While you may think that paid channels are the best for your marketing strategies, on the other hand, free marketing channels can be handy in ensuring you meet your customer communication and engagement needs without putting a dent in your pocket.
Social media offers ideal sales channels for fragmentary entrepreneurs who seek to start a business. Social media channels are free, powerful, and if done right, they can effectively drive sales. About 79 percent of the population in the US uses social media. Some of the free social media platforms include Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Quora, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Reddit.
For instance, Instagram users tend to visit the platform more than once every day. About 70 percent of Instagram users say that they are willing to consume brands’ content.
Good free marketing channels should be able to work effectively so as to grow your business; however, a bad one is going to work against you.
So, what free marketing channels should you use?
Facebook is among the top social media channels you can use for free. As of January 2020, Facebook has monthly active users averaging 2.44 billion. With over 65 million businesses utilizing Facebook Pages, it makes sense to consider this channel. While placing ads on Facebook may cost you, there are other free ways you can use this channel.
Getting started is easy because Facebook almost fits all content formats whether live videos, images, text, stories or video. However, when marketing your brand through Facebook, you need to realize that the Facebook algorithm tends to prioritize content that is able to spark conversations as well as meaningful interactions among people.
Also, you need to optimize the content you use on Facebook for mobile since 94 percent of the users on this channel access it via the mobile app.
Among the most used social media channels is Instagram. As of January 2020, this channel had over 1 billion monthly active users. This photo and video sharing app allow you to share different kinds of content including stories, videos, photos, and live videos. Recently, the channels launched IGTV which is designed for long-form videos.
Businesses can create Instagram profiles that help provide rich analytics of the profile as well as the posts. The Instagram business profile also offers a brand the ability to be able to schedule Instagram posts by using third-party tools.
Messenger
While Messenger was a feature within Facebook used for messaging, it has now become a standalone app that businesses can utilize to market themselves. The app has expanded on its features and now brands can advertise, send newsletters, and create chatbots, among other things. Businesses have different ways they can engage as well as connect with their customers.
Twitter had monthly active users amounting to 340 million as of January 2020. This social media channel is designed for entertainment, sports, news, and things like politics. However, brands can also utilize it to market their products and services. Twitter has an up hand in that it gives a strong accent on real-time information.
According to Twitter advertisers, over 80 percent of requests involving social customer service occurs on Twitter. So, brands would want to use this channel for their customer service. And you know, Salesforce refers to Twitter as the New 1-800 Number for Customer Service.
YouTube
With over 2 billion monthly active users as of January 2020, YouTube is one of the prominent social media channels brands can use in marketing. It is a video sharing platform that can help brands to send their brand messages to audiences. YouTube users are said to watch a billion hours in terms of videos every day. This is a large consumption of videos by audiences and businesses need to take advantage of this opportunity.
To get started with your business marketing initiatives, you have to create a YouTube channel, especially for your brand. Here you upload videos that subscribers can view, comment, share, and like.
Just like Messenger and WhatsApp, WeChat has grown from a messaging app. It’s an all-in-one platform that businesses can utilize the app to market their brand. Besides messaging as well as calling, brands can use the channel to target their customers. For instance, users can make reservations, make payments offline, and transfer money through this app.
If you are doing business in areas like Asia and China, you may find this app very beneficial
With monthly active users averaging 1.6 billion as of January 2020, WhatsApp is one of the channels you can use to market your business. The messaging app was initially designed to allow people to communicate with friends and family members. Eventually, people began communication with brands via the channel.
WhatsApp continues to build out its platform to allow businesses to develop proper profiles and provide customer support. The WhatsApp Business app is designed for small businesses while the large and medium businesses can utilize the WhatsApp Business API.
Businesses can use WhatsApp for free to reach out to their customers and market their products.
Snapchat
While Snapchat may not be an ideal social media platform for your brand, if you are targeting people aged 35 and below, it may be a good option for your business marketing. About 82 percent of the users in Snapchat are 34 years and below. About 60 percent of Snapchatters are more likely to indulge in impulse purchase while on the platform meaning you can utilize this opportunity to market your products here. Business owners can use this channel to allow users to interact with their brands.
You can show the playful side of your brand via Snapchat. A majority of the features are creative, lighthearted, and a bit cheeky. So you can express your brand in a cheeky way with features like 3D snaps, and cameos.
TikTok
Businesses can create videos that they post in TikTok. The videos can be 15 seconds long or less. Also, you can connect several clips together that play for about 60 seconds. Businesses seeking to utilize video marketing as a tool can think of the TikTok social media channel. The platform comprises the young demographics and businesses targeting these audiences may utilize it. Also, the channel offers a live-streaming option that helps with your video presentation.
Wrap-Up
These are some of the free marketing channels provided by social networks that you can use to market your business. Depending on your marketing goals, you will need to find the right free marketing channels that work for your business. Not all channels may be perfect for your brand, so you have to find where your audiences are and reach out to them.
If you want to succeed with the social media free marketing channels, you need to choose the platforms that suit your brand. Some social media platforms are suitable for people belonging to a particular demographic group or even psychological characteristics. Take, for example, Instagram – it’s better for Millennials while Snapchat works best for Generation Z. LinkedIn suits B2B marketing.
To reap the most from social media platforms, you need to prioritize relationships over sales. Social media marketing, at its core, is relationship marketing. And while you could still do sales there, you should emphasize on building relationships.
Besides, make sure you are consistent and identify the patterns of social media channels usage among your target market. You want to move where they are.
