Social Media is a huge world with so many options. Do I tweet, pin, post, snap? Every business has limited resources, especially smaller businesses and startups, so we want to make sure you’re expending your effort on the social platforms where it really counts for you.
The social media platforms you “should” use are entirely up to YOUR business and your business goals. Let’s review the major social media platforms and what or who they’re best for. Remember, it’s not a one-size-fits-all option.
It’s hard to find someone who is NOT on Facebook. After all, it is the biggest social network on the web. This is a platform every business should be on, as it’s likely all of your customers are too. Plus, you have Insights to help you understand your audience and the best times to post. Not to mention the ability to advertise and precisely target your advertising — on any budget. The only caveat, is if your target customer is under 25, resources may be better spent on other platforms. Either way, you should definitely have a Facebook business page.
Twitter is a great way to make sure that you’re involved in any conversations going on about your business. This is where people go to a brand for questions and concerns and you want to make sure you know what people are saying. Because there is so much going on, it’s harder for your fans to see each of your Tweets. However, this is a good platform to get your information to go viral when your Tweets are seen. A great example is if a bigger company likes what you have to say and Retweets you, you could gain a lot of followers and exposure. This is one of those platforms that seems to be a staple for customers and businesses alike, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.
Pinterest users include a wide age-range demographic of women. Almost half of online women use Pinterest, with the majority of users between the ages of 18 and 49. Since this is an image-heavy platform, it’s best used if you’re in an industry that can be conveyed through compelling photos. This could include beauty, fashion, home decor, art, food or animals. Since Pinterest is one of the largest sources of traffic to stores, it’s a great way to potentially increase your sales. Plus, you can promote your pins, similar to how you promote posts on Facebook and provide users with a “Buy” link right from Pinterest.
Instagram has great reach with over 500 million people using the app, so it’s a great way to help build your brand and expose your business to new customers. Note that over 50% of its users are aged 18 to 29. However, Instagram does not allow for any links on individual posts, which makes selling on the app more difficult. Our recommendation is to build a presence on Instagram, especially if your user base is under 29, but don’t count on it for a large number of direct sales.
SNAPCHAT
This platform is best if you’re targeting millennials, as the majority of their users are under age 24. Plus, the marketing landscape is still being figured out on this platform. It’s been most successful for brands that are creating unique video content or behind the scenes footage. It can be helpful to build a loyal following, but if you’re new to social media, we probably wouldn’t recommend dedicating too many resources to Snapchat.
This platform is more of a way to network with other people in your business. We wouldn’t necessarily call it a necessity to create a business page. It is a bit easier to build relationships on this site thanks to all of the personal profiles, but it’s not associated with shopping or increasing sales.
Hopefully these overviews helped you get a clearer understanding as to who is on these platforms and what they are used for. We recommend spending most of your time on the two or three social media channels that you think best fit with your target audience. It’s better to be stronger and get more results on just a couple of platforms, than weaker with less results on all of platforms.
Statistics and information was sourced from here, here and here.