Choosing the Right Social Media Platform for Online Presence

Tips on Choosing The Right Social Media Platform For You

1. Find Out Who Your Audience Is

Identifying your audience is a key part when it comes to selecting the right social media platform.

Before planning a marketing strategy a business needs to know who their target audience is, their age, gender, interests, and more. Knowing this will enable them to market and target the right audience.

Hence, understanding the demographics and the consumer behavior of your potential audience is the first step. 

2. Define The Goal Of Your Company

Once a company has determined who its target audience is, the next step is to identify the company’s objectives.

We’re all aware that a company’s primary goal is to make money, and the only way to do so is to create a customer base. 

Using social media as a tool for marketing is a great choice as it lets you build your brand online and facilitates engagement with your customers/potential customers.

We can take “Boohoo” for example. Boohoo is an online fashion company that sells a wide variety of clothes and accessories to men and women. Their target audience is people within the age group of 13-30.

Although with the devastating impact of Covid -19 on all the industries, Boohoo is one of the several companies that have grown tremendously during the pandemic. Their business grew by 45% by the end of May 2020.

There are many factors that were involved with their growth, but one of the biggest contributing factors is influencer marketing. Reportedly in 2018, Boohoo spent about £80m on influencer marketing; a strategy it has since continued.

Highly Recommended: Study some case studies on big brands and how they devise their digital marketing strategies

3. Find Your Audience

Now that you’ve determined who your target audience is and what your company’s aim is, you can go on to discover where your target audience is located.

Knowing how many active members of your target audience are on the social media platform you select to establish your presence on is crucial, as choosing a platform where your potential consumers aren’t present is a bad idea.

These are the main factors that you must consider while choosing the right social media platform.

Below given are the popular social media platforms with detailed information that will help you identify your target audience.

• Facebook

Facebook, the most popular social media network, is utilized by almost every sort of business, even if it is only to maintain an online presence. Some small businesses choose not to have a website at all and instead receive orders through their Facebook page or group!

Because Facebook is rapidly limiting the reach of Facebook page posts, it is not ideal for B2B firms. As a result, B2C businesses that spend a lot of time crafting the perfect Facebook post don’t always achieve the reach they deserve.

However, B2C enterprises should continue to have a presence on Facebook to increase their brand’s popularity. However, they do not need to devote too much time to the platform.

Please note: if you want to market and advertise on Instagram, it is mandatory to have a Facebook page!

Facebook is best for brands in e-commerce; entertainment, news, or media; restaurants and food; travel; and other aspirational or relatable products.

So if you’re someone who’s looking to build up their skills in Facebook ads, you must check out our Online Facebook Ads Course to upskill yourself and learn all the nitty-gritty of facebook advertising.

• Instagram

Like Pinterest, Instagram also focuses on images. Any business that needs to portray its products or services through visuals, has the potential to do well on Instagram. 

However, investing in a good photographer, good camera equipment, and coming up with good concepts are essential to succeed on Instagram. You can also go “behind the scenes” using the story feature or the Instagram reels feature to keep your views updated and engaged”.

Did You Know? Instagram has announced new insights reels & live insights features, a bonus feature and Reels Ads Features.

Some of the brands that could succeed on Instagram include those of food and beverages, fitness, fashion, lifestyle, photography, adventure sports, travel, arts and crafts, makeup, hair, etc. 

Since these are visually appealing brands, Instagram will be one of the key mediums to portray their businesses. Instagram also is a great platform for influencers to build their fanbase and promote themselves to businesses for influencer marketing.

Check out our Online Facebook & Instagram Ads course if you want to learn more about Instagram as a social media marketing platform and possibly develop the skills needed to be a great marketer.

Also Read: 8 Instagram Accounts That Budding Fashion Designers Can Learn From

• LinkedIn

LinkedIn, dubbed the “professional” Facebook, allows you to connect with professionals, business people, and thought leaders from a variety of sectors. It was created as a B2B medium and produces the best results when it comes to marketing B2B companies and brands.

If you are a B2B company or a big business, your primary social media focus should be on LinkedIn. With over 250 million active users every month you should use this platform to connect with more people in your industry as well as thought leaders. 

You can add value to your brand by using the platform to post compelling content, write articles, read posts and comment on them, help other individuals out, etc.

