If you have been already working in marketing in Dubai, UAE for some time, you most certainly use some of the most popular social media services to promote your business. They include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. Other popular forms of social media include Pinterest, Snapchat and Google Plus. It is common knowledge that one of the main functions of social media is sharing content and making it viral. However, these are not the only benefits you can get from them.
There is much more to talk about social media than that. Moreover, there are various forms of social media. Some time ago it was possible to categorize kinds of social media according to their main function. Twitter was used for writing short messages while YouTube was most common for videos. But modern social media acquires new features and capabilities which one you can find out at our social media course in Dubai, UAE. There are elements of virtual reality and other striking features which become available across various social media channels. For this reason, the clear distinctions between different forms of social media are gradually becoming less noticeable.
What is social media? It is a very convenient platform for spreading the word about your brand and promotion of your business. But not all forms of social media are identical. Therefore, marketers have to know the potential of each of them really well. This will enable them to use the best practice for each particular social media network. Marketers should be aware of the fact which social media can be used for which purpose.
So, what do we have to know about social media, its various forms, and its use? Here is the list of things you can do with the help of social networking:
- Image and video sharing
- Blogging
- Building community
- Generation of discussions and reviews
There are different kinds of social media that can help a marketer reach the desired goal of a certain business. There are websites that can be used as a social network, for image and video sharing and messaging, blogging and creating a certain community. To reach the goal, one has to know which channels to use for each particular purpose. Social networking is probably the first thing that comes to our mind when we think of what social media brings us.
What is Social Network?
The social network is about connecting people, giving them a chance to share and exchange information. They are extremely important social media services for nowadays marketers. They enable marketers to have direct access to clients and encourage them to post certain content and responses.
The social network is also about keeping in touch and building relationships with friends, relatives, acquaintances and other users. People can discuss current events relevant to them. To understand social network better and know how to effectively use different forms of social media, let us talk over the various most popular social media services – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Facebook has more than one billion active users daily. Its demographics are very diverse regarding the place people live in, their age, job, and income level. One of the initial goals pursued by Facebook was to raise awareness about social networking, create a platform for strengthening the connection between personal and professional type. Advertising on Facebook for certain products or goods is still one of the best investments. Markets in Dubai have always treated and still treat this kind of social media very seriously.
As for LinkedIn, this social media is the platform uniting professionals who work in a certain industry. This imposes certain limits on this social network. You can’t just post anything on LinkedIn. It is a community of people who are looking for very specific content. Your content has to be focused. Here users have an opportunity to communicate with CEO, professionals and other executives in the UAE and globally.
Twitter has certain limitations, too. First of all, you have to stick to the limited number of characters. Twitter is about connecting people, just like Facebook. It connects people with brands and other users. It can be a very powerful social media, especially when it comes to mobile marketers. Twitter is the great tool for branding. You have direct access to your potential clients and to influencers who can be engaged in your product promotion and have great impact on your business results. It works simply perfect when your goal is the engagement of various clients.
What are the additional types of social media?
Other forms of social media help feature is messaging and image sharing. We are surrounded by information – it is the reality of the digital era we live in. Social media makes us more visual. In fact, according to the latest research, visual content always receives higher engagement. Modern marketers know this and use it for the promotion of products or services from different businesses. No wonder that there are kinds of social media based entirely on images. These are platforms like Instagram or Snapchat.
They also have video capabilities, but most of the marketing is still done via images. Let us look into the reasons for this phenomenon. Why the social media so popular? First of all, it welcomes user-generated and user-created content. Second, brand hashtags are widely used. Both users and brands themselves can share photos exposing the items, and it is less annoying than advertising.
Instagram differs from traditional blogs which is a kind of relief for many users. It is easier to “digest” pictures rather than long, detailed texts. Which industry can make use of image-based platforms? In fact, almost any. Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest can be beneficial for entrepreneurs working in any niche. Now let us have a closer look at the two most popular image-based forms of social media for business promotion.
Instagram has gained the reputation of the most popular platform to exchange pictures and photos. However, it is not only about selfies. Some marketers in the UAE underestimate its potential thus overlooking many great possibilities for product promotion. More than 60% of top posts on Instagram are about products. Visual content sells. Instagram is a great place to feel connected to your customers and interact with them.
