How To Choose What Social Media Platform Your Business Should Be On
Prospective clients often come to us and say they want to be on every social media platform, but they don’t know why. Existing clients will come to us and say they want to be on the newest fad in social media. Sometimes they are right, but often, they have no idea why they want to jump on a particular social media bandwagon. We take a strategic approach to social media, which includes analyzing which social media platforms will be most effective for a particular brand. There are a few main considerations we feel are important in deciding what social media platform to focus on including personality, industry, demographics, and hard numbers.
Personality –
Understanding your personality and your audience’s personality is huge. Social media is really a giant psychology experiment that is constantly morphing.
You must understand your personality to be successful at social media. If you know that your personality is not naturally drawn to sharing a lot on social media, you may need to employ the help of someone who enjoys it and loves it. On the other hand, if you are a person who shares too much, or perhaps is too emotional on social media, you may find that you need to reign in your impulses as you share about your business online. Understanding your own tendencies will help you decide how to best manage social media for your company.
Business owners also need to understand the personality and psychology of their audience. For example, a hunting company may have way more interaction than a skincare company on the same social media platform. Why? Personality of the audience. Each type of business can be successful on different platforms, with different strategies because they have different audiences.
Industry –
Businesses need to pay careful attention to their industry and how it is using social media. There are a lot of opportunities for brands to play off of each other, build industry awareness, as well as compete. Keeping a pulse on where your industry is in the world of social media can help you determine where you want to be …or where you DON’T want to be.
Demographics –
Pay attention to the platforms that your main demographic is on. If you are targeting hipster college students, that social media platform may be very different than middle age working professionals. Just as people change constantly, the social medias are changing constantly. Businesses need to stay current on the trends in social media and the trends of their target demographic audience.
Numbers –
Business owners go in a thousand directions in a given day, and you have to be judicious with your time and budget. Obscure, new social media platforms may be great for certain industries, but if you don’t have an audience there, it is probably a waste of your time. Larger, more robust social media platforms have an automatic larger audience. Take the time to analyze and research where your audience is and how they are using that social media platform. That upfront analysis allows you to focus on the social media platforms that will get your message out to the largest audience.
Before you create a plan for your business’ presence online, take stock to decide which social media channels and online platforms are right for YOUR business. What is right for one company may not be right for another. If you know why you are using the social media platforms you are using, and make a strategic plan, you can be effective on social media and increase brand awareness and market share for your business!
Want to learn more about social media for businesses? Tintero Creative offers classes, consulting, and monthly social media management to help businesses improve their online presence.