Choosing The Right Social Media Platform For Your Business

A few months back, I got an invite from a friend to join Snapchat. Intrigued, I instantly signed up. All I knew about the app at the time, was that teens were using it for sexting purposes. But, oh how it would become so much more for marketers. Snapchat is a mobile messaging app that allows you to send pictures and videos to users which self destructs after a few seconds. How cool is that? Its mission impossible turned reality. As of late, it's been the newest, coolest social media tool that everybody seems to be on. Why are you on it?

If you answered because everybody is on it, BUZZER, wrong answer. Don’t try to be everybody.  Just because a new platform emerges, doesn’t mean you should sign up. If you are on a number of networks, how do you keep up? Aren’t you spreading yourself thin? How can you fully realize the potential of a network and give it your best shot if you are on so many? Worse yet, what value is there for your followers to follow you across all these platforms if they are only being bombarded with the same content right across the board? Your company doesn’t have to be on every social media platform to be successful, be selective and choose the ones that are right for you.

How To Choose the Right Platform

In choosing the right platform, its important that you research what the options are, how they are used, their demographic makeup, active user base along with any other helpful information that you deem would be important for your business. You then want to find out more about who your target audience is, where are they spending time, what are your goals, and based on the information you uncovered in your research, choose which platform would be more beneficial to your organization. Here is a helpful graphic from Accion that gives you a brief overview of a few of the more popular social media platforms.

Source: (Accion, 2015)

Let's explore an example, If I am a home builder, I may consider using Facebook as my primary platform to build a relationship with my target audience. Facebook’s user base, based on the graph above, consist of persons aged 25-54 years, this would be a prime target for those looking to buy a house. Another statistic worth exploring would be the income levels of those on Facebook to see if they would fit my purchasing criteria. If they fit my criteria, as part of my Facebook presence, I could launch Facebook ads focused on building brand awareness. I could showcase ads depicting the different types of homes, we can provide (condos, townhouses, single family homes, duplex etc.) to bring awareness to our company offerings.  I could then proceed to using Google AdWords to post ads showcasing our quick possessions available, to drive sales. Since this is a visual product, I could explore niche social platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest which are visual in nature. I could use Pinterest to promote my various blog post from my website, and create boards related to home and design. I could also use Instagram to showcase show homes and quick possessions that are available.

How To Allocate Your Social Media Budget

 Now that you have chosen a platform, lets talk about how to allocate your social media budget. You first want to review your analytical tools to see where your engagement is coming from. If its coming from Facebook and Twitter mostly, you may wish to invest in Twitter and Facebook ads. You can then compare the conversions received from both sites to determine which medium is more effective and then adjust your strategy accordingly. Another helpful tip, is to watch social media trends. This year according to Sprout Social, live streaming videos and mobile will be a big deal. Thus, you may wish to focus on video content as well as geo-targeting ads. What’s trending can help determine what content creations may be best to help drive engagement and conversion for your business, helping you to determine where to spend your money.

Source: (K2seo.com)

Content versus Conversation

There is a popular saying that content is king, while I do agree, there is another saying that conversation not content is king, and I do agree. Content forms the base for conversation to occur, but without engagement, without conversation, your content is simply words on a page not having a big enough impact on your audience. By generating conversation, you are spreading your message, and getting additional feedback which can help build your brand. According to Greenburg, “social marketing efforts need to be driven by content, not vice versa. Without content, there is not a whole lot to talk about. “Have something to say. Say it often. Be interesting. Sound familiar? This is essentially the content publishing model. By incorporating content development into your existing marketing calendar and production process, you can turn social marketing into an asset.”

Key Nuggets

 I understand all of this may be to a lot to take in, so let me summarize how to go about choosing the right social media platform for you:

1. Gain a full understanding of the products and services you offer and your target audience. If you have a buyer persona, you are ahead of the game.
2. Research the various social media platforms that exist and how they are used. Getting both demographic and psychographic details.
3. Research the platforms your competitors are using to get ideas on possibilities you could explore.
4. Then finally, select your platforms and devise your social media strategy accordingly.

If you are looking for some addition read on the topic, here is a helpful resource to help you get started, Social Media Marketing on a Budget: The 4-step Approach That Works