Engagement on the internet no longer resides on discussion boards or popular forms. Social media has monopolized the digital social space. If a business wants to compete in the modern world, they need a social media presence. But this is easier said than done. Most businesses fail to grasp the purpose of these networks. Often assuming just employing and devoting resources to posts is enough. And while that is fine, this strategy is long since outdated.
The truth is, since the effective conglomeration of the internet into an oligopolistic style public square has made itself apparent to stay, a new understanding of social media has to be discussed. Your business is just as likely to be discovered by an intrepid explorer delving into the obscurities of Facebook as it is being found in a search engine. Each has a role to play. This article will discuss some of the key insights worth laying out for each social media site and the general purpose of social media as a whole.
Social Media Integration
Businesses spend a lot of resources to manage the complex nature of social media effectively. Different strategies have been developed over the years, but there are generally a few broad trends worth mentioning. In certain cases, the business develops a strategy, grows complacent, and eventually abandons the matter. In others, a bureaucratic structure develops a rigid and unproductive strategy. In many (and I mean many) cases, businesses provide creative freedom in their social media, often to the point of abandoning the purpose of having social media altogether. Successful companies develop strategies that are both flexible and rigid. But how can a company be both stubborn as a rock and opportunistic as water?
The key insight into their success is that these businesses, through rigorously understanding the general goal of each social media site, formulate a plan that integrates each social media site according to its true purpose. In no uncertain terms, social media sites have a specific reason for existing on the internet. Each is like a unique child that needs to be properly nurtured and developed if you want it to succeed. And like a child, no strategy works the same on the other. So a company must employ a rigid strategy that aligns with each social media site while allowing flexibility according to the site’s general purpose.
X, The Reinforcer
X, Formerly Twitter, is first and foremost a popular blogging and networking site. It’s a platform where the public goes to vent frustrations, ask a question, or just post an interesting thought they had in their head. I believe the best description for X is to consider what it is not. User engagement on Twitter is quick and short. At any time, two to three posts can be displayed on a user’s screen. This often entices users to scroll downward to engage with more posts. So the excitement of X comes from the comprehensive ease of its design and simplicity. X is not a long-form engagement platform. X posts are usually a couple of sentences and a picture with a link to articles for further clarification. Users do not value X for its ability to provide high-quality data/blogs (even if Elon Musk tries to make it so). X is not a video platform. Do not mistake X to be YouTube or TikTok. There are other platforms far preferable for watchtime. The UI and design philosophy alone makes it impossible for X to ever accomplish that goal. Finally, X is not a growth platform. Users do not discover new ideas or communities on the platform. X is a “reinforcer” network. By reinforcer, I mean that all engage in X work to further strengthen the ties of its user’s communities. The public does not go to X to learn, but rather to confirm.
So how might a business properly harness the power of X? The proper goal of a business that wants to effectively leverage X is to maintain and strengthen the ties of said business’s customer base. Whether that be through entertainment, information, news, etc. Reinforcement is the name of the game. So if you are looking for growth on X without harnessing other social media, you will be thoroughly disappointed.
Instagram, The Icon
Instagram is a media engagement platform. In many ways, it functions much like X. The major difference is that Instagram provides a sense of identity. Being mostly derived from pictures and short-form videos, Instagram can best be summarized as “flashy” and “exciting”. Most user engagement on the platform is to see how others are doing. To compare themselves to their counterparts.
For a business to properly leverage Instagram, they need to think about what kind of public image they want to display. Instagram is not a short-form or long-form content platform. The content usually seen are giveaways, photos of employees, product demonstrations, videos of interesting places, and more activities relating to public image. Businesses must play the role of an “Icon”, demonstrating how perfect and interesting the company is through flashy images or exciting videos. Furthermore, like X, Instagram is less about growth and more about reinforcement.
Youtube, The Librarian
Youtube is a short-form and long-form media engagement platform. It is a massive institution where anyone from any background can upload and provide video-style content. Whether that be news, entertainment, information, or anything else worth uploading. The strength and weakness of YouTube is its broad scope so there are many ways a business can effectively leverage YouTube.
A business’s role then for YouTube should be that of a “Librarian”. The site is much like a massive public library filled with vast rows of data. The successful librarian must be able to effectively communicate and categorize video preferences to the general public to lessen confusion and ignorance. You need to set a clear outline of the function and purpose of each video. Categorize them depending on this purpose. Is this video instructional? Or Entertaining? Businesses fail on YouTube due to their inability to properly define the type of content users expect. Lastly, YouTube is both a growth and reinforcement platform. Videos are often recommended via user preferences and if a user likes a video, they will be recommended more of that content regularly.
Reddit, The Socialite
Reddit is a long-form discussion board and community engagement platform. In many ways, it has disrupted and taken over search engines in terms of providing useful content to the online public. Most importantly, it is a platform designed for growth and outreach. I would often argue that Reddit is The Place to grow your online presence. Reddit follows a simple anatomical structure. There are posts and communities. Each post belongs to a community. If that post is deemed likable and useful enough, it moves to the top of the community page for a while. Communities are often broad topics ranging from “Ask Me Anythings” to “Cute Dog Pics”. Likewise, their populations can reach from thousands, to upwards of millions.
For a business wanting to leverage Reddit, they need to actively engage with the users, not passively produce content. “Socialite”, is the most apt role a business must develop to enhance Reddit effectiveness. Find communities that best fit your business’s industry. Engage on top posts or new ones. Provide insights or information. Build up a presence and repertoire. Get users to trust your information. Then provide links to your business endeavors. Reddit is a “scratch my back” environment.
LinkedIn, The Legitimizer
Unfortunately, there is not much to investing time into LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a massive social network job board. It is at best, a continuous networking event on a broad scale. Because of this architecture, the platform does not promote business growth or customer engagement. Rather it is a great tool for legitimacy and recruiting. If you want your business to produce brand legitimacy, this is the site to do it. By developing a professional profile for your business on the site, along with credible employees tied to day-to-day operations, LinkedIn can provide an aura of legitimacy and potential interest for recruitment. Do not use LinkedIn as a means to promote customer growth and loyalty. That will produce very little and waste a lot of time and money.
Conclusion
A business needs effective social media integration in the modern world. Most interactions today are done online via social media channels. This article demonstrated some of the key insights into effectively harnessing the power of each platform. Not all were covered and some more may be added in the future. Just remember that successful companies understand the limits of each platform and work within those limits to provide high-quality content.
As a final tip to give that applies to all social media platforms: always provide an easy link to your website and vice versa. The modern world moves fast. If you fail to provide an integrated network to keep potential customers in your sphere, all your efforts will be quickly forgotten.
