Choose your channel

A brief guide to some of the more popular social media channels.

Facebook

Founded in 2004 and now used by every demographic. It can help you to find new customers, boost sales and connect with your online community.

Users follow favourite brands and businesses and share content that is important or meaningful to them.

Twitter

A useful way to make direct contact with individuals. Twitter is popular with millennials and young professionals. It provides an avenue for two-way communication. The Twitter lists facility tells you what others are saying.

LinkedIn

Sometimes described as Facebook for professionals, LinkedIn can help users to find experts, and new ideas. Company pages are used by businesses to connect with job seekers and promote the business.

Engaging in groups is a good way to demonstrate your knowledge and therefore build your reputation as an industry thought-leader.

Instagram

An engaging and fun way to share visual moments.

The channel is currently popular with 18-29 year olds and can be used to follow, comment and share privately.

Instagram can be used to communicate your brand personality, preview and highlight products. You can use hash tags and reciprocate follows.

YouTube

YouTube is now the second largest search engine so its power and influence is huge.

Users can like, comment and share your videos making it a good way to see what your audience is saying.

Pinterest

The majority of users are female. Users can organise images and videos into personalised collection boards. Pinterest can be analysed to learn more about your customers’ interests.

Snapchat

Popular with younger users, Snapchat is a tool for sending photos and videos that disappear. It has been successfully used by brands to share content from behind the scenes.