Social media has grown drastically over the last decade and during the days of COVID-19, many businesses have learned just how important it can be for their company. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the list goes on. There are so many methods of reaching your audience, it can sometimes be overwhelming. Point Taken is here to help guide you to learn the methods best for your business and how to appropriately utilize each social media channel. Let’s focus on Instagram and Facebook, the two of the most commonly used social media sites by businesses.

Let’s start with Instagram. You can make posts that are permanent, stories which disappear in 24 hours (unless saved to your highlights) and IGTV, which allows for longer videos. All can be beneficial to a business trying to promote their brand and/or send a message to their followers/customers. According to Hootsuite, stories are a good way to engage followers without overloading them. Stories don’t show up on the feed and can be skipped easily if someone isn’t interested. You can also make stories more visually and audio pleasing by adding stickers, words, locations, music and more. Stories are full screen, so remember to post something appealing to the eye. Pictures speak for themselves but if you’re posting text, add color to the background based on the subject of the post or your brand standards. Stories on Instagram are a great tool to make a quick statement or post to your viewers. Point Taken can help you dive in deeper to learn how to really connect with your audience. Curious who is using Instagram? CellPhoneDeal.com shares some great data on Instagram users.

Next, there’s IGTV, which stands for Instagram TV. This platform is for longer videos. An Instagram story can only provide 10 seconds of video per story, a post can be up to one minute of video, but an IGTV video can be up to an hour long. According to Social Media Examiner, IGTV can be great for behind-the-scenes videos, giving your viewers a glimpse into the everyday life of your business and employees. Whether a brewery is showing followers how their beer is made or a countertop installation company showing customers picking out new finishes, behind-the-scenes videos can lead viewer  to feel close to your company and have more of an appreciation for what your company does on a day-to-day basis. It’s also a good idea to give your viewers a regular dose of IGTV content so they form a connection with your business and come to expect and look forward to a particular type of content. Point Taken has worked with clients on IGTV and other videos and can help your business form a social media plan to successfully highlight your products or services.

Facebook followed Instagram in offering the option of stories and many businesses are beginning to see Facebook stories can be just as helpful and useful as Instagram.  Sprout Social says videos on social media can be so successful because viewers feel like they’re connecting with you from the comfort of their own home (a great benefit during the COVID-19 quarantine). Facebook stories appear at the very top of the application, so it’s usually the first thing a client will see with they login. Stories are also more organic because you know the post was made within the last 24 hours as opposed to a post that could show a picture from weeks before. Because of that time frame, it’s important to keep your Facebook stories relevant and to the point, since they’re short-lived. Facebook stories are a great way for a businesses to promote sales and deals, have competitions, giveaways and more.

Finally, let’s discuss LIVE videos, on any platform. LIVE is so exciting because you can show your viewers what’s going on that very moment and they feel like they are experiencing it with you in person, even if hundreds of miles away. Unless what you are showing LIVE happened spontaneously, let your viewers know ahead of time that you’ll be going LIVE and tell them what you will be showing. For instance, if your animal shelter is hosting a day-long event to fundraise, tell your followers you’ll be going LIVE throughout the day showing them the cute dogs and cats for adoption (or success stories as they go home with new families). You can inform your viewers by making a post or you can also create an event for the day and time you plan to go LIVE and invite your followers so they’ll be reminded about the LIVE video. Even though LIVE is more natural and can be laid back, it’s important to put some planning into your video. Make sure you’re not going to have any distractions that could take you off track and therefore lose viewers during your LIVE video.

No matter which form of social media you use or content you post, you must first build your brand and target the most accurate audience. Point Taken can help you form a social media plan to ensure your business’ social media pages are living up to their potential and reaching the proper viewers.