Social media marketing is essential for brand visibility, customer engagement, and driving sales. But with so many platforms available, which ones should your business focus on?
When social media started to enter the public consciousness in the early 2000s, it was very much a tool to help users connect with friends, colleagues, and loved ones. Fast-forward to the modern day and users are now just as likely to connect with their favorite brands as well as friends and family. For businesses like yours, it presents a glorious opportunity thanks to social media marketing.
However, with multiple social media platforms to choose from to reach your target audience, knowing which social media site deserves your time (and marketing budget) can feel like a minefield. Get it right and you can significantly grow your base of followers and site visitors, engage new customers, and increase sales.
This guide will teach you how to navigate social media sites and determine what the best social media platforms are that align with your company’s goals.
As is detailed in our guide to the advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing, small businesses will face challenges as they look to incorporate the best social media platforms into their marketing mix, and find success across multiple platforms. However, the opportunities presented by actively seeking engagement through them are simply too good to ignore.
If your business hasn’t yet fully committed to social media marketing, the following stats are sure to make you finally take note.
Social media marketing has become an integral part of creating a digital marketing strategy, and its influence on strengthening the connection between brands and their user base will only continue to grow.
However, every business is on a unique journey and must therefore have meaningful conversations with consumers that reflect their uniqueness. Choosing the best social media platforms to promote your consumer goods and services, and reach consumers in your niche, will be a crucial step on the path to success.
Before determining the best top social media platforms for your business, you must take a moment to analyze your goals and how best to achieve them. Whether you take the DIY approach or hire a social media advertising specialist, the following questions will go a long way to helping you identify who you’re trying to attract, what customer data you need to collect, what the tone and tenor of your social posts should be, and the amount of time and resources you need to commit to your future campaigns:
Once you know what the intentions of your campaigns are, you can create a strategy and begin to consider the best social media platform or platforms for your brand.
The average social media user now has 8 social accounts. Let’s face it, you probably have personal experiences of bouncing between Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media platforms throughout the day. However, you can also relate to the fact that you use the individual platforms in very different ways.
So, businesses can feel positive about the fact that their audience can be found on many if not all of the most popular social media platforms. To get the most out of their business platform, though, understanding the key features of each site is vital. Here’s a quick look at all the main options.
Globally, nearly 2 billion Facebook users are on the platform daily, with nearly 3 billion logging in as monthly active users. While it is a highly competitive environment, advertising on Facebook is particularly useful as ads can be run widely or targeted toward specific audiences based on age, location, interests, education, income, and more. Facebook is shown to provide the highest quality leads and ROI for paid ads.
As well as being a place for content creation across multiple forms of media, Facebook Messenger interactions can introduce users to special deals or serve as a handy means of providing customer support. Because Facebook Messenger is easy to use and is a free component of Facebook, it is particularly popular with millennials and older generations aged 18 – 54, with the largest segment of active users falling within the 25 – 34 age range.
Twitter is another social media platform that penetrates audiences across different generations. While it hasn’t always been utilized well by marketers, 93% of users are open to brands getting involved in the conversation. Listening and humor can become key aspects for building brand awareness, particularly if your messages go viral.
A tweet with hashtags additionally allows new users to discover your brand while you can capitalize on social events like sports events to leverage synergy and success. Furthermore, it allows you to be involved in the community without spending money.
Instagram is a very “visual platform” and easily one of the best social platforms for companies that wish to embrace the use of images and visual content to help illustrate their brand’s value proposition. Up to 98% of marketers state that Instagram is the best platform for social influencer cultivation and marketing. So, it is particularly powerful for brands looking to connect with creatives and reach users between the ages of 18-34.
The visual content that users access on Instagram includes short form videos, and photos to encourage interaction and engagements. Over 90% of Instagram users actively follow at least one business. Discovery pages will help users find new brands based on the content with which they regularly interact. This is great for conversions.
TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021 and is one of the best social media platforms to reach younger audiences in Gen Z (ages 10-25). There has been a 700% growth in the number of marketers who believe it helps reach their business objectives in just 12 months. Businesses still have time to make the most of this fast-growing app to gain competitive advantage over other companies within their business vertical.
Funny videos, the latest trends, and entertaining brand partnerships with influencers have all proven successful at engaging and inspiring TikTok users. Meanwhile, paid ads within the platform are also very effective, not least because it is among the most engaging sites that keeps users scrolling for information, inspiration and entertainment longer.
Google search remains the top way for users to discover brands online. A Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business, is now one of the most important social accounts you can have to help grow your business. The largest search engine is particularly good for driving local traffic to your website or offline store with 93% of users searching for local companies on the platform.
It’s no longer just a link to your site. Updates, photos, and interactions create the perfect starting point as people begin their shopping journey online. Google marketing has changed and it is now one of the latest trends for companies who want to hit mobile and desktop users alike.
There are literally hundreds of other channels out there. But the choices you are most likely to consider, depending on the nature of your business and your goals, could include:
Ultimately, the best social media channel for your business is the one that will allow you to engage with your customer base in the most meaningful fashion. The great news, however, is that you can set up pages across all channels for free. Better still, you can use a content calendar and automated publishing software to reshare your content across each social platform with ease. So, while you should have a primary focus on 1 – 2 social media platforms, embracing additional social media sites is quicker and easier than ever.
And if you still need help finding the right solutions or building a defined campaign to reach your target audience, get in touch with our friendly experts today at Social Firm.
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