Why Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram are the most important social channels for brands in the design and construction industry.
A crucial part of building a social media strategy is to identify the right social media channels for your brand’s advertising. Many companies make the mistake of using every single channel social media has to offer, but don’t really know why they’re advertising on each. Marketers then struggle to find the time to promote their business effectively because they feel overwhelmed, leading to low-quality content and little-to-no results in terms of engagement and ROI.
Not all social media channels are the same. Each platform offers a unique set of benefits and has a particular set of users with their own way of responding to content. You must be strategic about the channels in which you invest your time and resources so that you don’t misallocate your time across multiple networks. Instead, focus on those channels that complement your business needs.
Choosing the right social media platform is essential. Whether you’re in the HVAC, plumbing or kitchen/bath design industry, these are the social media channels we believe your brand should leverage for advertising and why.
1. LinkedIn
There are more than 165 million LinkedIn users in the U.S. alone and more than 30 million companies represented on LinkedIn worldwide. That kind of valuable reach is surely an indication that LinkedIn is a platform your brand should consider. But how many of their users care about your company and the products you sell?
Let’s take a look at some statistics and facts that will help you decide whether or not your target audience is active on LinkedIn.
Source: Marketing Mojo
In the accompanying chart, notice how 6% of users are in the construction industry. This chart is based on 2019 statistics, when LinkedIn had 500 million users worldwide, which means 30 million LinkedIn users worked in the construction industry at that time. Manufacturing is one of the top five sectors represented on LinkedIn: Are you a part of that 12%?
Currently, there are 660 million LinkedIn members worldwide. According to LinkedIn’s Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn, 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn as a content distribution channel. That makes LinkedIn the number one channel B2B marketers use to distribute content. LinkedIn makes up more than 50% of all social traffic to B2B websites and blogs.
Source: Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide to LinkedIn
LinkedIn is ideal for business-to-business marketing. It’s the platform that allows you to share your company’s goals, objectives and achievements. It’s the place where you can position yourself as an industry expert by actively and consistently sharing useful content. By sharing thought-provoking and helpful content, your company will get noticed by purchasers, engineers, designers, distributors and executive-level decision-makers.
Additionally, LinkedIn advertising’s targeting is extremely accurate, due to the type of information people put in their profiles: industry, employer, location, and job title.
2. Facebook
Facebook’s influence as the No. 1 social platform in the world can’t be ignored. The platform has more than 2 billion active users worldwide.
Many B2B manufacturers feel that Facebook is a waste of their time, because it won’t generate quality sales leads and demonstrate a straightforward ROI. Sure, it won’t necessarily lead to direct purchase orders (unless you have an e-commerce site). But Facebook can be beneficial to your brand for several reasons that will eventually lead to a return on investment. According to Facebook’s Q2’19-Earnings-Call-Transcript, the number of Facebook ad impressions increased by 33% in Q2 2019.
Facebook demographics reach farther and are more extensive than any other social media network. According to Facebook’s Third Quarter 2019 Operational and Other Financial Highlights report, daily active users were 1.62 billion on average for September 2019.
Facebook ads offer many demographics, interest and behavior targeting options. Take a look at this graphic to see some of the industries and audience interests you can target through Facebook ad campaigns.
Source: WordStream
3. Instagram
One-billion+ Instagram accounts worldwide are active every single month, and 90 %
of accounts follow a business on Instagram. From major brands to mom-and-pop shops, businesses around the world are driving proven results with Instagram.
Your brand can strike a favorable balance between awareness and conversion with Instagram story ads by using engaging creative. If you follow best practices and create engaging, well-branded, vertical videos promoting upcoming sales, new releases, and informative content, you can effectively tell your brand’s story through Instagram ads.
You can also reach the right audience by showing video ads to lookalike audiences, based on your most valuable customers. To increase your potential audience size even more, layer in various interest-based audiences aligned with your brand and its ideal customers. Instagram is also the ultimate platform for influencer marketing.
Source: Sproutsocial
Conclusion
The point is, don’t just jump on every social media channel and call it a day. Instead, research each platform’s advertising solutions, asking yourself: “How is this platform best used for social media promotion and how can my brand benefit from it?”
In doing so, you’ll be on your way to maximizing a return on your investment.