Nowadays, the number of SNS users is increasing year by year due to the penetration of the Internet environment and the spread of smartphones and tablets. As the use of SNS has become a daily part of our lives, and the amount of time we spend using SNS in our daily lives has increased significantly, it is becoming increasingly important for companies and marketers to create points of contact with consumers through SNS. It continues to rise.
Basically, SNS has become popular among many users as a communication tool, and has achieved explosive popularity. However, in recent years, many companies and marketers have started using SNS in the business scene for the purpose of monetization. SNS is becoming indispensable not only for increasing the effectiveness of measures, but also for delivering information about your company’s services to target users on SNS and encouraging them to actually make purchases.
In this article, we will introduce the details of SNS applications and the monetization of SNS, which is attracting attention, starting with “What is SNS?”.
What is SNS?
“SNS” is an abbreviation for “Social Networking Service.” By completing a simple registration process, you will be able to use the online membership service, and users will be able to interact with each other, including people with similar hobbies, nearby residents, and friends. The service can be used in a somewhat limited community, allowing users to gather together and enjoy shared entertainment, allowing close communication between users. In recent years, the use of SNS in business settings, such as within companies and corporate organizations, has been attracting attention.
Nowadays, there are various types of SNS, but all of them basically allow you to have your own
homepage
within the SNS, and it is possible to post detailed personal profiles and photos. In addition, from the perspective of protecting personal information, the homepage includes functions that allow users to limit the range of information they wish to disclose and information that they do not wish to disclose, allowing them to operate their SNS with peace of mind. In addition, by installing and linking other applications, the functions available within SNS can be expanded, making it possible to customize SNS according to the user’s hobbies and tastes. Recent advances in SNS technology have enabled convenient functions such as “message function” and “
chat
function,” which make it easier to exchange messages than web mail, and “group function”, which allows only friends to exchange files and information. It has a wide variety of innovative features such as
Furthermore, with the worldwide spread of smartphones and tablets, these groundbreaking functions are not limited to PCs, but can be used on a variety of smart devices that can connect to the Internet, regardless of location or time. Now you can.
Types of SNS applications
Did you know that there are three main types of SNS: “open type”, “closed type”, and “specialized type”? We will briefly introduce typical SNS applications.
[Open type]
- Instagram: Image-related
- Twitter: Communication system
- Pinterest: Imagery
- TikTok: Video
[Closed type]
- LINE: Message system
- Snapchat: Image-related
- mixi: Communication system
- Club house: Video system
[Specialized type]
- Facebook: Communication system
- LinkedIn: Business
- YouTube: Video
“Open-type SNS” is an SNS service where information is disclosed to an unspecified number of users.
On the other hand, “closed SNS” refers to a service where information is only disclosed to specific users. In addition to these, there are also “specialized SNS” such as “Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube” where people with specific hobbies and values gather, and SNS specialized in a wide variety of genres are becoming popular. . There are various types of SNS, but in recent years, the establishment of business models that take advantage of the features of each has become widespread, and the number of marketers and companies that are realizing profitability has increased significantly.
Reasons why SNS is supported
SNS continues to gain attention year by year, but why is SNS so popular?
Let me explain why.
High level of convenience in disseminating information
One of the reasons why SNS is popular is that it is easy to use and anyone can easily send information anywhere and anytime. Furthermore, even if the user does not tweet or make a comment, communication can be established by simply retweeting, sharing, or clicking the “like” button on another user’s post.
By sharing information, you can experience a sense of connection with other users.
One of the reasons why SNS is popular is that it allows users to easily share trending information and information that matches their hobbies and interests, allowing them to experience a sense of connection with other users.
One of the best parts of using SNS is the ease of sharing information with users who are difficult to communicate with in daily life, such as strangers and users living overseas across borders. SNS will continue to be used as a bridge to connect people and communicate.
Information gathering is easy
In recent years, using SNS has the advantage of making it easier to obtain the latest information faster than checking TV broadcasts or online news. In fact, there are an increasing number of cases where it is possible to gather information more quickly by checking tweets on Twitter than by watching breaking news on the internet or TV, such as urgent information or the latest trend information. Masu.
In addition, a case that has become more common recently is cases in which mass media, including television stations, use their own SNS to collect information that will actually be used in their programs. It has become. It is expected that the number of cases in which images and videos actually taken by a single individual will be used by the mass media will continue to increase.
One of the characteristics of SNS is that people with high language skills have abundant connections and networks overseas, and can easily collect information from overseas.
Enjoy creative editing and processing
With the advent of the social media boom in recent years, applications that make it easy to edit and process creative images and videos are being released one after another.
In particular, the Instagram app has unique and innovative tools that allow you to edit and modify your creatives. By making full use of the various tools within the app, it is easy to create original creatives, which is why it is attracting attention, especially among the younger generation.
Features and usage of Twitter
“Twitter” is a typical SNS that mainly allows users to post short texts, but also allows users to easily post photos, videos, etc. It is an attractive SNS that has the power to spread information because it has a retweet function, which is a more powerful function than other SNS. The retweet function, which is synonymous with “Twitter,” simply means “quote.” You can quote other users’ interesting posts on your own timeline with a single touch. This is a useful feature that allows you to introduce your posts to other users via your Twitter account.
Currently, Twitter has 330 million monthly active users worldwide (as of 2019), and it is also very popular in Japan, with the amount of tweets in Japanese consistently being among the highest in the world. Looking at the number of users by ranking, America ranks first with an overwhelming number of users at 49 million. Japan comes in second place with 37 million people, followed by the UK in third place with 14 million people, Saudi Arabia with 10 million people, and Turkey with 9 million people.
