Choosing the Right Social Media Platforms

It’s easy when you’re starting out with social media as a small business to think you need to be on ALL social media platforms. After all, you want to be seen by as many people as possible so surely you need to be seen everywhere, right?

Well, not quite. Not every brand suits every platform, if you're B2B then you probably won't do as well on Snapchat, or if you've got a young audience then there isn't too much point getting on LinkedIn right away. Here are some tips on how to make sure you're choosing the right platforms for your business.

Be Strategic

The best way to make full use of social media is simple, you’ve got to have a strategy. You’ve got a strategy for every other part of your business, so the same goes for your digital marketing.
Think about your business goals, what you’re working on to achieve those, and how social media can help play a part in that. Plan out your content with specific goals in mind so you're not just creating content for the sake of it as it's a waste of your time. Goals could be brand building, telling your story, educating your audience, promoting new products, conversions, link clicks, or leads.

Be Manageable

Oftentimes whoever runs the social media for a small business isn’t just dedicated to that role, so running 5 or 6 platforms on top of their other duties becomes a nightmare of a task. Therefore, your strategy needs to be manageable. Instead of 6 platforms, pick 2 or 3 that you’ll start on and really focus on. This means your time isn’t spread so thin across lots of platforms, and you can really get to know what content works and doesn’t work for your brand.

Another top tip, come up with a social media schedule each week or month detailing what you plan to put up, and that will help you manage your time more efficiently. It’ll also make sure there’s always content up on your profiles, rather than having big gaps between content making it obvious you ran out of time to manage your platforms!

Know Your Audience

The most important factor in choosing platforms often comes down to audience. If you’re an established brand just starting to make more time for social media, then you’ll know who your audience is already. And if you’re just starting out, then you’ll know who your ideal audience is. Write out profiles for 2 or 3 audiences you wish to target – age, gender, location, job title, income, interests, etc. – and then look into the audiences typical of different platforms. Match those up, and you’ll see where your content will shine!

So let’s look at 3 platforms, and 3 reasons why you might choose them to suit your strategy:

Facebook

• World’s Largest Platform; most businesses will have a Facebook page for this reason
• Variety of Content; if you want to be able to post a lot of different content like videos, events, photos, etc. then Facebook is the most flexible
• Good Demographic Split; almost every demographic you want to appeal to has a good-sized audience on Facebook (with the exception of older audiences)

Instagram

• Younger Audience; if you want to engage a younger audience, then you need to be on Instagram. 59% of users are under the age of 29!
• Great for Visual Brands; if you’re an apparel brand, a food and drink brand, or a photography/design business, then Instagram is great for communicating your brand visually. It’s like a “look book” for brands.
• Mobile Mindset; you can only upload to Instagram through the app on a mobile device, and in the USA, 80% of time spent on social media is spent on a mobile device.

Bonus: Facebook is Instagram’s parent company so you can integrate your advertising across both channels!

LinkedIn

• King for B2B Content; 7 in 10 people trust LinkedIn for professional content, and 50% of buyers use LinkedIn when making purchasing decisions.
• More Senior Employment; the average age of a CEO is mid to late 50s, LinkedIn has an older audience, many of whom are top-level management
• Audience Intent; it’s important to think about why your audience uses a platform, every user on LinkedIn has the intent of thinking about work, their career, what projects they’ve got going on, so if your business is largely B2B then that becomes very important.