Harnessing social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook amongst others for business to business companies is an underutilized but powerful strategy to generate new leads, raise awareness and drive website traffic; ADEOLA TUKURU writes.
While many people view social media as a channel used only by consumer brands, small business owners can also significantly benefit from social media.
Research found that social media produces almost double the marketing leads of trade shows, telemarketing, and direct mail and pay-per-click campaigns.
Social media lead conversion rates are also 13 percent higher than the average lead conversion rate. This goes to show that social media is a very important channel for selling and building brands.
Miss Agnes Ugwu, who sells handbags through her social media handles, told Business Starter that it may be hard for some people to believe social media can drive real business results but it has the driving force in her business.
According to her, the reason social media is important to marketers is because it allows them to put their brand out there while implementing strategies, measuring outcomes and, ultimately, influencing their target audience to act in a certain manner.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all formula to ensure a winning social media campaign, there are certainly lessons to be learned from brands who have managed to pull it off and are now reaping the benefits.
Social media influencers can make big money on platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. But it all depends on followers and views.
TikTok
You need a minimum of 10,000 TikTok subscribers and over 270 million views a year to generate $100,000.
TikTok, like YouTube, has a partnership programme called the TikTok creator fund. To be eligible, creators need to be based in either the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Spain or Italy, be at least 18 years old, and have at least 100,000 followers and at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days. The account also has to be aligned with TikTok’s community guidelines and terms of services.
You need a minimum of 5,000 Instagram followers and 308 sponsored posts a year to generate $100,000.
That may be easier than you think: A recent HBO documentary showed how everyday people can manipulate Instagram and other platforms to become famous online influencers.
An influencer with over a million followers can reportedly make more than $250,000 from brands.
To make money on Instagram, switch your account to a professional account and select business.
YouTube
According to the calculator, you need a minimum of 1,000 YouTube subscribers and about 24 million yearly views to generate $100,000.
In order to make money on YouTube, you need to be enrolled in YouTube’s Partner Programme (YPP), which allows you to make money through ads on your videos. To join YPP, an influencer needs at least 1,000 subscribers, accumulated more than 4,000 “valid public watch” hours in the last 12 months and has a linked AdSense account, according to YouTube.
Influencer Marketing Hub’s YouTube calculator estimates that the average YouTuber generates $7.60 per 1,000 views with 45% of that revenue going to Google.
ActionAid on Youth Digital Engagement (YDE)
It was cheerful news for youths across the country as ActionAid Nigeria supported nine young Nigerians with N100,000 each at the Youth Digital Engagement (YDE) video contest in Abuja.
During the virtual Grand Finale and Mentoring Session of the ActionAid Youth Digital Engagement (YDE) Video Contest in Abuja recently, the Manager, Social Mobilisation, ActionAid Nigeria, Mr Adewale Adeduntan explained that the initiative was launched to deliberately put resources in the hands of young people.
He said the basic aim was to support young people to engage in and design efforts to turn around the impact of the pandemic.
He said the leadership of AAN through Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) are calling on governments, businesses and policy makers to back the Youth Mobilization efforts and commit to investing in the future of young people.
He explained that doing this would directly support young people engaged at the grassroots level to tackle some of the most pressing socio-economic, health and societal challenges resulting from the pandemic.
According to him, ActionAid’s justification for organizing the contest is because COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every aspect of our lives.
He said it has not only resulted in a global health crisis but one with social, political and economic impact on young people.
He also noted that the pandemic has had a severe impact on youth employment across the country due to disruptions to education, job layoffs, income losses and increased barriers to job market entry.
He said the pandemic was likely to result in unprecedented new inequalities when many of young people graduate from school.
Adeduntan further said the gesture was necessary as young people need some form of financial support to build back better in the post COVID-19 era.
How to set up a business through social media
When choosing your channels, it’s important to understand the differences between each social media source and keeping your audience in mind.
Choose channel wisely
When you first launch your social media programme, it’s natural to want to dive in and build a presence on every single channel. However, it’s best to start out with just a few channels and master them to avoid becoming overwhelmed and stretching your resources too thin.
For example, LinkedIn is a great channel for B2B companies to network with potential employees and other industry influencers. It is also a useful channel to position your executives as credible experts by posting on relevant LinkedIn groups and discussions.
Integrate social media into PR, marketing programmes
Social media plays an important role in a multi-channel approach. Social media can amplify the success of content marketing and PR initiatives by exposing your content and placements to a broad audience. For example, you can share your recent New York Times placement with your social media followers to increase your credibility and establish your company as a thought leader through third-party validation. In many ways, the key to success in social media is integration with other marketing channels and initiatives.
Maintain a consistent brand voice
It’s critical to establish a brand persona that will serve as the foundation for social media conversions across channels. When developing your brand voice, be sure to tailor it to your key audiences and their interests. With a solid brand voice, you can ensure that content across social media channels is consistent and compelling.
