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Which social network to choose for your business?

Social networking is our everyday business nowadays. We spend a lot of time on social networks during the day, and even our grandparents are their active users. We talked to Bohumil Pokštefl, a successful entrepreneur and founder of Kontentino, who shared many practical tips and much experiences with us about how they work and how to choose the right social network for your business.

14. April 2023 | 8 min.

Which social networks are currently the most popular in Slovakia? 

In Slovakia we have TOP three. It's still Facebook, where the older generation works. The favorite social network of millennials is Instagram. TikTok is appealing to Generation Z. We can add a fourth to the TOP three, namely Linkedin, which is mainly aimed at Business to Business or professional networkers.  

What about YouTube, has it lost its sparkle? 

YouTube is not quite a social network. It's a content platform that is still very popular. 

I've heard about possibly educating your target audience. How does that work? 

If you want to nurture future customers, you need to be on several social networks. I have a friend who is in the car business and he's been educating future buyers through Instagram. He has built a community even though he didn't have a target buyer group there. Over time, the young community has grown and started buying cars. 

Who should definitely be on more social networks? 

For example, banks. They should have a broad generational reach. But it's all down to our corporate strategy and when we want to see results. 

What do you think is the reason is if a business is not active on a social network? 

In fact, if I come across something like that, I find it very strange nowadays. Mostly it is due to a distrust in social networks. It may be that the marketing team is subtly outdated and not knowledgeable in this area. It may be a space they don't feel at home in. In that case, such marketers will trust print, radio or TV more because they have longer experience with it. 

What other fears can social media bring? 

Some are afraid of the newness that comes with the times. They say to themselves: "but television has worked for us all our lives, so it will work for us now." This setup is a mistake in my opinion. Social media are great because we can collect a lot of data there that we can't get from billboards, from leaflets and from TV. Above all, they allow us to have the strongest possible pull and to track whether advertising has any impact on them. 

CHOOSING THE RIGHT SOCIAL NETWORK 

How do I use social media to grow my business? 

First and foremost, you need to know well the persons to whom you are selling products or services. Then it is also important to choose the right social network where my person spends time. It's not true that every single business should be on all social networks. Organic reach and content alone no longer deliver results. Social networks need something to live off from. They live 98 percent from paid advertising. That means if I want my content to be seen, I have to do paid advertising. The days when I put out three posts a week and read about 100 thousand people or 80 percent of my target audience for free are no longer here. We need to determine what budget we have for that, who I want to target the ad at, and think through the goal of the ad. 

How much money is it worth investing and how? 

It depends on what budget the company has and what the price of the product is. I know Slovak companies that spend 8 million euros on online advertising in two months. At the same time, I also know companies that spend 2-3 thousand euros per month. The beauty of social networks is that we can quickly measure the advertising impact. If we put in 100 euros and we reach 10 thousand people for that, is that good for us or not? It's up to us how many euros are worth spending on the number of people reached, visitors to our site or products purchased. 

Can you give us an example? 

Yes, I'll explain it with the example of Kontentino. For a long time we didn't do advertising on Linkedin because the cost of advertising was too high and our product was cheap. This made it not worthwhile because it would have taken us at least three and a half years to pay it back. So we decided to advertise on Instagram, Facebook and Google. Today, when the price of the product is already higher, we can afford advertising on Linkedin and it will return in 4 months. A marketer has to think about all this, be able to read through it and draw conclusions. 

CONTRIBUTION PLANNING 

What strategy should I choose when adding posts? 

It is necessary to follow the brand manual, if the brand has created one. It is also good to stick to the campaign line. The mistake marketers make when planning content is to pile a lot of information into one post. There should be one piece of information in one post. People don't spend a lot of time on ads. If we don't engage them within seconds, we lose them. 

Is there an ideal regularity for publishing posts? 

Each social network has a different frequency. For TikTok, it must be several posts a day. On Instagram, I can add a few posts a week. Every single post on Facebook has to be sponsored, even if it's just one a week, because otherwise it's not worth it. With Linkedin, it's two to three posts a week. Each social network has its own specifics. However, it is true, except for TikTok, that as long as we don't sponsor it, it doesn't matter how many posts we add. 

What post formats are trending right now? 

Short videos are popular on Instagram and Facebook, and if a brand uses some trending music to go with them, they work even better. With TikTok videos, you need to keep an eye on the trends that are changing every day and adapt to them. On Linkedin, we can captivate the audience through a photo with a good status. 

What can definitely make a video boring and uninteresting for the audience? 

If a video is two minutes long and the most important information appears at the end of the video, chances are 99 percent of people won't even get there. People can't stand watching such long videos. 

Is it worth to livestream? 

Yes, but it depends very much on where I do it. We have done livestreams on Facebook through Kontentino and the reach there has always been huge. It has worked for us on Instagram and Linkedin as well. But remembering to warn people in advance that there will be a livestream is very important. You have to experiment with the content and be creative. Interviews with famous guests, videos from special occasions or events are interesting. 

LIMITS OF SOCIAL NETWORKS

What restrictions can we encounter on the social network? 

Social networks have standards and rules. They have algorithms that can identify risk and warn that a post cannot be published. We should not add posts that break the law. However, there are businesses that are on the edge with this, such as gambling, alcohol, tobacco and the like. 

How do you see the future of social networking as it relates to business? 

I don't think social media are going anywhere for the next five years. The challenge for e-shops will be evaluating advertising, because it will be increasingly difficult to measure its effectiveness. However, this opens the door to creativity for marketers and will push them to be more creative with their posts. 

PRACTICAL ADVICE 

Can you give us some tips and tricks to better promote our business on social media?

1.     Have a clearly written person to whom I am selling my service or product. 

2.     Define where my person spends time. 

3.     Plan ahead a strategy with one clear line of communication.

4.     One creative = one message. 

5.     Actively communicate with your target audience. 

6.     Everything needs to be sponsored.

Paula Lipková
Article Author
Paula Lipková
PR marketing specialist

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