Despite popular opinion, being on all social media platforms is not the best strategy. This is especially true if you are just starting out. It’s better to be successful on a few platforms than to spread yourself too thin and not be successful on any.
Your target audience might not be everywhere either. You want to be where they are. Don’t waste your time building up your presence only to find out that your target audience is nowhere to be found. How do you know which social media platform is right for your business? Here is how you can find the best social media platforms for your business:
According to HootSuite, 40% of U.S. adults who use Twitter are between the ages of 18-29 years old. Only 32% of U.S. teens use the platform. Compared to FB that’s relatively high but compared to Snapchat it’s kind of low. If your business targets teens you will do better on Twitter than FB. If your target audience is over the age of 65 then steer clear of Twitter. Only 8 percent of those 65 and above useTwitter. In the U.S slightly more women than men use Twitter according to HootSuite.
Unlike FB you can tweet as much as you want. Many experts recommend tweeting as often as you can. This prevents your tweets from getting buried underneath your competitor’s tweets. It helps your business to stay on the forefront of your followers’ minds. On Twitter, you don’t have to pay to play. Meaning that you don’t have to boost your tweets in order for your audience to see them.
There are many ways to connect with people on Twitter. You can participate in Twitter chats, participate in trending hashtags, reply to tweets, and send direct messages. Both large and small businesses can succeed on Twitter. The platform is really great for sharing links too. The only drawback to Twitter is that it’s harder to share an image with your link. You have to use a tool like TwitShot to do it.
But not everyone can do well on Instagram. According to The Next Web lifestyle, food, fashion, personalities, and luxury brands should use Instagram. Unless your business is a visually based one it will be tricky to succeed on the platform. On top of that, you can’t embed or post any links to your images or videos. Getting traffic to your website or blog from IG can be tricky.
If you have a product based business you can upload videos or images of customers using your products. If you have a professional service based business like a law firm or accounting firm IG isn’t the best platform for you. Instagram isn’t for all B2B either. For example, if you sell security software to companies Instagram isn’t the right platform for you. The recommended posting frequency on IG is once per day.
What will you find on LinkedIn? You will see articles, blog posts, videos related to a person’s business or service. Companies will post updates related to their business. It’s important to remain professional on LinkedIn especially if you are looking for a job or business connections. The recommended posting frequency to LinkedIn is around once per day.
