How To Decide Which Social Media Platforms To Use For Your Business

Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram have become the prominent social networking tools for millions of online marketing hopefuls.

A vast number of users are using these channels to push out hundreds of thousands of links that promote goods, and services. But the question is, how can you choose the best social media platform for your business?

There are many channels to choose from but it largely depends on the nature of your business, your ultimate goals and which platforms your target audience is actually on.

Today I’m sharing with you a few tips on how to choose the right social media platform for your business.

1. Consider your ultimate goals

Here’s the real deal. Maintaining a social media presence takes lots of effort, trust me! I’m a social media manager, partner in an ad agency and believe me, keeping up on social media is exhausting.

And that’s just for the clients, imagine having to do it all for yourself!

It’s always best if you know exactly what you’re going after with your social media efforts. This will help you choose the right platform. Of course, the end goal is to engage your customers and increase profitability.

While the ultimate goal of every business is to generate revenue, different organizations have different objectives for their social media plan.

Knowing what you want to achieve will help you in choosing the best channel for your business needs. If you’re after lots of people loving you and following you, then Instagram is the place to be.

If you’re looking to be known as an expert in a specific field, I may suggest LinkedIn.

If you’re looking for buyers of household items, school books and gift ideas I will send you over to Pinterest.

Your business goal determines where you’re going to be hanging out on social media.

2. Know who your target audience is

If you haven’t heard me say this many times before, I’m saying it again this blog post. Once you’ve establised what your end goals are, you need to know who you’re trying to reach.

When you figure out who your target audience is, it is easier to find out where they most likely will be hanging out and what they care about.

People between the ages of 18-34 hang out on new social sites like Snapchat and Tik Tok while more mature people can be found on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Pinterest.

If you’re not sure, look at where your competitors invest their time and where they get the most engagement.

3. Find out what your audience wants

Apart from knowing where you audience is, you also need to figure out what your audience loves. What gets your audience most excited on social media?

What they want could be images, video, articles. It could be that they love music or movies. Whatever they want is what you want to give them.

Because you want them to come check you out. They will only do that with someone they believe “gets them”.

Once you have determined what your audience wants, invest more time on the platforms they use most so that you can connect with them on their home ground.

If you are unsure, see what other similar businesses are doing and what response they get from their audience.

If videos seem to be doing well, then you can be certain that platforms such as YouTube and Facebook will be great for your brand.

4. Determine what you have time for

As stated earlier, maintaining a social media channel takes lots of effort. Therefore, choose one that you will be able to do easily and consistently. If not you can always hire a social media manager.

Some platforms are time-consuming to maintain while others would take less of your time to maintain. If you only have an extra hour a day for social media, keep your efforts limited to one or two social networks that will make an impact.

If you are short on time and think you have to be on multiple channels, consider outsourcing your social media management.

So as I’ve said it’s not rocket science but if you follow these 4 simple tips you’re a long way ahead of those who don’t have all these pieces.

Whatever your choice, it’s a good idea to choose a platform that will help you achieve your business goals and reflect your business values. If you still need a little help navigating the world of social media give me a buzz and let’s chat!