Social Media for Your Business: 5 Tips to Get It Right

1. Choose the right social media platform for your business.

When it comes to social media platforms, you have no shortage of choice. Here is a list of some of South Africa’s most popular social media platforms and some statistics surrounding them.

• Facebook: With over 29 million active users in South Africa, Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform in SA. With its huge audience and engaging userbase, Facebook is a great platform for your business.



• Instagram: : With 6.8 million users in South Africa, Instagram is one of the largest social media platforms in SA and is expanding rapidly. Instagram is an extremely visual focused platform and has an audience that is mainly comprised of the younger generations.



• Twitter: : With 2.85 million users in South Africa, Twitter is largely used by the younger population and has a very engaging userbase. However, Twitters growth in South Africa and globally is starting to decline as people are moving away from the platform.



• LinkedIn: LinkedIn has over 10 million users in South Africa making it the 2nd largest social media platform in South Africa. LinkedIn has an impressive userbase in SA, however users are far less active in consuming content on LinkedIn as they are on other platforms.



• Tik Tok : The mobile video-sharing app TikTok has become quite popular amongst South African teens. TikTok has an estimated 6 million users! Due to the increased usage, it has become even more important for businesses to include it into their digital strategy.

When choosing which social media platform your business should use, you must take into consideration your business objectives and what you would like to achieve on social media. From our extensive expertise in social media marketing for businesses in South Africa, R-E-D would suggest using Facebook to carry out your business social media strategy.

2. Optimise Your Business Social Media Profile

Your business social media profile is the central hub between your customers on social media and your business. Your business customers on social media will go to your profile to get information on your business. It is therefore very important that your profile contain as much information as possible and is up to date.

Here are some tips on how to optimise your business social media profile.

• Choose a great profile picture: don’t use blurred or low-quality images of your business logo, building or any other images you may want to use.



• Make it easy for people to see what you do: Make sure you clearly describe your business, what you do, and why you are better than your competitor’s.



• Fill in all your information: Make sure you answer all the questions the platform requires of you, such as location, website, contact number, etc. The platforms ask this information for a reason, to make it easier for people to find you, contact you and buy from you.

3. Post Engaging Content

The most effective types of content vary by platform, however there are some facts which can be applied to all platforms. Here are some statements that will help guide your content on your business social media platforms.

On average, video content does better than other content: 90% of the time your business customers are on social media for only one reason, entertainment. Video is a great vehicle to carry both information and entertainment.

High quality images get higher engagement: Images that are high quality in context and in resolution get the highest engagement rates across most social media platforms.

4. Post Often

Social media marketing for a business requires consistency. Make sure you are posting engaging, relevant content frequently. By frequently posting you are going to maximise your opportunities to reach your customers with your content.

Although posting relevant content frequently will improve your chances of your customers seeing your posts, on some platforms paid advertising or boosts may be necessary. Find out more about social media advertising for business here.

5. Don’t be afraid to outsource

Although social media is freely available and there are no direct costs (unless you advertise), effective social media marketing requires dedication and consistency, and is therefore very time consuming. It may be an idea to outsource your business social media marketing to take full advantage of social media and your time.

Moreover, an experienced social media marketer will have all the experience and know-how to get the most out of your social media efforts. Although outsourcing would require a small price, in most circumstances its worth it.