Finding the Right Social Media Platform

"Where should we be posting most?"

A common question business owners have when choosing their main social media platform. Being everywhere at once is difficult for a business without a dedicated Social Media Manager. Small businesses in particular struggle with maintaining a strong social media presence. Even with someone designated to handle all your channels, not all your channels need all your attention. Let's break down which network might work best for you.

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular and notorious social network in the world. With over 2.27 billion monthly users in 2018, it has more users than any other platform. The age demographic ranges from 25 to 34, so keep your target audience in mind. Are you targeting an older demographic of working adults? Facebook may be where you want to spend your time creating content and running ads. Posting content to your page consistently isn't enough on Facebook these days. In recent years, paying-to-play is how you get the best and most consistent results. Facebook has an excellent platform for not only running ads within its own network but on partner networks. Instagram was purchased by Facebook in 2012, so this means your ad reach can extend to that platform as well. Instagram has 1 billion active users with about 72% of teens in the U.S. using the platform everyday. Remember each platform we will discuss reaches a different audience with unique motives for using the platform they're on. Instagram is heavily image-based and your extensive copy might be overlooked.

Twitter Twitter had a total number of 326 million active monthly users in 2018. According to Brandwatch, 80% of Twitter users have mentioned a brand in a tweet. This is important because it speaks to the platform's usefulness as customer service portal. Here you can learn what your prospects, current customers and competition are saying about your business or industry. About 40% of U.S. adults who use Twitter are aged between 18 to 29 years, so know ahead of time if this is an age group you want to target with ads or organic content. Another important thing to keep in mind about Twitter is the fast-paced posting environment. Trending topics change by the minute, hourly or daily depending on the popularity of the topic. You'll need to tweet at minimum hourly to stay relevant and keep your brand in front of your followers. Like all social media platforms this isn't necessarily about pushing your products on your followers as much as possible. Instead, you're giving them nurturing content. Be a thought-leader, a jokester or an informative voice of reason.

LinkedIn

The perfect platform for B2B relations and working professionals. If you're looking to make connections within your industry, LinkedIn is for you. As of 2018, LinkedIn has 590 million users. No other B2B platform provides the same audience pool as LinkedIn. You might not reach potential customers here but it is great way to inform a large network of professionals of your company's values and culture. This is another great way to keep an eye out for what your competition is up to and where you can make improvements in your own business. According to Foundation Inc, 91% of marketing executives list LinkedIn as the top place to find quality content. Here you can cement your place online as a thought leader in your industry. Promote blog posts, comment on industry news and increase your connections with other prominent industry influencers.

Pinterest

The median age for Pinterest is 40 and the audience is typically women. Pinterest is a great place to promote visual content. If your products benefit from visual display ads or you have "How-to" content like recipes, routines or infographics, Pinterest might be the platform for you. Pinterest currently has just over 250 million active users. Pin consistently is the mantra here and promoted pins get better results. This platform has better use for business that make products or have services focused on older women. If this is your target demographic, consider setting up a business account and start posting your pins.

Google

Last but certainly not least is Google. Not necessarily a social network but it is the main channel for finding all things online. With over 2 billion active users spread out over it's many properties it is essential that business owners learn where to start with Google. Having a Google My Business account is essential to localized small business. While you might not choose to have Twitter or Instagram, being a part of the Google Search Network when someone is intently searching for business is critical. As stated above a Google My Business account is the perfect place to start. When people search your business name the correct address, phone number and most importantly ratings come up. You can learn how to set up an account here. Most importantly the Google Ads network dominants the Search Engine Marketing world. When we search for products or services on Google we not only see the top organic results for our needs, but also paid results for businesses specifying what they provide for customers. Google also owns the second most popular search engine in the world, YouTube. YouTube has over 1.8 billion users every month. This platform is most effective for businesses that have an archive of video content. According to Hootsuite, 96% of 18 to 24 year old American internet users use YouTube. Google is the biggest search engine on the market, be sure to take advantage of all the tools and services it provides, increase your brand awareness.

Conclusion

Finding that perfect platform will always come back to a few key factors. The demographic you hope to reach, your business goals and the type of content you have. Do some soul searching within your business as a starting point. Layout your business goals, is it sales or increased brand awareness? Each platform has a way to meet most business goals. It's less about asking where you should be posting and more about where your customer base is online and what do they want to see.