According to recent stats, 15 million people – in South Africa – use social media. This means that this arena is perfect for you to market your business. With the plethora of channels out there, you need to give some serious thought to how you put together your strategy for marketing on social media.
When putting together your strategy, you should be asking yourself a number of questions:
- Must I actively engage on all platforms?
- Should I select which I think will be the best to grow my business?
Just by using a few of the platforms that your ideal customer uses will give you the reach and the Return on Investment (ROI) that your business needs. Each has its own power and will offer great brand awareness possibilities.
The power of social media
The big deal about platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and the like, is that they are perfect for start-ups with limited budget and human resources. This is because no matter how much or little you spend on a campaign, you’ll be guaranteed a superior product.
All platforms considered, worldwide business strategist McKinsey emphasises that you must have bold, innovative plans when it comes to working with social media. As the authors state: “Yesterday’s tentative approaches won’t deliver. You need absolute clarity about digital demands, galvanized leadership, unparalleled agility and the resolve to be bold.”
A sure-fire winner!
Recent studies give a clear picture of the way social media platforms are evolving in South Africa:
- Facebook has 16 million users in SA.
- Cellphones and tablets are the preferred devices to access Facebook.
- Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds.
- LinkedIn has grown steadily to 6.1 million users.
- Instagram growth has slowed significantly.
- YouTube has seen a marginal rise at 68% growth.