Social media platforms in the 21st Century are a way of life. It is almost strange to hear someone state they do not utilize the platforms to create a social media presence – whether it’s for keeping up with friends personally or marketing and advertising a business. Despite social media originally being created for personal use, it is now most businesses’ main marketing strategy.

In today’s day and age, understanding the network of social media options can be confusing. It’s even harder when you are trying to understand which options will best benefit your business. Which platform will promote sales growth? Which platform will reach your end clients? Which platform will potential recruits look at?

Momentum has also struggled with these same questions! We’ve found a path that works for us and can help you find a path that works for you. Before you find your path, however, you need to understand the options.

Social Media Platforms

Am I the only one who feels like there is a new social media platform being developed every other day? They truly are a dime a dozen today, but as a business, that does not mean using them all to create your social media presence! Here at Momentum, we use four major social media platforms and have high success rates. The social media platforms we use are:

·      Meta

·      LinkedIn

·      Twitter

·      Instagram

Meta (Formerly known as Facebook)

Facebook was developed in 2004 with the objective of creating a safe space for people to stay connected. By the end of 2007, Facebook had integrated business friendly pages to help businesses of any size advertise products and services. In October 2021, the parent company of Facebook changed its name from Facebook, Inc., to Meta Platforms, Inc., to “reflect its focus on building the metaverse”. The “metaverse” refers to the integrated environment that links all of a company’s products and services – it’s the future of the Internet and something that we are closely watching.

Like so many others, Momentum has a business page on Meta. Through this business page, we can stay active within our community. We post daily and share our new projects and accomplishments, as well as our services, for our followers to see. Additionally, Meta provides us with a platform to share our contact information for any new or existing clients to easily reach us.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn was created in 2002 and launched in 2003. While it features many of the same capabilities that Meta offers, there is one unique difference. Contrary to most other social media platforms, LinkedIn’s mission was simple: connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. This twist in their approach has clearly been successful. By 2011, there were 100 million users, and LinkedIn is now a billion-dollar company.

I am sure as you read those dates you are thinking to yourself “this math ain’t mathing” considering I just told you Meta was created in 2004 and was the first social media platform to gain traction in the United States. But think of the original goal of social media for the consumers – personal.

Here at Momentum, we utilize LinkedIn to its fullest capability. We are able to display who we are, all of our contact information, where we are located, when we were founded, which industry we are a part of, and even the size of our company based on the number of employees! Most employees who have a LinkedIn account are linked to our company page, allowing other users to dive into our employee profiles. Allowing the clients to see our consultants’ pages adds a sense of trust – they get to know the consultant before actually meeting them in person.

Through LinkedIn, clients who may need our services are able to contact us. LinkedIn also provides a job board. Candidates can see when we are hiring and reach out to us if they think they qualify. If we are scouting for a new consultant, we can look through the millions of users with the right qualifications to potentially hire them.

Twitter and Instagram

Just as Meta and LinkedIn offer similar functionality, Instagram and Twitter are also comparable to one another. Both offer the ability to capture brief moments and thoughts. Instagram focuses on a visual aspect, allowing users to share the photos and other images. Twitter takes a verbal approach – users share their thoughts with a 280-character limit.

As a business, you are still able to include your mission statement, contact information, or objectives in your biography. However, use of these platforms generally focuses on staying relevant. And just like any other type of networking – relevancy is key.

Momentum’s Media Management

Now that you have a glimpse at the key social media platforms and how Momentum uses them to build and maintain a social media presence, I am sure you have more questions than answers. In the next two blogs, we will dive deeper into how social media can benefit a business. We’ll look at your business’ digital footprint, managing your relevancy on social media, how you know it’s working, gaining business from your ad campaigns, as well as tips and tricks we have learned along the way!

If you have any immediate questions, feel free to contact us today! Better yet, post this blog on your social media and tell us which platforms you use for your business and why. And don’t forget to connect with Momentum via LinkedIn or Meta.