Andy Cullwick, director of marketing at First4Lawyers:
Two-thirds of the world’s population are on it for almost two-and-a-half hours each day, on average. Each uses at least half a dozen different platforms every month.
The growing dominance of social media is laid bare in this report by We Are Social and Meltwater but, as a business, it can be difficult to know which platforms to choose.
Identifying your target audience – who they are and which platforms they’re on – is a great place to start and I suspect most will be on at least one of the major players below.
Facebook has around 44 million users in the UK alone and almost half (44%) use the platform daily. It is most popular with the 25-34 age group, although the demographic of users is broad as the platform has been around for 20 years.
It is the size of its user base which makes Facebook an advertising powerhouse, with lots of options to help you find and target your ideal audience. Inbuilt lead forms are a great feature, making it easier for consumers to get in touch with you.
However, concerns have been raised about data protection, privacy and how well content is moderated.
Facebook is entirely dependent on advertising revenue and costs can fluctuate during periods of increased advertiser demand, such as Black Friday and Christmas, which may lead to increased spend on paid activity.
It is a great tool for creating a community with whom you can share news and updates but, despite its potentially huge reach, you still need to think about how you grab readers’ attention. Posting unengaging content won’t give you the cut through you want.
LinkedIn was launched as a networking platform for business professionals and currently has around