Social media and online marketing – video transcript

In this Social media and online marketing video, learn about the popular social media platforms and how you can use them to promote and enhance your business.

Being innovative with digital and social media can help to promote your business more widely and engage customers and specific audiences more easily. It can also track customer data and buying habits.

You can use this step-by-step guide on digital and social media to help grow your business online.

The first thing you need to do is decide which social media platforms best suit your business. Think about your business type, target audience, and what you want to achieve.

You can research current social media trends and which platforms your target audience or age group is most likely to use.

Facebook is a widely used platform worldwide, covering all ages. You can sell products, advertise to target audiences and share updates.

YouTube is also widely used in Australia. It's useful for sharing 'how-to' and other videos. Instagram is a popular photo sharing site. You can post and share content for free.

LinkedIn is 'Facebook for business professionals' with most users well educated. It's useful for posting informative blogs, promoting your business activities or recruiting new staff.

Twitter (now X) is great for sharing regular short messages and promotions.

Other platforms like Pinterest, TikTok and Snapchat can also help promote your business but check if they represent a good fit with your audience and brand.

Pinterest is a photo sharing site, useful for creative businesses and often used to plan future purchases.

TikTok is about fun and creative content and mostly used by younger people. It's not the place for all businesses, but it can be a great place for light-hearted videos showing off products.

Snapchat can be used for promotions, quick updates, or customer generated content.

The next step is to link your website to your social media pages. This will allow customers to click through to your site, helping to boost your rankings on search engines such as Google.

Now you need to promote your business. It's a good idea to develop a social media strategy with a timeline for scheduling posts. You can also develop social media guidelines around what is posted on your site.

You should create posts and videos that will interest your customers and avoid posts that focus on hard selling. You can encourage people to like or follow your pages to boost your audience and reach.

You could also use paid advertising targeting specific audiences, search engine marketing, blogs and podcasts, online sales or competitions, online review sites and QR codes.

The next step is to understand your customers. You should measure how your customers interact with your business online. This will help you target products and services and post the most relevant content on your pages.

It's important to track your results, including who your customers are, where they're from, how long they spend on your site, what they're interested in and how browsing converts into sales. If something isn't working, try a different approach.

The last step is to stay active online. You can do this by posting useful content regularly to keep customers interested. Encourage conversations and direct users to your website. Respond to comments as quickly as possible, even if it's an automated reply with contact details.

Beware of the risks of social media. Learn how to manage negative comments or media that could damage your business's reputation.

For more information on using social media in your business, visit Business Queensland and search for 'social media'.

Watch the Social media and online marketing video.