Check This Out: Why Every College Student Should Spend At Least 15 Mins A Day On LinkedIn

• Twitter

With over 330 million active users monthly, Twitter is ideal for sharing popular topics, news, as well as opinions, brief life updates (if you’re famous), and personal thoughts and humor.

Twitter also allows users to participate in brand contests and easily find like-minded people to follow. So, if you’re a news or media company, Twitter will work out superbly for you. 

This is the same for celebs and internet celebs; journalists; and FMCG companies who want to keep increasing their follower count by hosting several contests and giveaways. In general, you should only be on Twitter if you have adequate time to devote to it. When it comes to Twitter, you must be quick to respond.

Get in on the trending topics, be one of the first few people to tweet about a breaking news story, join in on conversations, react to anyone who tweets to you about a complaint or otherwise, and simply use the platform for customer service and relationship marketing regularly.

We suggest Twitter be used by companies who are into FMCG products, e-commerce, service, news and media, celeb management, politics, sports, and finance.

Find Out Here: Twitter’s algorithm update (How this changes Twitter completely)

• Youtube

With over 1 billion monthly active users, it is the second most popular search engine after Google. YouTube has an unquestionable reach and influencing power.

You can find channels dedicated to fashion, fitness, short films, sketches, knowledge, tutorials, reviews, and pretty much everything else that can be represented through video on YouTube.

YouTube, like Facebook, may be utilized for promotional purposes by both B2C and B2B businesses. Brands who create mass appeal material (such as those stated above) will discover that YouTube thrives for them.

For high investment purchase brands (like real estate), showcasing their products and services on YouTube helps to build brand awareness and trustworthiness. Potential customers will likely try to find the brand’s videos before making a purchase decision. 

A YouTube channel will also come in handy for businesses who want to use a video on their website or blog as the videos are usually embedded via YouTube itself.

Due to the high production value of each video, maintaining a presence on YouTube may be more expensive than on other social media sites. However, video marketing is becoming more popular, and if you can keep the costs under control in the near term, your investment will more than pay for itself in the long run.

So, if you can use videos to sell your product/service better, we say you go for it!

• Pinterest

Pinterest is a social media platform that acts as a visual bookmarking platform for finding and saving creative ideas. On something called boards, you can pin (save) photographs (along with a brief description) from any website. Pinterest photographs can also be re-pinned (saved) to boards.

Pinterest has over 322 million active users per month is great for creating mood boards, getting inspiration, or just keeping stuff you like together in one place.

 So, if you’re a brand that is into photography, e-commerce, weddings and events, D.I.Y. tutorials, arts and crafts, home décor, travel, make-up, hair, and so on, Pinterest will work well for you. 

Just make sure to link your pins to your main blog page or website! You can create buyable pins too allowing users to buy your product without leaving Pinterest!

• Snapchat:

With over 380 million monthly active users, teenagers and young adults account for 53% of the user base. For firms targeting millennials, Snapchat is a gold mine. Video advertisements, filters, and sponsored collaborations with influencers are all options for advertising on the network.

And, you can use the app more natively by releasing behind-the-scenes, footage, new collections, exclusive promo codes, etc. 

If you have a dating app like Bumble or Tinder or if you are a travel company, you can definitely leverage the power of Snapchat. 

Ultimate Face-Off: Instagram v/s Snapchat & Which Tells A Better Story For Your Brand?

Companies that appeal to the interests, habits, and likes of the youthful population should use Snapchat as part of their social media strategy.

It’s pointless to create a multi-platform social media strategy if your target audience only uses one or two platforms. To get your marketing plan off the ground, you’ll need to do a thorough investigation of the media that your target demographic uses.

It is equally important to study the mediums your competitors are on and find out which platforms are working for them, how they are utilizing it, and so on.

The points mentioned above should help you identify the right approach to using any social media platform.

But you must know that in order to consistently grow as an overall aspect, then along with social media, you should consider focusing on digital marketing strategies. 

Grow your business with this 3-month Online Digital Marketing Course, which covers all aspects of digital marketing. It is not just a student-based course. It is also meant for professionals who want to apply digital marketing to their businesses.

This course mainly focuses on practical learning through case studies and projects. Thus, while you learn with IIDE, you will be able to simultaneously apply it to your business. Sign up for this Free Masterclass and decide for yourself if IIDE’s learning style works for you. 

Connect with us at [email protected] to know more about the courses we offer and how they may help your business. 

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