To pick the best social media platform for your business, you first have to ask:
“What are my social media goals?”
Think of it like a dissertation. It starts with a question — a “why?”. You will find value in using social media if you’re able to identify why you want to use it. This step may seem minor, but having a clear objective is far too important; because there are so many social media platforms — all capable of numerous things. And I don’t think I need to tell any aspiring entrepreneurs how dangerous it is to spread yourself thin — trying to cater to every audience.
It’s far more viable to research what you (and your business) will gain from using social media. And from there, decide which platform will help you achieve the aforementioned goals.
Last thing anyone needs is to swipe right on Tinder to secure a copywriting gig. Sure, its possible, but is that really the target platform for that sort of thing?
Exaggerated examples aside; research, ladies and gentlemen — Research is the first step. After researching your business objectives, you may come to realize that you don’t need your business to feature on every single social media platform; only a few.
Extremely beneficial for resource management 🙂 .
What is your brand all about?
Of all the questions to ask yourself when deciding the best social media platform to use; this may be the most important one. When people think of your brand, what do they see? (Or if you’re starting out, what do you want them to see?)
A quirky attitude akin to TikTok videos? Snippets of amazing food that you may see on Instagram? Or a wisecracking voice that drops one liners with Twitter threads?
It’s important to specialize and hone in on your business’s strengths. For example, If your business is centered around food, hardware or anything that requires visuals to authenticate; Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat may help in this area. If your business centers around forming connections or sharing information then Twitter and LinkedIn are better suited for the task.
Copywriting, Personal vlogs or articles, TikTok, WordPress and so on.
You can also take the time to see what platforms other brands (like yours) are using. It’s not unethical, it’s simply part of the research process.
Take it a step further and look at opportunities that are not being used by your competitors. There are often gaps that go unnoticed by our rivals that may be easier to notice as observers.
Find your audience
If ever we needed something to narrow down our platform of choice it would be this, our audience. Social media strategies should, in many ways, center around where in cyberspace our core customers are likely to be found.
To find your core audience, you’re going to have to consider the demographics on each platform and the subcultures therein. Once you have a clear picture, you can take the next step.
There is obviously some minutiae that comes with target audiences. Perhaps you want a younger demographic that’s into Dark-Synth or adults with a tilt towards sports. All of these and more have a community on one or more of the following platforms. The key is to find which ones you’re willing to put time into.
Know Your Platforms
Twitter goes by many names, ranging from “The internet at its finest” to a “Virtual nuclear wasteland”.
Regardless of Twitter’s reputation, it’s definitely a good hub for engagement. There are people of all ages on Twitter, which is great. But what really sets Twitter apart are the #hashtags.
By using #hashtags you can search or even participate in trending topics. This is what makes Twitter particularly useful for businesses, the platform provides near limitless insight on what’s considered popular. The best part is, you are alerted to important news in real-time; incredibly useful in finding business opportunities before your competitors.
You can find over 2.7 billion users on Facebook. To put that into perspective there are 7.9 billion people on Earth as of 2021. That’s a huge chunk of the world’s population, with a wide ranging demographic of teenagers, young adults and even the elderly.
However, this wide range of demographics comes with a bit of a downside. Starting a business on Facebook can be quite risky considering all the cyberspace noise.
[Cyberspace Noise: Think of it as an internet bazaar. Everyone is shouting, marketing their own thing. And in the process, they drown each other out. Customers are often overwhelmed with choice — which ultimately decreases the chances of your business being picked]
I would encourage using Facebook when you have built a sizeable following. Facebook is, by far, the easiest way to keep in touch with a majority of your loyal customers.
YouTube
YouTube is another heavy-hitter that shouldn’t be overlooked. With approximately 2.3 billion users you’re sure to find your audience.
Videos that tend to draw the most traffic are “Top 10s” and “How To”s as YouTube shows up even on Google search engines. If your business offers services of any kind you’ll feel right at home.
But of course it’s not that simple — easy access to YouTube ensures high levels of competition. If you’re looking to venture on YouTube you will need to stand out and have your own voice. Often times, majority of YouTube videos sound the same, all regurgitating the same thing; that’s the fastest way to go nowhere. Have your own voice 🙂 and also, do your best to please the algorithm gods lol
TikTok
Who doesn’t know about TikTok at this point? That’s the question that should precede this segment. You will find a majority of users on TikTok are between the ages of 18-24.
What makes TikTok particularly interesting are the snappy 3 minute videos that can be watched as someone is attending to other business. Unlike YouTube, people who go on TikTok know what they watch will be succinct and to the point. We can use that to our benefit when formulating our marketing strategy.
You can advertise your services your through creative means using TikTok. But more importantly, TikTok offers you a chance to show your brand’s humanity by being a little goofy here and there. It’s TikTok’s entire subculture; embrace it.
No-one wants to work with a downer… right?
Instagram is fast growing, especially with younger audiences. The platform is known for its’ high quality photos (and the IG models *ahem*). Instagram is a good platform to add to your early marketing strategy; there is no perfect time to go on Instagram — any time works. Unlike TikTok or YouTube; Instagram requires far less effort to maintain should you have other things to attend to; this makes it a good platform for preliminary social media strategies.
Bear in mind, Instagram works well with visual-based businesses. If you have art, food or beauty products to display; you will absolutely shine because there is always a market for that on Instagram. If you’re wondering how you can setup your Instagram business account click here.
So let’s summarize:
After defining your social media goals, align said goals with your brand identity, which will help with the ultimate step; finding your audience.
A crucial tip I can offer is to avoid burn-out by trying to go on all platforms at the same time. Unless you have the resources to maintain a significant presence on all platforms, please take care of your mental health.
And to avoid feeling like you’ve wasted your time, it’s important to research platforms you believe have potential for your business; the rules that govern them are liable to change overnight. For example, no-one thought YouTube would ever start issuing DMCA strikes over background music with a Thor hammer until recently.
It’s important to stay updated on any new developments with social media platforms.
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