Snapchat is another image-based and messaging platform. Its distinctive feature is that photos and videos get deleted automatically within 24 hours. Bigger brands will certainly benefit from using it for their marketing purposes. However, smaller creative companies should also pay more attention to this form of social media gaining more and more popularity.
Pinterest is often treated as a bookmarking website. Its main aim is to give users an opportunity to create various pinboards. It is a source of inspiration for many people working as artists and designers in UAE and other countries. You can make use of it if your company is working in B2C area. It can also drive traffic and referrals, so don’t neglect it.
Social media services are also a great place for sharing videos. As we have already mentioned, people are becoming more and more visual. Images result in higher engagement, so does the video. YouTube is currently one of the most popular kinds of social media. It has about one billion users daily – a pretty striking figure. How can marketers in Dubai use video-based platforms? There are several ways to do that.
First of all, people take in video content with much more ease than other types of content. It does not require much effort; you don’t have to scroll or read. Second, it is quite easy to create a video. Everyone who has a smartphone can do that. Third, videos are invaluable regarding their educational potential. People will eagerly watch tutorials and other types of video answering questions on “how to…”
When we think of YouTube, we think of entertainment. But it is also about education and, of course, commercials published by various businesses. This social media can be very helpful in brand promotion in the UAE and the GCC. It is a great way to expose your product – you can unpack it, show what it looks like, speak about its main features and describe how it works. It will increase the level of credibility to this particular product. Your sales will grow with very high probability.
Vimeo is another important video-based social media type. It supports HD and many professionals related to filmmaking prefer it. Moreover, they use it to share their latest work. This results in the following – the content offered by Vimeo is eye-catching, exquisite and well-planned. With the right approach, Dubai marketers can make use of it, too.
Blogging is one of the social media services. Though many experts say that the days of blogging are gone, blogs are still responsible for the great part of SEO success. They drive traffic and attract leads. So don’t ignore blogging – this kind of social media it is still working. The most popular platforms that can be used by those who want to start blogging include Tumblr and Medium. Blogging is about written content. How can one use it in the era of people obsessed with visual content?
Blogging can give you opportunities other forms of social media services cannot. With its help, your business can reach from the UAE a broader audience. It can increase your SEO performance. You can become an influencer via blogging having gained authority in a particular niche which is also very beneficial for the promotion of a product. Now let us have a closer look at Medium and Tumblr.
Medium is dedicated to an extremely wide range of topics. It is open to anyone ready and willing to share thoughts and ideas. How can a marketer in Dubai, UAE, make use of it? Medium is great for gaining authority. It gives you a chance to reach new potential clients. It is the great way to develop and extend your business via written content.
Tumblr is for texts, images, and even videos. It gives you the great opportunity to unite these three components for further product promotion. Marketers often neglect it overlooking its potential, but niche brands can make great use of the various features it offers. Tumblr will always have its faithful audience.
Finally, there are discussion sites which can also be used as a part of the company’s marketing campaign. Forums have been replaced by discussion sites that are still extremely popular with the users. Discussion sites are about questions and answers. Marketers in Dubai have every reason to use them and their potential to the fullest. These are such platforms as Quora, Reddit, and Yahoo.
Why is it so important for business promotion to make use of discussion sites? Because these are the places where users are looking for ways to solve their problems. You can not only offer them solutions they are looking for, but also make a research on your own. What difficulties do people experience? Learning more about it can be really helpful.
Reddit is one of the most popular discussion sites. Numerous niche communities use it daily. Discussions take place in the form of subreddits. What do people discuss about this social media? Anything from finance to the last victory of their favorite soccer team. It has something in common with the good old forums. However, it is still modern, up-to-date and more alive than ever.
Quora is another example of social media. It does not require any special social media software. Quora’s main focus is answering questions. Questions can even be customized according to the users’ interests. How can marketers use it? The same way they can use Reddit. Provide quality answers, and you will win the trust of the people.
Conclusion on what is social media and how to use its various forms effectively for business promotion
The digital era is very rich on various social media platforms and kinds of social media. The choice is up to you. It depends on your purpose, the goal you’d like to reach and your target audience. The main thing here is not to lose any opportunities to raise awareness about your business and brand and increase the visibility of the product.