How to Choose the Right Social Media Platforms for Your Business

Social media has proven itself to be a necessary marketing tool for every business. If you want your business to keep thriving in today’s digital world, you need to use social media. Studies show that 92% of marketers claim that social media increased their brand exposure . It is crucial that businesses create and maintain their presence on these platforms to stay relevant. 

But how do you get started? With hundreds of social networks to choose from, the process of determining the right social media platforms to use can be overwhelming. You can’t be active on all of them all the time, right? So how do you determine which social media platforms are right for your business and marketing efforts?

We compiled a list of things to consider when choosing the right social media platforms for your business:

5 Tips to Choose the Right Social Media Platforms for Your Business

1. Define your goals to choose the right social media platforms

It’s important to set specific goals first before moving forward to the next steps. These goals will give you a much clearer path when deciding which social media platforms will help you achieve these goals. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, boost brand engagement or build a community around your business?

Your objectives will help determine not only which social media platform you choose, but also the content you create, the audience you target, and more.

2. Identify and connect with your audience

Now that you have defined your goals, it’s time to identify your audience. Find out your target audiences’ demographics and determine which platform/s they are currently using. You’ll also want to consider how active your audience is on that platform. The primary intention of using social media to market your business is to connect you to the best audience for what you’re selling. It is important to choose a platform that your audience always uses. 

After you’ve done this, decide where your target audience spends their time the most. Armed with this information, strategize how you’ll reach them by establishing the main purpose of the content you’ll be sharing with them. 

3. Consider the nature of your business

Different types of businesses across multiple industries will definitely have varying needs when it comes to the social media platforms they use.. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all situation. To choose a platform that matches your business’ goals, you may first consider the nature of the company. Is it a business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C)? For example, for B2C companies, Facebook and Instagram help visually engage and interact with customers. While for B2B companies, LinkedIn can help build a stronger brand connection. It can also help to target potential clients while keeping current clients updated on their business. 

4. Understand the purpose of each social platform

Each social media platform serves a different purpose. The people who log in to these platforms use each of them in different ways. Choosing the right social media platform for your business and tailoring your key messages for each will make it easier to reach your target audience.

Before you start creating an account on every social media platform, it is essential to first understand what each platform does. For example, if your target audience is millennials, being on Instagram and Twitter are the right platforms to select. It is important to understand your audience’s behavior and to predict how they will discover your business online. It will also be helpful to consider how you use each social media platform as a consumer yourself. 

Here are examples of the most used social media platforms for businesses:

• Facebook – Facebook is no doubt the largest social media network today with more than 2.7 billion monthly active users as of the 2nd quarter of  2020. The platform tends to be very emotion-driven. It is a place where people want to connect with their families and friends, in addition to the brands they enjoy and trust.
• Twitter – It’s where people go for news and live event updates. It’s used to monitor and stay up to date on trending topics, events and news in real-time. This also is a convenient place for consumers to quickly communicate with brands and businesses they follow.
• Instagram – A platform where users can edit and share photos, videos and messages. Creating shareable content to entice users to tag and share with their friends will help expand your reach on this platform.
• YouTube – Video content becomes more important in the digital marketing space. YouTube has become a popular social media platform for vlogs and other types of video content. Your business can share anything from how-to guides or instructional videos and corporate videos on this platform.

5. Locate your competitors

You know your business inside and out. It’s time to research your top competitors in the market. Assess which social media platforms your competitors are using to promote their business and engage with potential customers. Knowing that, you can carefully consider which platform would be best for you. Check their social media pages regularly and see what content they are posting. Other things to pay attention to are how often they are posting and how many users  engage with the content. Then choose which social media platform is yielding the best results and start creating a social media calendar. 

Understanding your competitive landscape will help you build an effective strategy for targeting influencers and audiences to purchase your product and remember your brand.

Verz design can help you build an effective social media strategy

Let us to help you engage with potential customers, keep up with the latest trends and stay ahead of the competition. We create compelling content for different mediums and know just how to entice your target audience. Get started on the most popular social media platforms today with Verz Design’s Digital Marketing services!

Give us a call at 6841 1680 or drop us an email at enquiry@verzdesign.com to schedule a free consultation to find out more!