Choosing the best social media channels for a new business isn’t always simple.
There are a lot of options, and each one has its own set of advantages. We’ll go through each of the many popular platforms available and what they’re good for in this article.
We’ll also give you some tips on how to figure out which ones to focus on when starting an online business!
What is social media?
The term “social media” refers to a variety of internet social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
These are places where people can share their thoughts, photos and videos online. They might also be called “web-based communities” because anyone in the world can access them on any device.
Social media has evolved greatly over the past decade and it’s still changing. The best social media platforms are constantly evolving to meet the need of their users, but here are some points to consider when choosing which platform is best for your business:
• Images go a long way; all platforms give you better results when you use images
• Your target audience should be on the platform you are choosing to use, if they are not then it will be harder for your business to market itself.
• Use hashtags/tags that best suit your brand, they can help drive traffic and extend the reach of your posts. They also allow users with similar interests to find each other.
• If you’re just starting out and want to use social media as a marketing tool then it’s best to focus on 1-2 platforms max.
Why you should be on social media
Before you decide which social media platforms best suit your business, it makes sense to tell you why being on social media is a good thing in the first place.
It builds brand awareness and trust from consumers
When you have a strong presence on social media, more potential customers will find out about your brand and come to trust you for providing good products or services. It also helps customers know how best to reach you, making your brand more accessible to them.
You’ll have a better chance of being found on search engines
Social media is all about having conversations with people, businesses and brands. When you make the effort to post valuable content on your social platforms (that’s why people will keep coming back to see more), Google and other search engines will find you and may even boost your rankings in search results.
The pros and cons of using each type of social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn etc…
Now that you know what social media is and why you should be using it in your business, let’s take a look at each one of them!
- It has over 2.89 billion active monthly users, making it the biggest social media network worldwide
- You can also establish your own Facebook page for your business and start a Group.
- The number of likes, shares, comments, and reactions on your post indicates how popular it is across the site.
For brands that want to reach a wider audience, Facebook is best. You can create ads for your business and it’s best used to tell people about the services or products.
It also allows you to interact with users in a more personal way, which makes it create for building community and engaging with customers and potential customers about your products and services.
- It has over 330 million active monthly users
- To tweet, you’ll need an account with Twitter. This account is open to the public and can be viewed by anybody.
- Tweets are limited to 280 characters, so you have to keep your messages short.
If you want people to discover your brand or keep up with the latest news, Twitter is best for you. This social media platform is best suited to brands that like to engage with their users and get involved in discussions online.
- It has over 1.7 billion active monthly users
- Businesses and brands can create a business or creator account to start posting updates
- This is a photo-sharing app, that is largely moving to be a video sharing platform.
If you want a quick and easy way to engage with people, you’ll find Instagram is best for your business. It’s incredibly visual, so consumers will enjoy scrolling your profile if you have a lot of beautiful product images.
Your best bet is to use hashtags that are popular in your niche so users who might be interested in your products or services can find you.
Snapchat
- It has over 293 million active monthly users according to its website
- Businesses can set up a profile page for their content which is public.
- Photos and videos are sent to contacts, that disappear after a short period of time.
Snapchat gained a lot of momentum when it first come to the scene. But since then more established platforms like Instagram have adopted some of its features and new players like TikTok have made big waves.
It’s best if your marketing strategy includes Snapchat only if you have a young audience you know will be on Snapchat.
- It has over 310 million active monthly users
- Businesses can create a profile for themselves in order to provide information and post content.
- This platform used to be for just job seekers but has grown and added a lot of features the other platforms have, so great if you’re in the business to the business sector.
If you’re best at producing long-form content that educates consumers, then LinkedIn is best for your business.
It’s a professional social media platform that caters to a niche audience looking for articles and resources on particular business topics. If you want to further hone in on your expertise by connecting with other professionals in your industry, then LinkedIn is best for you.
- It has over 454 million active monthly users
- Businesses can set up business accounts, these are open to the public to view your content
- This is not technically a social media platform, more a visual search engine so is ideal for businesses that promote products or services and produce visual content they can publish on the platform
If your best marketing strategy involves the use of images to engage with consumers, Pinterest is best for you. It’s a great platform to promote items in your online shop.
However, the best way to make it work for you is by making it visual with lots of pictures and using its newest features like Idea Pins.
TikTok
- Tik Tok has over 680 million monthly active users
- It’s a video sharing app where people can upload content
- Popular with younger age groups but as more businesses are starting to make the most of their short video format we are hearing a lot of success stories
TikTok is the king of short-form content that all the other platforms have adopted in one way or the other. It’s best if you produce videos that are entertaining and engaging.
You may want to make a quick video showcasing your business or an advert for your latest product or service. And with short-form content best suited for this kind of platform, TikTok could be the best social media channel for your business.
