Social media is a powerful communication tool that can help both on and offline businesses engage more effectively with their established audiences and reach new potential customers. This section provides a broad overview of the different social media platforms and strategies you can use to establish a social presence.
Social media for businesses
Social media is an essential modern business tool that can be adapted to any need, industry or organisation size.
Getting started on social media
There are dozens of global social media platforms, each with its own audience conventions and content requirements. While some businesses owners may find that overwhelming, the good news is that Australian audiences concentrate around a handful of well-known platforms. This makes it easy to pick the right social media channel, and understand what content works best.
- Webinar: Choosing the right social media platform
- Webinar: Become your own content marketing expert
- Webinar: Keeping up with the social media networks
Facebook and Instagram
In Australia, Facebook is the dominant social media platform and is often used by customers to search for business information (similar to a Google listing) or to help them get a better idea of the brand before they visit or make a purchase. Facebook is a good entry point into social media marketing for consumer-facing businesses.
- Create your Facebook page in five simple steps
- Five ways to boost your Facebook page performance
- The beginner's guide to Facebook Insights
- Five ways to avoid losing business on your Facebook page
- Webinar: Five ways to build your Facebook audience
- Webinar: Using social media as an ecommerce platform
For businesses with a strong brand aesthetic or those looking to engage a younger audience, the image sharing platform Instagram is worth investigating. This social media platform can be used as an ecommerce storefront for your business as well as a marketing tool where multimedia and visual elements are prioritised.
While not among the top four social media platforms in Australia, WhatsApp is nonetheless a widely used application with some unique benefits for business owners.
B2B marketing
For businesses who sell to other businesses or professionals, LinkedIn® is the best social media marketing platform to start with. This platform is designed for professional networking and makes it easy to search for businesses and company representatives by industry, size, seniority or location.
Paid advertising
Once you have set up a social media presence, you can develop a paid social media strategy to boost your marketing efforts. This technique can be used to gain followers, boost engagement and develop leads.
