How to Determine if Social Media is Right for Your Business

Originally published on Vulpine Interactive

“Is my industry good for social media?”

I get this question a lot.

And truthfully, there’s no cut and dry answer to this.

Social media could be a good investment for your business or a bad one.

Your industry does not necessarily dictate ultimate success or failure with social media marketing.

Your industry does not dictate how successful you will be with #SocialMedia.

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However, there are several industries in which social media success comes more naturally.

And interestingly enough, while some do fall into the business-to-consumer category, they aren’t all in the B2C space.

Top Industries for Social Media Marketing

B2C Industries

In terms of social media marketing success, some B2C industries are a slam dunk.

Of course, even in these industries, your content and strategy need to be on point. But, chances for driving quick, positive results are high if your company is in one of the following categories.

Entertainment

The impact that social media has had on the entertainment industry as a whole is undeniable.

Because of this, social media and the entertainment industry go hand in hand.

If you are in the entertainment industry, your goal is to aggregate as many eyeballs as possible.

Since social media itself is considered a form of entertainment, getting content in front of people is not very difficult.

And when you have entertaining content, you drive engagement.

Also, social media platforms offer a place to build community.

Brands in the entertainment industry benefit from being able to use social networks like Facebook to build massive communities who they can engage on-site with their content, rather than attempting to drive them away from social media to a website, for example.

The truth is, Facebook does not want people to leave Facebook.

Keeping the community on platform improves organic reach, which fuels growth and impressions for that channel.

The way that people have become accustomed to using social media while watching movies and television allows companies within the entertainment industry to provide strong branded experiences to these people, thus enacting the positive feedback loop of virality and reach.

Retail 

Consumer products such as makeup, clothing, bicycles, or any type of visually pleasing or novel item tend to perform well on social media.

Evangelists

Retail brands who win at social are able to take advantage of brand evangelists who spread the word about their products organically, which helps them to reach new audiences of people who may never have heard of our purchased anything from the company.

Customer Service

Another reason why the retail industry is good for social media has to do with customer service.

A customer service inquiry on social media provides an opportunity for retailers to positively impact their audience and strengthen their relationship with their customers.

If your company can handle customer service complaints on social before they grow into major problems, you will win the trust and respect of your audience.

Restaurant

The restaurant industry is another space that can greatly benefit from investing in social media.

People love food, love eating, and love sharing pictures of their meals.

As is the case within the retail industry, user-generated content for the restaurant industry is being created a thousand times a day. Also, people turn to social media for customer service, to leave reviews, and to find new places to explore.

Due to the competitive nature of this industry, as a restaurant or bar, you pretty much need to have a strong social presence in order to succeed as a company.

Restaurants who aren’t using social media are missing out on a massive opportunity to delight their current patrons or offer assistance to their unhappy customers.

At the end of the day, people are going to talk about their dining experiences, good and bad. It is very important for restaurant brands to be apart of these information-rich conversations.

B2B Industries

Biotech

People may think that the biotech industry is a quiet giant when it comes to marketing, but successful brands who are afraid to use social media to their advantage are missing out.

While not every company in the biotech industry is convinced that social media is the best place to invest their marketing budget, there are several biotech companies who have developed successful social media engagement strategies around hosting their own Twitter Chats and educational Youtube channels.

Not only that, but social media is a valuable listening tool.

Even if your brand isn’t planning on jumping in on trending conversations or posting funny cat memes anytime soon, there is still invaluable information to be gathered from social media.

Mark Schoenebaum, a well-known biotech investor, states that having an edge in information over your competitors of even 1-2% can massively increase profits.

He advocates the use of social listening and data analysis by companies in the biotech space to increase their understanding of consumer behavior.

Moral of the story?

If you have a company in the biotech space, you can certainly drive engagement and gain valuable insight that will affect your bottom line, just from employing the right kind of social media strategy.

#Biotech brands can gain #industry insight w/ a proper #SocialMediaStrategy.

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Manufacturing

Another industry where social media marketing is underutilized but can be very effective is in manufacturing.

Not surprisingly, brands in the manufacturing industry have been slow to adopt social media as a marketing tool.

Most B2B brands accept that LinkedIn is a good platform for building business relationships, but have forgotten the power of Youtube as an educational platform and Facebook as an advertising and content distribution giant.

Companies in this space can use social media to educate their potential partners and buyers through detailed product trainings, build out their brand presence, and inform product development.

The best part? There’s not a lot of competition. As a brand in manufacturing, you can easily carve out your own path and reach global audiences, some of whom you wouldn’t be able to reach without social media.

Interested in learning more about which industries are good for social media? Read the full post on Vulpine Interactive.