What is the best social media channels for your business to use
Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, let’s talk about how to best leverage social media for your new business.
When deciding which social media networks to concentrate on as you begin a brand new online business, keep in mind that not all platforms accomplish the same things.
There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to deciding what platform to use, but it’s critical to consider all of your choices.
Choose which channels to focus on – don’t try to do too much at once
It is important to remember that no single social media platform will suit every business.
Think carefully about the demographics of your target audience and choose a few platforms where you can reach them.
It is generally best for businesses with less time or resources to focus their attention on one or two platforms rather than spreading themselves too thin across lots of different ones.
Once you’ve settled on a few platforms to focus your efforts on, set realistic goals and work backwards from there. Consider what type of content you will share, how often and at what times of day you will post by creating a content marketing plan.
Define your business goals
Your business goals will determine where you should be focusing your efforts. If you’re selling products online, it might be best to focus on the social channels that have high engagement and low customer acquisition costs (e.g., Instagram and Pinterest).
On the other hand, if you want maximum brand awareness, try using platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Pinpoint the best place to reach your ideal customers
It’s all about where most of your target audience hangs out online! You also need to consider how best to target them.
Just because a platform has millions of users doesn’t mean it’s best for everyone selling online! You need to have a clear picture of who your best customers are and where they hang out online.
Are you selling products or services?
In addition to determining the best place for you to reach your ideal customers, you also need to understand whether or not your target customers’ best place is the best place for them to buy your thing.
For example, if your ideal customer is in the market for a new pair of shoes, are they likely to make their buying decision on Twitter or on Facebook?
Another example: let’s say you’re selling handmade scarves. If your ideal customers are “fashionistas”, then perhaps Instagram is best for you.
Create your social media profiles, pages, or accounts
Once you have a clear idea of what your best place is to reach customers and where they are most likely to hang out, then it’s time to create your social media accounts!
If you’re not very tech-savvy, maybe consider hiring someone from Fiverr to help you create a professional-looking social media account that best reflects your brand.
Choose a strategy for each channel.
Creating a social media strategy is all about being creative in how you attract people to your profile while aiming to increase engagement over time.
It doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task if you follow some of our helpful tips and advice.
A social media strategy can help ensure that you are reaching out to the right audience in the best possible ways when promoting different types of content across different channels. It is well worth putting in the time to plan well ahead and create a comprehensive strategy.
By paying close attention to analytics, competitor analysis and statistics from social media platforms you can always keep on improving your own strategy.
Form a robust social media strategy with clear goals
Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing, using tools like Buzzsumo to identify the most popular content shared by similar brands or even influencers in your industry.
Whether you want to increase brand awareness or drive more conversions, you need to have a clear idea of what your goals are.
Your social media strategy needs to layout specifically how you will achieve these goals and what types of content you will share along the way.
Develop a content calendar and plan posts in advance
Once you’ve created a social media strategy for your chosen platform then you need to create a content calendar to plan your posts.
A content calendar should include all content types, dates and links to any archived posts. It can be as simple as a spreadsheet with columns for each of the dates, social media platforms and brief descriptions.
The best way to create your content calendar is by analysing the best time to post, the most popular content and then anticipating your audience’s upcoming online activities.
Tools like Buffer and Later help you schedule posts in advance as well as telling the best times for you to post on your chosen platforms.
A content calendar can be extremely helpful for planning out social media campaigns. It will help ensure your content is always posted at the most appropriate times.
Post interesting and engaging content which you know your target audience is likely to engage with
You need to be willing to experiment with different types of media – including imagery, videos, infographics, GIFs or even audio files.
Make sure that the content you post is relevant to your target audience and consider who it will appeal to before posting. Content that is funny, shocking or highly emotive may spread quickly but you need to be careful that the content isn’t likely to offend anyone (Unless that’s within your brand image).
There are several strategies that can help boost engagement on social media depending on what type of business you are, the goals of your campaign and your target audience.
Promote content you’ve posted on other platforms to increase reach
You might have a compelling infographic that has been extremely popular on LinkedIn or a series of YouTube videos that would work well in visual formats shared on Instagram – using tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule cross-platform posts can be an effective way to increase your content’s reach.
Start, Test & Analyze
The best thing about social media marketing is that it allows you to begin with one platform and then expand your efforts once you’ve established a strategy.
If one thing doesn’t work for you, try something different. Make use of various platforms for different purposes based on how customers utilize them!
You now know how to choose the best social media channel for your business.
It’s important to have a clear strategy when it comes to marketing on social media.
The best way to do this is by creating a content calendar, promoting your content on other platforms and starting small with one platform before you expand into others.
Let’s explore the possibilities together!
