How to choose the best Social Media platforms for your business
When it comes to marketing, small business owners really need to consider having a social media strategy that will; help you build brand awareness, target your key audience as well as expand your reach to new potential customers, and importantly drive sales.
A sound social media strategy will ensure that you have compelling content which will keep your online community engaged while helping you establish brand recognition.
Where do you start?
Once you’ve defined your social media strategy, that is; to build your brand, grow your audience, and increase sales, then you can set your SMART goals and decide on how you’re going to track the progress of your digital marketing activities. From here you can decide which social media platforms will best help you achieve your goals. Each platform offers unique advantages so it’s important to make sure you choose the right social media platform for your business. So where do you start? Here is a summary of what’s on offer.
Instagram is a visual platform which is ideal for showcasing your products or services in action. It’s the perfect place for building a community, especially through its huge number of social media influencers. Partnering with influencers to create sponsored posts can be a very beneficial in helping you reach the right audiences and hopefully potential customers.
In addition, posts from users of your products or services — or user-generated content (UGC) — can also be a great promotional tool. Be sure to repost UGC as these are valuable recommendations. Speaking of which, it’s always worthwhile encouraging your customers to post a revue or to add your business hashtag # when showcasing your products in action.
Importantly, Instagram offers a number of ecommerce features which will support your efforts to convert followers to customers.
Currently the most widely used social media platform, Facebook allows you to; share photos, provide company updates and information, post videos and other informative content that can help you expand your brand reach and create trust. Unique features include; Facebook Groups, Messenger Rooms, spot polls and Live Events.
Facebook also offers a suite of ecommerce features, while providing some of the most sophisticated targeted advertising tools available on a social media platform. It's powerful analytics tools can help you learn more about your customers as well as track your progress against your SMART goals.
A platform for short messages and shareable media such as photos and videos, Twitter is ideal for company announcements, articles, blog posts, and customer support. Operating in real-time, Twitter is the top option for companies with plenty of news updates and resources to share.
YouTube
Youtube is a video sharing platform that allows users to post videos with a massive upload file size of 128GB, or videos that are 12 hours long. This makes it the perfect platform for more in-depth, educational content — such as styling tips, interviews, tutorials, and transformations.
Typically, YouTube requires more time and effort than other platforms, but it can deliver huge results. YouTube is primarily a search engine, which means users who search for and discover your content are more likely to have a strong interest in the topic and a genuine intent to engage.
TikTok
Similar to YouTube, TikTok is a video-driven platform full of informative, entertaining, and creative content — and businesses are using the platform to show how their products work, share behind-the-scenes, give tips, and join trending challenges.
TikTok’s younger audience means it’s perfect for marketing to Gen Z, and with the demographic shifting to include millennials, it’s the ideal platform for reaching the growing youth market.
Pinterest is a visual discovery platform that is ideal for reaching new, relevant audiences. Plus, the whole experience is fully clickable, making it easy to turn browsers into customers.
On Pinterest, you “pin” photos that link to resources, product pages, blog posts and content on your website or across your other digital platforms. Pinterest is a great platform for driving traffic to your site, and brands can create “boards” full of curated pins — making it easy for your audience to find related pins all at once.
Research, plan and test!
Working out which social media platforms are right for your business can take some time. It’s worthwhile researching what your competitors are doing on social media, and be sure to check out those businesses and brands that are enjoying high engagement and financial success. Make sure your messaging is consistent and create content that is engaging and that will encourage your audience to buy your product or service. Lastly, don’t be afraid to test across different social media platforms, and be sure to measure engagement and sales.
It’s important to remember that growth and sales won’t happen overnight. It requires a commitment and a consistent and strategic approach.
Get started today
If you’re a bit overwhelmed with which social media platform to start with, then Instagram and Facebook are great places to begin for most businesses.
If you need more assistance on developing a social media strategy that’s aligned with your business goals, then contact us by email at info@jmarcconsulting.com.