Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 23
Innovation is key for
social media success
Thrive Marketing rounds up key updates to the social media landscape
as well as offer training and advice to North East businesses...
For many years, social media has
developed into a solid marketing tool, not
just a forum for expressing opinion, sharing
memes and uploading photos of your new
baby.
In 2015 the teams behind Facebook
and Twitter really worked to build a more
worthwhile experience for companies looking
to use their platforms for business, marketing
and advertising purposes.
A lot of companies on the business park
fully understand the importance of social
media marketing and management, so we
won’t go into that (although there is lots of
information on our company blog).
However, it’s easy for businesses to do
what they’ve always done when it comes to
marketing and not explore new avenues that
have opened up since marketing operations
began.
For instance, did you notice that Twitter has
launched Twitter Flight School, designed to
improve your knowledge of the platform and
how it works for business?
In case you missed them, here are a few
changes Thrive recommends you look into…
Twitter
In 2015 Twitter started to play GIFs, videos
and Vines in your timeline as you scroll
through giving you more than just text to
discover. Also, a great way of having a private
discussion is Direct Message – no longer
limited to 140 characters! In December 2015,
Twitter Moments was launched, filled with
popular tweets and breaking news.
Facebook
Facebook Advertising is a BIG thing for
companies looking to get noticed, particularly
in the B2C industries. If you haven’t already
dabbled with advertising, get in touch with
Thrive for a free walkthrough! Business
pages have been hugely improved in their
look and capability, particularly on mobile
apps and browsers. Messenger Business is a
new way of communicating with companies
using the Messenger app and can be used
to provide your customers with purchase
information or live tech support.
LinkedIn
Although LinkedIn is much more of an
“only worth it if you fit certain requirements”,
for some companies it’s good to have. From
an individual’s perspective the new data
that has been added to the Jobs section to
ensure that users get a better idea about
whether a vacancy is a good fit for them.
Google+
Heavily debated for its capabilities and
added value to a business, Google+ recently
changed the way it displays business
information for Google Local searches. If you
haven’t already, setting up a Google+ page, in
its entirety, can be pivotal in improving how
the public finds your website – ask us for
more information!
Social media has real validation for some
companies and can bring in a lot of new
leads – providing you have a clear brand
identity and website in place already. The
biggest issues for a lot of people revolve
around understanding just what social media
is, how you need to react to it to ensure it
works and what the realistic goals actually
are.
Social media doesn’t create sales, it
creates lead opportunities. Sharing your
product and service messaging and engaging
with other users allows visitors an in-road to
finding your website and more about you. It’s
your website that must then perform to its
optimum to produce sales or that “let’s have
a meeting” action!
In 2016, we will be sharing in-depth details
about upcoming developments and changes
to social media marketing and management
on the Thrive blog, as well as inviting
businesses to come in and chat with us
about what is right for them.
If you are keen to find out more or need
a helping hand to get Facebook, Twitter
and the alike up and running, get in touch
with Thrive at hello@thriveability.co.uk or
call 0845 838 7517 for a consultation and
training session.