Twitter account
In addition, a “Twitter account” is important when using Twitter’s convenient functions. Remember that a Twitter account requires three things: an account name, a username, and a user ID.
What is Twitter account name?
Please think of your “account name” as the nickname you use on Twitter. The part displayed in bold above the account is the actual “account name”. This is the first thing you need to set up when registering for Twitter, and it is also the part that is most likely to be noticed by other users. The majority of corporate Twitter account names include the company name or store name. In a company, an account name is like a signboard and plays an important role.
What is a Twitter username?
Please think of your Twitter “username” as your real name. The actual display screen will be displayed on the Twitter top screen, similar to the “account name” mentioned above. The character string starting with “@” below the “account name” displayed in bold corresponds to the “user name.”
The main difference from the “account name” is that when creating a name, only half-width alphanumeric characters and some symbols can be used, and it must not be used by other users.
There are many cases where the “account name” overlaps, but basically there is only one “user name”, so it will not overlap with other users. Also, knowing the “username” is useful when searching for other users.
What is Twitter user ID?
Twitter’s “username” and “user ID” have similar meanings, so many people may mistakenly think that they are the same thing. However, “user name” and “user ID” are completely different things. If you think of your account name as a “nickname” and your username as your “real name,” think of your user ID as something like your “My Number.” Please keep in mind that your Twitter user ID will be automatically assigned to you when you register for your Twitter account. If you use Twitter normally, you will never see the “User ID”.
Therefore, “User ID” has the meaning of a management number automatically assigned when registering an account. In addition, by checking the “user ID”, it is possible to track users who are slandering us through impersonation. Please keep this in mind as it will be important to use Twitter with peace of mind.
What is SNS advertising?
“SNS advertising” refers to the distribution of advertisements using SNS
platforms
such as Twitter, Instagram, LINE, and Facebook. For example, this applies to advertisements displayed within various tools such as timelines and stories of various social media. Recently, various updates have been made on the SNS side, and advertisements that are not limited to “text + banner” but also use the carousel function, which displays videos and multiple images by sliding them horizontally, have increased in number.
Similar to “listing ads,” SNS ads are called “operational ads,” where ads are displayed in conjunction with users’ search results, and they are repeatedly improved on things like “daily budget, targets, creatives, and delivery formats.” It has the characteristic of maximizing advertising effectiveness while doing so.
About personal SNS monetization
With the spread of smartphones and tablets, the number of users of SNS is increasing explosively. Therefore, it is possible to realize monetization by making full use of SNS, and it is attracting attention.
From here, I will explain about “monetizing SNS”.
When receiving a request from a company
One way for individuals to earn money through SNS is to receive a request from a general company and introduce the services and products provided by that company.
It is a system in which rewards are generated by posting products and services that companies want to introduce on personal SNS. The unit price of the request is often large, and an increase in profits is expected, but in order to receive a job offer from a company, a large number of followers and influence are required.
Looking at the market, companies are more likely to commission work in the fashion and cosmetics fields, and they are more likely to commission women than men.
Secure income through affiliate marketing
On SNS, it is also possible to earn money using “affiliate”. By posting performance-based advertisements called affiliate marketing on SNS, you will receive compensation by meeting the registration and usage conditions. However, depending on some SNS, the terms and conditions may be subject to gray or black zones. Excessive affiliate marketing may result in the user’s own account being suspended, so care must be taken when operating the site.
Secure revenue by directing people to your own site
Users who have their own sites such as blogs can make money by directing people to their sites from SNS. By guiding users to your own site, it is a system that encourages the use of the company’s advertisements and services displayed on the site, and if specified conditions are met, it will lead to profit. If your purpose is to attract customers to your own blog or site, you can operate it with confidence as there is little chance of violating the SNS rules.
However, you should know in advance that building a site that generates income requires specialized knowledge and takes a lot of effort.
What is Twitter for Professionals?
“Twitter for Professional” is a new service launched by Twitter on October 1, 2021. This refers to a system that allows creators, companies, non-profit organizations, etc. to post additional information on their profile information for the purpose of monetization. In fact, accounts eligible for Twitter for Professional will be able to switch from an existing account to a professional account. By switching to a professional account, you will be able to use Twitter’s unique advanced professional tools such as “Twitter Shopping, Quick Promote, and Advanced Profile.”
In fact, “Advanced Profile” allows you to post additional information that is restricted for general users. For example, the address of a physical store can be linked to a map app and displayed, and detailed store information such as business hours and phone number can also be posted.
You can also post newsletter subscription buttons and product catalogs linked to your shop.
However, there are some things to be aware of when using a professional account. The point is that not everyone can easily apply. You must have no history of violating the terms of use provided by Twitter, and you must have registered your profile image, account name, biography, etc., and your identity must be clear. Profiles featuring fictitious characters whose identities are unclear are not eligible unless they are directly affiliated with a brand or organization.
In fact, for accounts that can be switched to professional accounts, a “Twitter for Professional” tab will be displayed at the bottom of the settings menu. By tapping on that tab, you will begin setting up the switch to a professional account. Also, in the settings, you need to select the account type from two types: “Business” and “Creator”, but please remember that this setting can be changed later.
summary
We have explained what “SNS” is, based on its characteristics and monetization.
In recent years, we can see that SNS has become an essential part of our lives. There are various types of SNS that are familiar to us, and they are full of useful functions for users. Therefore, in today’s world where new SNS are being developed one after another, it is extremely important to determine which SNS application is suitable for your purpose.
By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each SNS and enjoying using it again, the convenience it brings to users will further improve, and I think it will lead to maximizing the potential of the SNS you use. It is expected that the SNS market will continue to expand in the future. Therefore, we hope that you will use the basics of SNS introduced in this article as a reference and put them to use in using the latest SNS.