Marketing your business on social media has become one of the most essential things to do, regardless of the scale of the business. Some do it to attract a new or build a larger customer base, others use it solely to give their business a kick start, since social media marketing is relatively cheaper than conventional marketing and the results are, for the lack of a better word, more tangible and rather quick. However, in this day and age, a new social media platform seems to emerge from underneath every rock you pick, but networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn still remain on top of the head owing to their huge user base and popularity; this makes it difficult for business owners to decide which social media platform or platforms to opt for or experiment with to market their business.
Define Your Objective:
Before we talk about which platform to choose and how to go about using it, we need you to be crystal clear about what you want. Are you trying to:
- Improve your customer service and build customer loyalty?
- Create a channel for customer feedback?
- Update your customers on new products, services, or deals?
- Increase traffic to your website?
- Conduct informal market research?
Once you know exactly what you are aiming for at every stage of your business (because objectives change with each stage), you will be able to align the right kind of platform with your aims.
Make Sure You Know Your Audience:
While all of these platforms share similar features, something or the other about the set of benefits they offer makes them attract and engage a different kind of audience and user base; and that is one of the first things you must keep in mind, which will require you to first define the kind of audience you want for your business. The better you know your customer and your audience, who will become your potential customers, the better you will know which platform they spend most of their time on, and that will help you decide which platform will be most suitable for your business.
Different platforms collect and store different kinds of data of their users; Facebook, for example, collects huge amounts of data of its users, from their location to their location to their interests and their likes and dislikes and what not, hence letting you target a very detailed set of demographics in a quick and easy way through its ad manager, also its ad manager is very user friendly.
When trying to choose between Facebook or Twitter, for example, consider the following demographics:
Twitter Demographics:
- Age based, the largest user demographic is those aged 25–34
- Facebook users are 53% female and 47% male
- 56% of online seniors aged 65+ are on Facebook and 63% are between age 50–60
Facebook Demographics:
- 32% of internet users aged 18 to 29 continue to use Twitter
- 13% of those aged 50 to 64 use Twitter
- Almost half of girls aged 15 to 17 (49%) use Twitter, compared to 34% of boys
- While only 19% of online moms use Twitter, 27% of online dads embrace the service
Learn From Your Competitors:
One of the best ways to get ahead in a game is to observe your competitor and see what works for them. Make a list of your competitors, and note which platforms they have been getting the most engagement out of their audience on. Do not only look at the successful competitors, though; notice the strategies of the unsuccessful brands that are similar to yours, too, and learn from them what not to do. It may also be possible that the fault lies not in their strategy, but in their execution; perhaps you can pick up their strategy and execute it to success.
Keyword research is one of the things that will help you see which social media platform your target audience or market has been using the most. Not just that, it will also show you which keywords your competitors are using to reach their goals.
All Those Numbers Don’t Always Mean ‘Sold’:
Just like all that glitter is not gold, all those numbers do not (always) mean a brand is perorming well in terms of business. When you look at your competitors for ideas, try not to care too much about the number of followers or likes they have. Instead of defining your goals in terms of numbers, keep in mind the platforms that will work for you in terms of attracting relevant audience and increased engagement. Remember, always prefer quality over quantity, for a larger audience will not always mean more conversions for your business. Initially, rather than defining your goals in terms of the number of fans or followers you want to reach, think about which platforms will help you increase engagement with your audience.
