It’s hard to imagine a world without social media these days. Not just as a source of entertainment but a basic in business practice. Without social media awareness, skills or resources, a company will struggle to be seen and remain competitive. Social media training is the best way to combat this and make your business grow online.
Social media training is a staple resource for your business. It means you can engage with your audience, sell products, advertise for job vacancies plus many more.
However, simply ‘doing’ social media isn’t enough. Being knowledgeable gives you leverage to stay ahead in an ever-changing digital world, meaning to your customers – you are always relevant.
Why social media training is important
You are probably already aware of how consuming social media is. Your friends, family – and probably most people you know – use social media.
However, you’re maybe not aware of just how many people actually go online and use social media.
According to DataReportal’s July 2023 Global Statshot report, there are an estimated 4.9 billion people using social media this year. This staggering number represents 60.6% of the global population in 2023. Compared to 2022, the number of social media users has grown by 173 million, reflecting massive growth at an average rate of 5.5 new users every single second over the past year.
The top social platforms by monthly active users in 2023 are:
- Facebook: Still the leader with 2.989 billion users, although growth has stabilized in recent years.
- YouTube: A rapidly growing force at 2.527 billion monthly active users.
- WhatsApp: Facebook’s popular messaging platform has 2 billion users.
- Instagram: Facebook’s photo/video sharing app also has 2 billion monthly active users.
- WeChat: This platform dominates in China with 1.319 billion users.
- TikTok: The viral short video app has exploded to 1.081 billion users.
Importantly, social media adoption is surging in developing countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In 2023, an estimated 2.6 billion social media users will come from developing nations. Markets like India, Indonesia, and Brazil are seeing the fastest growth rates as mobile internet expands. Companies seeking to tap into emerging markets are focused on localizing content and experiences for these next billion users.
These figures alone reinstate why it is essential to be in the know about social media. Each social media platform is a hub of different audiences for you to target and attract. So why wouldn’t you?
It is understandable that social media can seem like a daunting world. There are so many platforms to choose from – where do you even start?
This is where social media training comes in. It is a service that is responsible for breaking down in simple chunks what each platform is, the benefits of using it and how to use it. Rome wasn’t built in a day – and neither is a social media legacy. However, with the right techniques and expertise, it can be built for success.
The benefits of social media training
Being trained in social media opens up a world of benefits for not just your business but yourself and your employees.
Enhancing skills
By giving your employees dedicated training, proves that you are invested in their career progression and personal development. It shows that you care about helping them succeed, which will motivate them to help the business succeed.
Training your staff means they will feel capable and confident when handling your social media account. This in turn boosts morale and can lead to employees getting invested and coming up with creative ideas that they can actually bring to fruition with their new-found knowledge of social media.
Reaching your audience directly
As we’ve established – a huge percentage of customers are readily available to be reached online. With social media training, you will be provided with tactics on how exactly to do this.
By identifying who you want to target, you can then join groups, ‘like’ similar pages and mainly get your business on the social media map. This also allows you to learn the language of who you want to reach, which can then set you up for writing engaging posts.
It also provides a platform for customers to reach you – whether they want to ask a question, leave a review or simply find out more about you. The more transparent and informative your business is online, the more connected your audience will feel.
Drive revenue
Social media is the ideal marketplace. It provides an opportunity for you to post high-quality imagery, a space to write product/service information and include easily accessible contact links. For businesses big or small, you can use these platforms to maximise revenue.
Although it sounds easy, posting about your product/service needs to be strategic. Too many promotional messages and your audience will switch off if they’re subjected to too much ‘white noise’. By curating your content and building a relationship with your audience, you will see higher engagement, which will see higher sales.
Once you feel comfortable with the basics, learning about social media advertising is the next logical step. This is another benefit of social media, as it can help you generate leads and receive data about who responds to your ads. Social media presents a host of opportunities to drive revenue, all of which you can find out through in-depth training.
Social media platforms: Where to post
We’ve taken you through the importance and the benefits of using social media – but now you’re probably wondering where you can get started.
Social media takes up a huge part of the online sphere. It’s, therefore, no wonder there are so many platforms to choose from! However, we have broken down the top ones for you to consider, these including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
- Facebook: Facebook is still the most popular social media platform in the UK, with 46 million active users. However, its user base has declined recently as younger people have migrated to other platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok. The average age of a Facebook user in the UK is now 34.
- LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the second most popular social media platform in the UK, with 29.5 million active users. It is particularly popular among professionals, with 57.6% of users being aged between 25 and 34.
- Twitter: Twitter is the third most popular social media platform in the UK, with 13.7 million active users. It is more popular among younger people than Facebook or LinkedIn, with 38% of users being aged between 18 and 29.
- Instagram: Instagram is the fourth most popular social media platform in the UK, with 26.54 million active users. It is particularly popular among young people, with 30.4% of users being aged between 25 and 34.
- TikTok: TikTok is the fifth most popular social media platform in the UK, with 3.7 million active users. It is the fastest-growing social media platform in the UK and is particularly popular among young people, with 26% of users being aged between 18 and 24.
Here are some other interesting social media statistics for the UK in 2023:
- The average UK social media user spends 1 hour and 52 minutes on social media per day.
- 25.2% of social media users in the UK are aged between 25 and 34.
- 56% of Brits like posts by other users or send private messages on social media.
- 42% of UK businesses use social media for marketing purposes.
- 65% of UK consumers have made a purchase after seeing a product advertised on social media.
In social media training, these platforms will be introduced and dissected in greater detail. However, it is useful to know the facts and figures before delving deeper into the information.
Social media platforms: What to post
You may be wondering now: ‘What do I post about my business?’. The best method is to think: ‘What do my customers need to know?’.
In social media training, you are given a wealth of insights into what posts work well, and what ones don’t. For example: poorly made graphics, bad-quality images and spelling mistakes have no place on social media. This is because it can damage perception and cause for users not to take you seriously.
Instead, once you become a social media guru, you will be able to avoid these rookie mistakes and create engaging posts. As a head’s up: short yet informative product posts, engaging polls, live streams and entertaining memes are just a few variations that will get you traction.
It is also important that you keep yourself up-to-date with what is in the news and trending in case any of it aligns with your business. This way, you will have timely, relevant content that people will gain value from.
If you want to tell people more about you – you are best using a blog format to host this information. That way, you can use it to post on social media – giving you more of a chance to engage with your audience.
While this blog has provided snippets of information, they are useful insights for you to be aware of and help you prepare before you embark on your intensive social media training.
ProfileTree’s digital training courses are fully bespoke and personalised to your business’s needs. We take your employees through the most essential elements of digital strategy, enabling them to become more confident and capable online.
If you are interested in learning from the pros themselves – contact ProfileTree using the links below.
