Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (to name a few), are not only useful as tools to build personal brand image, they can also be utilized by Canadian merchants who own large or small businesses to communicate their visions, promote their events and to maintain their company’s image. Aside from the traditional methods of communicating to the public, modern-day Canadian merchants should employ the use of different social media channels, as it is an inexpensive tool that results in valuable return on investment (ROI) for their businesses.
Useful Social Media Platforms for Canadian Merchants
There are several social media platforms Canadian merchants should consider employing as they are effective in engaging with potential customers. Let’s take a deeper look into each channel that proves to be important for Canadian merchants and their businesses, and analyze how to best utilize each one.
How Canadian Merchants can use Facebook to Grow Business
Simply put, Facebook allows a company to regularly post updates regarding company news, events and just casually reach out to people by liking and commenting on their pages. All a company has to do is establish a Fan Page that is free and ensure the page is being maintained and regulated. As a matter of fact, there are 5 ways a Facebook Fan page can help Canadian merchants and improve their businesses’ reach.
- Facebook Fan Page allows your company to create another outpost for Your Web Page: essentially creating another outlet for companies to speak to the outside world and reach customers, industry-leaders, and people who are interested or simply stumble across. Fan pages are free and publicly displayed. Furthermore, one has to obtain a Facebook account in order to see a personal Facebook page, whereas a company’s Facebook page can be seen without opening an account.
- Facebook Fan Page Drives Traffic to Your Website : A lot of companies take advantage of Fan Pages as a method of driving traffic to their websites.
- Facebook Fan Page Improves SEO : Many social media channels such as Facebook are linked to Google through its search engine technology, and these pages tend to rank high on natural search results.
- Facebook Fan Page Allows for Engagement with Community : A Facebook Fan Page creates the opportunity for followers and fans to post comments and like your posts, allow people to share those posts and/or videos, engage in conversations and discussions. It’s like creating a community but free of charge.
- Facebook Fan Page connects your company to your customers : The moderator of the Facebook Fan Page can send messages to fans all at once or target a specific group of people. There are other features such as the Event tab in which companies can further engage their fans or followers by inviting them to events and personally meeting. Alternatively you can leverage social proof technology to increase trust and trigger the FOMO (fear of missing out) for visitors.
How Canadian Merchants Use Twitter to Promotes Their Businesses?
Twitter is a micro-blogging and networking social media service that allows for business to connect with other businesses or users by using “@” to mention them, which is accompanied by a 140-characters message that is open to the public. Savvy business owners also share tweets made by their customers, related media or business using the retweet function.
The difference between Twitter versus Facebook is that Facebook allows companies to create a page that is specifically catered to company updates, photos, events and videos. Twitter, on the other hand, utilizes 140 character tweets to broadcast company news, events and videos. The usage is a more limited compared to Facebook but it is an effective way to build relationships and trust amongst industry-leaders and associates.
According to this article researched by Entrepeneur.com, Canadian merchants use Twitter to build connections via their existing Twitter contacts; they are not necessarily using Twitter to sell their products but rather utilizing it to gain referrals. For example, if a company tweets about their charity initiative to support Breast Cancer, they use the hashtags #charity #breastcancer to join the conversations on Twitter about this initiative. This way, whoever is also tweeting about breast cancer may see the tweet and can be exposed to the company.
The Twitter website suggests entrepreneurs use Twitter as a way to stay on top of industry news by following accounts that are relevant to their industry. Twitter also quickly allows companies to respond to customers’ inquiries and feedback.
How a Social Media Platform like LinkedIn Can Help Canadian Merchants
Unlike Facebook and Twitter which take a more casual and fun tone, LinkedIn is a professional networking service that allows companies to communicate to the world formally and professionally.
Canadian merchants can take advantage of LinkedIn in several ways:
- Be part of the conversation : By joining LinkedIn Groups that are related to your business, you can participate in group discussions and attend group events so members will know what your business is and perhaps refer you to their friends/associates.
- Hire the right employee: When you want your business to grow, you obviously want to hire the right employees who are capable of growing your business. By using LinkedIn, you can scout out new recruits, post jobs and find the right people for your team.
- Get Recommended by your Customers: When a business gets positive reviews or is recommended by customers, it speaks volumes. Hence, when a customer recommends your business, people viewing your LinkedIn page will realize that they can trust your business.
Social Media Sites that Canadian Merchants should Watch Out for in 2016
In 2016, Canadian merchants can expect the popularity of the following social media sites/apps to grow and become more attractive for promotion:
- Pinterest : if your business is visually-oriented then consider using Pinterest which allows users to pin interesting pictures onto their boards and allow them to follow other boards for inspiration. The mission of Pinterest is to connect people that share the same interests through pinned-boards
- Talkbiznow : a business community that provides business services for small businesses and professionals. Business owners can create a profile, connect with others, manage calendars, store large files, host webinars and manage social media channels. Talkbiznow provides tools for social media beginners to navigate different platforms, it further allows for member collaboration and sharing of ideas
- Quora : Since LinkedIn Answers is no longer available, entrepreneurs have relied on Quora where they weigh in on questions and ask their own questions. Although Quora is more general rather than just about business topics, small business owners can still take advantage of its free membership
MONEXgroup’s Social Media and Our Canadian Merchants
MONEXgroup is the #1 Ranked payment processors in the Canadian market offering the most competitive rates in the industry. We offer Debit and Credit card Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals, mobile, integrated and E-Commerce online payment solutions. MONEXgroup serves over 25,000 merchant accounts across Canada in all market segments including: restaurants, business-to-business, professional services, leisure and hospitality. With over a decade of experience in the POS industry, MONEXgroup has definitely evolved since its inception, but without the help of social media presence and influence, we wouldn’t be where we are now. Like any other successful business, we have an ever-growing online presence and our channels are constantly changing and adapting. We recommend all of our Canadian merchants to launch their own Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Page and consider some of the social media sites that are up-and-coming in 2016 in order to grow and have a successful business. We invite you to like our Facebook page and follow us on our Twitter and LinkedIn! Our Facebook page can be found by clicking: https://www.facebook.com/monexgroup/ , our Twitter handle is @monexgroup, and our LinkedIn is MONEXgroup.
When partnering with the number one payment processor in Canada; MONEXgroup will increase your efficiency and quality of service and lower the related costs. Request a Cost Comparison Analysis today.
Author: Lindsey Lu, Marketing Communication Specialist, MONEXgroup
Contact Info: insights@monexgroup.com
