Social networks

Today, with the importance of social networks in our daily lives, it is difficult to avoid them, just as much as their impacts. Above all, the majority of Quebec Internet users surf more on social networks to collect information.
In 2014, the Centre Facilitating Research and Innovation in Organizations (CEFRIO) in particular, highlighted the increase in the use of networks through many very interesting figures.
We share them with you below:

• 85% of Quebec Internet users, or more than 8 out of 10, have different social media accounts. Of these, 71.7% are adults.
• Facebook (70.2%) and Youtube (70.9%) are the most used sites by Quebecers.
• 69.8% of social media users follow at least one company, organization, or influencer.

Source: CEFRIO
As you may have noticed, social networks have become essential, within the communication of a company. That is why we are writing this article to advise you in the choice and management of your future social platforms.
Even if the numbers are impressive, don't create accounts and pages on all existing social networks. With this option, it is very likely that you will quickly get tired, because each network has specificities, codes, ways of announcing messages... It is therefore necessary to be adaptable, but also rigorous, to respect the frequency of publications. To give you an idea, generally users of Twitter, Tweet five times a day.
The goal is to choose social networks that are consistent with your goals, as we were able to discuss in the previous article here.
Indeed, the ambitions of social networks are on the one hand, create a community around your brand. As well as boost traffic on your website to best disseminate your services. But to have convincing results, you have to follow these objectives up to the end via a strategy and create your community on the right social networks, i.e. where your audience is.
To help you in your decision-making, here are indications and details to highlight your website, on the main platforms.
To give you an idea of the size of the communities in each social network, we decided to present them to you from the largest, to the smallest community. Nevertheless, the social networks listed below remain very powerful.

YOUTUBE

So we start with YouTube and 1.5 billion users. This number and its presence in the world give it a global dimension.
YouTube is a video hosting website, but also a social media, where users can share, watch, comment and send videos.
Its use by businesses is growing, as the trend and replace traditional images with video, in order to disseminate clear messages and more enthusiasm.
The objective is to capture the attention of your targets. Video makes it possible to give easy and fast access to information by avoiding the potential constraints that a reader encounters. To help your targets adhere to your YouTube page, make sure you make videos that are consistent with their values and interests.
For example, if you are a florist, try to get closer to experts in the field and shoot the video in your shop.
Video is really an important element to incorporate into your development strategy.

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FACEBOOK

In second place are Facebook, with its 1.4 billion active users who connect at least once a day.
Since most Quebecers have a Facebook account, it is very likely that you will find your future customers.
With so many users and international popularity, you have to be aware of the strong competition. It is therefore not easy to quickly build a community, especially since the commitment rate per page generally remains low. It is also true that without sponsoring your publications, i.e. making Facebook Ads that you are unlikely to break through. So expect to spend a few Dollars to reach a maximum number of customers. There is a good way to spread your messages accurately. The creation or integration of groups. A multitude of social groups are created in order to share common interests. The objective is to integrate and create specific groups with your field of activity in order to share and forge privileged links with an audience that is a follower of your concept. The interest is to direct this audience to your online site to increase its traffic and federate it to your community and let them express themselves around your brand.

INSTAGRAM

Then, we find the mobile application allowing to share retouched photos through internationally known filters. Professionally this social network purchased in 2012, two after its creation by Facebook has become very powerful. As the months went by, its popularity continued to grow.
Its strength comes in particular from its commitment rate. Indeed, the commitment of 700 million users per day is 58 times higher than Facebook and 120 times higher than Twitter. This distinction brings it interest in the eyes of brands and companies that no longer hesitate to settle there.
This commitment comes from his publications. Indeed, it is the social network where users post their best photos under the best filters. As you will have understood, quality visuals are very important, especially for younger people. This was further amplified with the arrival of the Stories option. The concept is to photograph your live moments, and the last ones will disappear 24 hours later. This last one is very useful to share events that your company organizes occasionally, or the release of a new product. It is now even possible to conduct qualitative surveys to find out how interested your Followers are in your activities.

GOOGLE +

To give you an idea of this social network, Google+ is halfway between
Twitter and Facebook. It does not have the same popularity rating as those mentioned above. But it still has 360 million active users per month.
This network is directly linked to your Gmail address, the objective is to organize groups of people inside circles. It is true that its users do not exploit it to its maximum.
Its real utility is to boost your referencing in the search engine. The more you use Google tools, such as Google Maps, Google Calendar, Google My Business, YouTube, the more the search engine will display you at the top of its search pages. This option is very useful to show your contact information and facilitate meetings about potential new projects.

TWITTER

In fifth place are the most viral social networks: Twitter.
Positioned between the interactive news platform and the blog, Twitter has 336 million followers. The principle is to share through short statutes (140 characters maximum) its opinions, to react to events, to defend its values... The interest of this social network is to be able to keep abreast of current events with a single click. But beware, on Twitter, everything always goes very fast. Your messages must therefore go straight to the point, with effective, condensed and attractive content. To do this, you have the possibility of accompanying your messages with links and photos. The vector of speed, can be a real catalyst to quickly develop your brand image and make your company known. Currently the majority of companies in the communication and information sector are on Twitter, and many others are added every day. This is normal, because the platform gives the possibility to reach both types of customers (B2B & B2C) and to promote contacts with opinion leaders. The final point that characterizes Tweeter is the frequency of publications. As I mentioned above, to be a normal active Tweeter, it is essential to publish about five Tweets a day minimum. Be prepared to produce original and informative publications on a regular basis.

LINKEDIN

This is the most popular social network for professionals. Last year the network counted over 252 million active users per month. If your company is not yet listed on this network, we strongly advise you to create a company page dedicated to your brand. This is fast and very useful to effectively improve your free SEO in search engines. This page will display your activities, your services, your teams and your contact details to facilitate contacts and the development of various partnerships. The principle is to create a real network of professionals.
This social network has many advantages, such as the dissemination of information focused on the professional and economic world. The possibility to create groups allowing to build communities and to exchange around precise themes. But also make good use of the platform's qualitative database to find prospects and why not find new talent for your teams.

PINTEREST

We end with Pinterest, this social network that gathers 200 million users, mainly women. It is very close to Instagram in its visual dimension. Clearly, the platform comes in the form of a large photo gallery. The advantage is that you can create custom tables to organize and save all the publications that give you ideas so you can easily find them. If your activity requires the presence of visuals to highlight the quality of your products, do not hesitate to publish the photos on this platform. The presence of your articles via beautiful illustrations, will easily make your products known will redirect those interested directly to your website. Depending on the number of registrations, you can also evaluate the notoriety of each article.
This tool is very useful to reach a B2C (Business to Individual) type clientele and to develop its online business. Indeed, the real interest of this network is to increase your traffic on your website, for free.

Conclusion

The use of social networks offers enormous advantages, but it requires a certain control to avoid wasting time. To this end, as we know that in the business world time is precious. Oshara's team are ready to help you develop your strategy with you, in order to quickly benefit from a return on investment.