Which Social Media Platforms to use for business

We all know that social media is an important part of your online marketing strategy and that social media is a must for any business that is online, however a question that I get asked quite often is which social media platforms should I have my business on?

It is true that there are now a number of different platforms to choose from and knowing which ones to be on can be difficult to decide, especially if you are doing all the work yourself and don’t want to waste your valuable time in a space that isn’t going to help your business at all.

Instead of jumping on the computer and creating a social media account under each platform, check out our guide below to help you decide on which social media platforms will be best for your business and produce the best results.

Identify your audience

Not everyone is on every platform of social media, which means that you need to identify your audience and your target market and find out where they are hanging out. By doing this you are able to maximise your exposure and effectively target your market without wasting time on the platforms that they are not seeing.

To identify your audience you need to have a look at the products or services that you are selling and decide who they are targeted towards. Look at the different age groups, genders, income brackets etc of those who may be interested in what you have to offer and then choose the platforms that are most likely to have those people on them.

For example, LinkedIn is a very corporate based platform so if you are selling childrens clothes you are not going to find your target market there – you are much more likely to find them on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

Define your goals

Social media is still a marketing tool and needs to be treated like one. It is more than just popping a few random posts up and hoping for the best.

You need to determine what your goals are and what you want to achieve from your social media accounts in order to work out which ones you should be one.

If you are looking for increases in the number of people following you, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are a great place to start – especially now that you can also use them as a secondary online store point.

If you are looking to simply share content and information that Pinterest and LinkedIn may work best for you (depending on the business type)

Find your audience

The final step is to then find your audience. Just because you have created the social media account on the platforms that you believe they are on, doesn’t mean that they are going to just magically start following you.

You need to now find them, engage with them and get them to want to follow you and learn more about your business.

This can be done by joining different groups and advertising within them, using hashtags to help them find you in searches and by creating engaging content that makes them want to come back for more.

Facebook and Instagram are currently the two most popular social media platforms with large numbers of people signed up to both of them. These are two great places to start as the demographic using them is quite broad and it can help kick start your social media marketing campaign and get you off to a good start.

Facebook has many benefits such as the option to review businesses, recommend businesses and share content from different pages. It means that there are more opportunities to have your business seen by larger numbers of people.

Still unsure which social media platforms will be best for your business? Why not book in a consultation call, discuss your needs and find out where you should be showcasing your business?

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