In our part one of our Social Media series, we gave you a summary of everything your business needs to know about two of the biggest players in the social space, Facebook & Instagram. In this article, we'll take you through the basics of YouTube, TikTok and Twitter to help give you an understanding of their users and how to make the most of what they have to offer!
YouTube
Wait for this figure… Every single day people around the world watch a combined billion hours of YouTube. Some 500 hours of video content is uploaded to YouTube every minute. With an astounding two-billion users, YouTube second biggest social media outlet in the world is potentially an awesome marketing channel, especially for IBDs in the dynamic cycling industry.
What is the YouTube demographic?
It drops right down compared to Facebook and Instagram, sitting at mid-teens to mid-thirties and worldwide is more skewed to females.
What can you do on a YouTube account?
We know that video is king when it comes to SEO. A YouTube account enables you to leverage a powerful form of marketing that can contribute to SEO. For example, your store can enhance its BikeExchange product listings by creating unique video content that you upload from your YouTube channel.
You can also create ‘video discovery ads’ to help grow reach and target market engagement. Taking its cue from Instagram, YouTube has also introduced Stories, which are short videos available to view for seven days only.
How to enhance your YouTube channel
- Work on building viewer subscriptions.
- Consider metadata when deciding on your video’s title and description - SEO plays a powerful role here.
- Cross-pollinate. You want to share your videos across all your other marketing channels and on your website, webstore, marketplace, etc., to pander to SEO algorithms (but also get value for your effort!).
- Upload content regularly. Don’t give search algorithms a reason to think they’re visiting a virtual graveyard!
- Like and engage with other users’ content.
How to set up a YouTube channel
A channel is essentially an account, and it is mandatory if you want to upload videos, leave comments on other channels or make playlists. It is free and reasonably straightforward to set up, although you require a Google account to do so. However, if you have a personal Google account, you will ideally need to set up a Brand account for your business. Like Google Analytics, for example, this type of account allows you to give access to others in your business so you can share the operational work.
How do you monitor the performance of your YouTube account?
You can access your account’s data via YouTube analytics, which you can reach in your account’s Studio on your dashboard.
Twitter is more than a social media platform; it’s an online news portal where micro information is communicated via tweets of no more than 280 characters in length.
What is the Twitter demographic?
Twitter’s predominant audience is mid-twenties to mid-thirties, with the second-largest age group comprising mid-thirties to late forties.
What can you do on a Twitter account?
There are several benefits for businesses on Twitter, including:
- Connect you with your audience.
- Increase your reach with a Twitter Takeover.
- Obtain audience data quickly through Twitter Polls.
- Monitor competition by creating Twitter Lists.
- Advertise with Twitter ads.
- Capitalise on real-time interest for your marketing by following Twitter Trending Topics
- Grow reach by conducting live audio conversations with the more recently launched Twitter Spaces, a direct response to the threat of Clubhouse.
How to enhance your Twitter account
- Use @ followed by another account’s name to notify them of your post.
- Use hashtags, but understand them first.
- ‘Feed’ your account - use it regularly.
- Don’t deal with sticky situations publicly. Go direct.
- Like and retweet other account content.
- Use live tweets.
- Use visual cues such as GIFs, photos and polls.
- Engage with your audience and potential customers.
- Take advantage of Twitter Bookmarks to find tweets easily at a later point.
How to set up a Twitter account
Twitter makes it easy to set up an account, which you can then customise.
How do you monitor the performance of your Twitter account?
A Tweet Activity Dashboard located in Twitter Analytics gives you real-time data about your tweets.
TikTok
If ever there was a buzz, it’s got to be TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance. Currently the fastest growing social media platform in the world, TikTok embraces the global obsession for brief, high fun entertainment. Users often share cleverly self-edited short videos on any topic that takes their fancy. Part of the magic is found in these edits (easy to achieve on the TikTok app) - users have plenty of scope and creativity to cut often highly entertaining and engaging clips.
What is the TikTok demographic?
TikTok’s demographic is significantly younger than other social media platforms. Depending on the territory, the lion’s share of users can be teenagers through to those in their mid-twenties.
What can you do on a TikTok account?
- Grow followers, engage them, and even activate them as brand ambassadors by launching your own TikTok Challenge, which encourages users to create videos that align with your brand.
- Be a key member of a tribe - join the right trends and play as big a part as you can.
- Entertain your audience - show how quirky, clever or innovative your store is with edits that are sure to delight.
How to enhance your TikTok views
- Stay authentic - no matter how viral the craze, only engage if it’s true to your brand.
- Use hashtags, sounds and effects that are trending.
- Like all social media platforms - engage with others.
- Post at peak traffic times.
- By following the above, aim to be featured on the For You Page, TikTok’s homepage, which is algorithmically developed to compliment users’ tastes. A presence here can skyrocket you.
How to set up a TikTok account
TikTok has made it easy as pie to set up an account. Just download the app (see link earlier) to your phone, tap profile at bottom right, fill this out and hey-presto, you’re ready to Tik and Tok.
How do you monitor the performance of your TikTok account?
A standard account won’t provide you with any form of data. However, a TikTok Pro account will give you access to analytics.
BikeExchange loves social media
It might sound like it’s all fun and games, but we spend a serious amount of time on social media gathering insights, monitoring trends, new innovations and, well, checking out bikes. If you are on the precipice of a social media canyon and need a guide, our Seller Success team is here to help. Whether you want to optimise your presence on any of the above platforms or focus on others such as LinkedIn, Tumblr, WeChat, SnapChat, Pinterest, contact us.