How to Choose a Social Media Platform for Your Business
Every day, we are bombarded by a seemingly endless stream of media, often influencing our consumer habits. It is imperative in this ever-expanding digital age to have an online presence for your business. Nowadays, it is not just enough to have a website; a social media presence is vital to being an important, engaging business. As the user base for social media platforms grows rapidly, so do the opportunities to reach potential customers.
To narrow down the options of social media platforms for your business, read on.
Things to Consider
- Companies must be wary of spreading themselves out too thinly by creating too many social media accounts; use the information below to decide which sites are most compatible with your business.
- Have a specific goal when creating a corporate social media account. Be it to gain more clients, sell products, or raise brand awareness, your goal should drive all your online content.
- Of course, always use the appropriate tone when creating any public social media posts. Avoid language or subtext that can make your brand seem out of touch.
- 2.2 billion users
- Used by 68% of Americans
As the most popular social media platform in the world, Facebook has revolutionized the landscape on which people communicate. Because of its ubiquity and various ways to post content—including text, photo/video, advertisement, and poll—nearly any business can thrive on Facebook. When creating a Business Facebook Page, templates are available to customize the look and content for any type of company. The main advantage of having a business presence on Facebook is that because Facebook’s user base is so wide, it is indicative of the general population—meaning that your target demographic is likely on the site and can be easily reached.
- 1 billion users
- Used by 35% of Americans
Instagram caters mostly to photo-friendly businesses selling tangible goods or design services. Businesses that do well on Instagram include retail companies, salons and spas, and restaurants. Because Instagram is a photo-sharing platform, it is imperative that a company has goods or services that are easily photographed. Advertisements on Instagram are most effective when trying to sell items and get potential customers to visit an online store. Currently, Instagram has the youngest user base of all the top social media platforms; 68% of its users are between the ages of 18 to 29.
- 500 million users
- Used by 25% of Americans
LinkedIn is primarily a B2B platform, optimal for creating connections with other professionals and learning from other businesses. Advertisements on LinkedIn are typically used to recruit new employees. While it is highly suggested that all working professionals have personal LinkedIn accounts, it is not necessary for all businesses to have pages on LinkedIn. It is useful for sharing news about your company, mainly in the form of articles.
- 336 million users
- Used by 24% of Americans
Twitter is the social media platform with the highest volume of content being generated; according to Twitter, 500 million tweets are uploaded every day. It is an easy way to succinctly get information out and keep clients/customers/peers updated on the present and future of your business. If you have consistent updates or news about your business to share, Twitter is a great place to do it. In addition, Twitter is a way to communicate directly with your customer base in a format that is much more immediate than sending out an e-mail or survey—especially considering that 90% of Twitter users browse Twitter using their smartphones.
Upon choosing the social media platform(s) you want to create corporate accounts on, also be sure to take a look at the blogs or business websites of each platform as they often have helpful tips and articles to guide you in creating content that will get the most engagement on their site.
Of course, if you need more help with (or simply do not have time to manage) corporate social media accounts, contact us at Yottability! We can create a social media plan and help with consistently updating each platform to ensure your business has an effective and relevant online presence.
Statistics sourced from Pew Research Center (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/).
Originally posted on LinkedIn
