How Businesses Can Choose the Right Social Platforms for Maximum Impact
It’s tricky to say how many social media platforms exist. Of course, the big players include Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. But you also have X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Reddit. Others like Snapchat, Tumbler, and WeChat are also in the mix, not to mention dating apps, including Hinge and Bumble, which some may also consider as social media for their community-building components.
As a business, you may assume that being on every social media platform is essential. And while you’ll be exposed to more audiences, you may not necessarily be reaching your intended market. Those who log in and check Facebook daily are likely in a different demographic than those who post to Snapchat. With this in mind, how do you know which platform is best for your business? Here are some points to consider when choosing the right social platforms for maximum impact.
Choosing the Right Social Platforms for Maximum Impact
1. Get to Know Your Audience
Understanding your audience is more than knowing their basic geographic and demographic profiles. It entails getting a sense of their wants, needs, and challenges. It requires researching and likely creating audience personas so you can best show up for your target market. When creating personas, try to get as detailed as possible. Rather than saying they like to shop at Target, decide what they buy there and how often they are going.
You’ll also want to look at the data to understand your current customer profile better. This includes leveraging predictive audiences, a newer development that uses AI machine learning and data to predict audience behaviour. A considerable benefit of predictive audiences is that it relies on your data instead of third-party data. You can learn your buyer’s typical behaviours, such as interests, spending habits, and social media consumption.
With these learnings in your back pocket, you can make more informed decisions regarding your social channels. For example, if you discover that your current audience profile makes most of their purchases late into the evening, you can assume they are scrolling on their phones. These late-night shoppers may be intrigued by an ad on TikTok or Instagram, both of which have click-to-cart technology levers. This fact may tell you which type of social creative to use or when to set up ad campaigns on these platforms.
2. Figure Out Your Content Plan and Strategy
Users have preferences over which social media sites they use based on the type of content they like to consume. Different types of content perform best on specific platforms. For example, text-based posts without images are best for LinkedIn and X. Short-form videos perform well on Instagram and TikTok, while long-form videos are intended to be shared on YouTube. To know which channel you should prioritize, you need to figure out which pieces of content you’re putting out into the world.
If your content team is solely focused on creating blog content, there may be more engaging ways to lure in audiences than posting a link to an article on Instagram. Instead, including a brief snippet or quote on X and then linking to the story may be more advantageous. The same goes for video-based content. A lengthy 30-minute product demo isn’t going to resonate on Instagram as much as it will on Facebook or YouTube. Although Instagram allows 60-minute videos to be posted, audiences on that platform aren’t logging in to watch a full-length video.
In addition to knowing what your content team has planned, it’s also a good idea to understand what has performed well in the past. Look at your engagement metrics, including click-through rate and time spent. These metrics tell you how your audiences interact with your content, including how they get there and how long they spend with it. Share these findings with your content teams so you can work together and strategize which social sites to prioritize based on the content you’re looking to create.
3. Decide How You Want to Engage With Your Audiences
Social media has many purposes, but one of the most obvious is connecting people and forming a community. Posting a photo and calling it a day doesn’t move the needle in building a devoted community. Instead, it would be best if you were prepared to have active conversations consistently within the platform.
How to best engage with your followers varies based on the platform. Instagram promotes having conversations within a stream of comments or through direct messages. Resharing a user’s post tagging your brand also promotes cross-collaboration content creation and helps build a sense of loyalty with followers. Brands on TikTok that leverage specific hashtags relevant to their industry may find additional audiences. With this, you can also spark conversations within the comments section.
By deciding how to engage with your audiences, you can determine which platforms make the most sense for your business. If your social team is prepared to go through direct messages and answer promptly, then Instagram and Facebook may be the most suitable for you. However, if you’re looking for audiences to create most of the commentary, a site like YouTube, which prioritizes commenting, may be best.
Takeaways
Before you create a business account for every social media site, take a step back. You may not need to show up everywhere to be successful. Posting consistently and engaging regularly with followers on just a few social media sites may be the better strategy. Consider these decision points to determine which platform makes the most sense for your brand today — knowing that the newest and greatest social app is likely just around the corner.
