
2021 has been an excellent year for LinkedIn, and it experienced tremendous growth, thanks in part to the lockdown. However, LinkedIn is fast becoming one of the first places where job seekers go to find out about a company. It’s also where active businesses can often connect with the most talented people and other companies.
Discord
Community marketing is heralded as the building block of any business’s marketing efforts. Discord was initially launched in 2015 and was intended for gamers, but since then, it has grown to become home for everyone from content creators to artists and businesses.
Discord has witnessed tremendous growth starting in 2020 and right through to 2021 and now 2022. If anything, there are no signs of the platform slowing down.
Brands can use Discord to build a server mainly for their members or customers. Members can then be treated to perks and bonuses. The platform can be an excellent means of gathering feedback, increasing customer loyalty, and nurturing customers. Though businesses can’t advertise on the platform, there are other ways for businesses to connect with their audience. If you’re not yet on Discord in 2022, now would be a great time to join.
Final Word
There you have it, folks – our take on the best social media platforms for businesses in 2022. Feel free to drop us a message if you think we missed your favourite platform.
