Deciding which social media channel to use for your business can be downright overwhelming. After all, you have many options to choose from, and it seems like a new network is popping up each day.
On the other hand, social media is constantly evolving. Twitter introduced Twitter Spaces, Facebook now has Messenger Rooms and Clubhouse is its own platform for real-time audio chats.
It can be tempting to have a social media presence on all platforms. However, it’s best to determine the right channel for your brand and audience.
Why A Social Media Presence Is Important
We live in an age where consumers use social media to interact with their favorite brands and vice versa. Does it matter if your company establishes a social media presence or not?
The short answer is yes. However, it also depends on other factors. If you find your business is doing sufficiently well in reaching its goals, then it may not be necessary. However, if you want to expose your brand to new people and provide better customer service, you should certainly consider it.
Which Social Media Channel Is Right For My Business?
About 82% of Americans are on social media. If you think it will benefit your business, you need to establish a presence.
Here’s what to consider when choosing a social media channel.
1. Which Goals Do You Have In Mind?
It’s always important to consider your business’s goals. That way, when you begin setting your social media objectives, certain platforms will stick out in the process.
Each one offers different benefits, but you want to keep these top of mind:
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- Brand awareness
- Lead generation
- Customer engagement
Determine which goals are part of your social media strategy, then keep them written down when weighing your options. For example, if your company’s goal is to drive purchases, you could consider Pinterest as part of your social media strategy. According to research, 87% of pinners have made purchases because of this site.
2. What Type of Content Will You Create?
You may already have a library of content in stock. Some companies like to stash what they’ve written to repurpose it for social media content later. It’s important to take note of that and whether you’ll need to create more posts soon.
You should also consider other ways you’ll be creating content. For instance, does your brand mainly post videos, or does it use images to tell stories? Maybe you’ll choose to do a little bit of everything.
The type of content that you curate will directly influence your final decision.
For instance, if you’ll be mainly posting video content, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube should be your top choices. TikTok can be another consideration. However, if you cannot create content for that type of platform, then it may not be the right channel for you.
Be realistic about the content you intend to create. Once you start on a new network, you must have the right amount and type of information to post consistently.
#socialmediatip Be realistic about the content you intend to create. Once you start on a new network, you must have the right amount and type of information to post consistently. Click To Tweet3. Which Social Media Channels Are Your Target Audience Using?
Evaluate which channels your target audience is on. One way of checking this is to look at your website’s data. Determine where your referrals are coming from and consider it from there.
Knowing which channels your customers are coming from is the easiest way to understand where you should establish your brand’s presence.
Another way of evaluating this is to identify your target audience. You probably already know who they are based on your current business strategy. Use that information and align it with the most recent statistics for each social media platform.
Additionally, it helps to review which demographics are more present on each social media channel with the data you have collected.
4. Which Resources Do You Have Available?
How many social media channels do you plan on using to achieve your goals? For instance, if you plan on increasing brand awareness, it might not make sense to use only one platform.
Consider other elements, such as your funding and social media skills. Can you manage more than one channel with your budget? How familiar are you with creating the right content for each platform?
For instance, if you have a tight budget, it might be best to stick with one channel for starters. Managing more than one, especially if it’s just you that handles it, can result in lower-quality content.
Also, if you have limited skills, you might not have the resources required to produce the right content. For example, if you use YouTube, you’d need a video producer to create high-quality videos.
How many social media channels do you plan on using to achieve your business goals? Click To Tweet5. Where Are Your Online Competitors?
It’s always an excellent idea to research your competitors on social media. Analyze what types of information they’re posting. Where are they posting, and which content types work well for them? Are they receiving comments, and what are users saying?
Finding these answers can help you better understand your competitors’ performance. Completing a competitor analysis on social media can provide lots of information. In fact, 72% of businesses use this data to make informed decisions.
There are two ways you should use your social data. First, you should assess customer loyalty strength. Then, examine the strengths and weaknesses of the competitors’ products or services. It’s a good sign if you find they perform well in both aspects on a specific channel.
Overall, it means you should be able to perform well, too.
Performing competitor research on social media? Analyze what types of information they're posting. Where are they posting, and which content types work well for them? Are they receiving comments, and what are users saying? Click To Tweet6. What Is Your Industry?
Although Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are the top social platforms, they shouldn’t automatically be your final choices. Channel popularity varies by industry, so you should research which platform is good for your enterprise.
Look at how often your industry publishes posts daily across various platforms to understand better. Then you can research how many messages they receive daily.
This type of information will give you an idea of what to expect for engagement so you can plan your social media goals accordingly.
Determining Which Social Media Channel Is Best for You
Deciding which network is best for your business shouldn’t be overwhelming. Although there are several networks to choose from, answer the questions listed above to help narrow your choices.
When investing in your social media presence, start by choosing one channel to keep it simple. You can always add more networks later to boost your company and business growth.
Ciao,
Miss Kemya