Social Media Marketing: choosing the right social media platforms for your business
There’s no debating that social media is an immense part of modern marketing and business strategies. Social media has the potential of a massive audience but without a clear, well thought out social media strategy can be a complete waste of energy and resources. A strategy should include clear goals and objectives as well as a reason for why each social media site should be used.
Choosing too many social platforms is a common issue with businesses that are afraid of missing out on potential customers. In reality, it is better to have two or three platforms that you will be able to provide thoughtful content in a consistent manner, rather than using eight to ten platforms that do not have a maintained presence.
The most useful social media sites will depend on the business type, content produced, and the audience. For example, Instagram is a great site for highly visual businesses, such as restaurants, animal shelters, and clothing companies. Although, there are some basic pros and cons to each of the most common social media sites.
Facebook for Business
Facebook is good for:
● Brand Awareness
● Customer Service
● Driving traffic to your website
● Market Research
● Advertising
● Analysis
Cons:
● Is time-consuming to keep organic reach and engagement high
● If you have low reach and engagement, it can be costly to pay for advertising to
make sure your posts are seen
Twitter for Business
Twitter is good for:
● Engaging with your audience
● Social listening
● Search Engine Optimisation
● Driving traffic to your website
Cons:
● It’s a busy network, your tweets can get lost in the noise
● Users are wary of following brand pages, prefer the most human brands
● Time-consuming
● Reach, engagement and link clicks are all easily measurable
Instagram for Business
Instagram is good for:
● Businesses with imagery they can share freely
● Business who want to build brand awareness through imagery
● Businesses who are tagged in customer Instagram shots receive great free publicity
Cons:
● At this point, you can only share your web link in your bio
● Creating beautiful imagery can be time-consuming and difficult to measure the
effectiveness
LinkedIn for Business
LinkedIn for business is good for:
● Creating a LinkedIn business page can be a great way to share content and connect with your target market
● A personal LinkedIn page for yourself and your staff is great for brand awareness
● Liking and commenting on relevant content can demonstrate skills and knowledge
● Personal pages can be great for showing your skills and experience
● Ability to advertise to demographics based on employment, job titles and areas of
expertise
Cons:
● Engagement rates can be low for some industries
● Can be a high level of spammers and scammers on LinkedIn
Google My Business for Business
Google My Business is good for:
● Setting your Google Map locations
● Increases your Search Engine Result visibility
● Local SEO
Cons:
● Can be difficult to use especially if you have multiple locations or your location has already been claimed. It’s also very important to use best practice and get it right.
Pinterest for Business
Pinterest for business is good for:
● Product and businesses with visual imagery inc. infographics etc.
● Search Engine Optimisation
Cons:
● Low level of engagement for some industries
YouTube for Business
YouTube for Business is good for:
● Diversifying your business message
● Accessing demographics who prefer video content
● Engaging new audiences with entertainment, information or humour
● Good for SEO
Cons:
● High-quality video production can be expensive
● Low-quality video can be damaging to your online reputation