So which Social Media Network is most suitable for your Business? On my latest Survey contacted exclusively on Twitter I asked people around the world to answer this question.

Yes it was only asked on Twitter and you can say that Twitter had the privilege here, but not so fast! This does not mean that users of Twitter consider this Network to be the most suitable to bring them business and sales. So what did people responded? Check out the graph below…

As seen here 4 options were given to chose from. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Twitter tops with 40% followed closely by Instagram with 32%. Facebook falls far behind with 17% and LinkedIn with 11%.

It is not so strange that Instagram follows Twitter on this poll with a high percentage. Celebrities and Influencers in general are very active users on those two networks to communicate with their audience and monetize. This combination is also followed by many business people and entrepreneurs across the world.

On the other hand Brands who focus on online selling work more with Facebook as their primary network. This of course varies from country to country but on this poll we get a global view of things.

Finally LinkedIn finds itself on fourth place with 11% but this is not a negligible percentage. On the contrary I find it extremely good as it is used mainly by professionals who want to network and build on their connections in a more longterm way.

Not long ago most of the companies that had a Facebook page had neither the time, skills or faith to invest on Social Media and see the benefits. The few that did gained quite an advantage for some time.

Now we are at a point where most Brands and companies do invest time, money and other resources to have the best possible presence on Social Media and especially their Facebook Page. It is a fact that quite easily and inexpensively many people can acquire the skills or hire a pro to manage their Page quite well.

At the same time this fact has shortened the gap among competitors along all industries. Many Brands do a good job and invest time and money to attract more prospects on their Page and provide a nice experience.

So here comes the question for all those who still want to differentiate and separate themselves from Competition, What do we do to maintain our edge?  How do we attract more prospects and give them an even better experience to convert them into clients or increase our word of mouth or strengthen our Brand.

Whatever your target or targets are you need to do a lot more and a lot better that before.

So here are some very important things to consider if you want to keep your advantage and do a better job than anyone else.

1) Set up your strategy carefully – Strategy is necessary and must contain all the components that will lead you to success. You need to study your competitions Page and yours to see what works best and what not, when prospects respond most and when not. Your strategy must contain not only a strong message but a very well prepared plan of activities to pass it on. This means you need to consider your graphics, videos, posts etc in a very professional way.

2) Design – The designs you use for your cover photos or posts play a huge role on how your message will be received. The same message with a different graphic can be a total success or a total failure. Use simplicity in words and appropriate colours for each message you want to promote.

3) Videos – Videos had a huge rise in 2014 and continues to do so in 2015. Thus if want to be on top you need to realize the power and impact of videos and use them to pass on you message. Be careful though to do it in a professional way. A professional way does not necessarily mean to spend a lot of money in production with special effects etc. Your video may be “amatuer” but if done correctly it can have great results.

4) Competitions – Competitions are a great way to promote your Brand but in order to separate from competition you need not to fall in the trap to make one because everyone does. For a successful competition think about your audience, make the prize relevant to your Brand and then think about you ultimate target. Do you want to collect data like emails or mobile phones to use them later on? Well you most probably should! Thus you should use a third party application and make your competition look pro, smart and attractive.

5) Page Promotion – Be careful when promoting your Page. Boosting your Page can get very detailed with the analytics provided, both demographics and psychographics. Make sure you check your audience before you try to attract others prospects. Many times you may make a simple mistake and see no results. Also do not forget to adjust your page’s descriptions according to the message you have on the header banner. This will maximize the potential of attracting new customers.

6) Promoted Posts – Promoted posts is yet another way to promote your message and create Brand awareness. Since Facebook Page’s organic reach is limited to 2% then promoted posts can many times have great effects and increase engagement. Just remember about your graphics and content to be of top class.

(end of part 1)