The question is what platforms should you use for social media? Six things are essentially needed to choose which social media platform to use– but be aware that the platform you decide on is very much dependent upon what type of business you operate.
1. Type of Content
A certain type of content are the focus of every social media platform. Twitter, for example, mostly deals with posting a few texts, while Instagram deals with images. The content type of a social platform has an enormous impact on whether it is adapted to the needs of your brand. For instance, Instagram can be a very good choice if you run an website that sells graphical T-shirts. However, if you sell accounts, Instagram is probably not the most efficient way to sell your software, while LinkedIn could be better for B2B companies.
You must also consider what content you plan to create for your target audience. When you plan to write short, casual pieces of content, Facebook is a good place to connect with readers. However, if you plan to write more thorough articles, you may not get a lot of attention on Facebook and probably will do a lot more on LinkedIn. The content does not only refer to your blog postings and articles, but also to the social media articles you post. In sites like Facebook, announcements are better than Twitter, which are more convenient for short greetings or questions.
Take into consideration how many times you plan to post content. If you won't post updates every hour, Twitter might not be for you. A Twitter presence requires multiple daily posts to match your user base, whereas on a site like LinkedIn or Facebook, you can take away two or three quality posts weekly. Furthermore, consider whether the content is complimentary on social channels. For example, most firms use Twitter hashtags on their Instagram page, and many firms post YouTube videos on the Facebook page.
2. Advertising
When publishing promotional content on some of the sites you can't get as much insight as you would like, it's good to advertise. You don't just want to depend on the decision of your followers to share or like your content to succeed in your publicity campaign. Because of this, exploring social media sites with advertising options is a good idea. For example, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have paid for advertising tools that enable you to target your content for a price.
If you nevertheless want to focus your efforts on a social platform which stresses organic marketing, perhaps if paid ads do not form part of your marketing strategy, you do not have to be competitive with companies that use paid advertising. You should also be aware that social media websites with too much paid advertising might reduce the impact of your own publicity efforts and end up annoying your users.
3. Analytics
You will be spending a lot of resources, whatever the social platform you decide to use, on your social media campaign. As a result, you'll want to use a social network with analytical tools. Fortunately, most social media sites offer integrated analytical tools. These tools can assist you with valuable information on your companions and page activities.
In turn, this can help you adjust your social media marketing strategy if necessary to ensure your campaign is as effective as possible. For example, Facebook offers a free Facebook Insights analytics tool. This tool lets you see population data about your audience, how many people discover your articles, how many people respond and much more. Some of these are easiest and more user-friendly, since every social media site offers various types of analytical tools.
The type of tools you should look for depends on your needs and skill level.
Social media platform tools, such as the Buffer or Social Metrics Pro, are supporting third- party analytics tools. Third- party analysis often allows you to collect and use information simultaneously from several social media platforms.
4. User Demographics
As we said earlier you will want to make sure that your target audience is part of the target audience, although the number of users and active users of a social network platform is very important. The demographics of your company must match the social network you choose to use. You must therefore know who your buyer is before you decide which social media networks to use. For instance, you are a company which sells the universal features of home design improvements such as pickup bars or stair lifts.
If you do some research, you will probably find that Twitter, whose user base is usually less than 50 years old–most of which are 20 to 29 years old–is probably not going to be an efficient platform for you, even though Twitter is one of its most important social media networks. Keep in mind your specific niche, too. Tell yourself you sell clothes for cats. The best option is a social network such as LinkedIn that targets professionals, while a more niche-oriented social network such as Catmoji, even if the user base is much smaller, will more effectively linking you with people within your destination demography.
5. Number of Users
A social network 's popularity is largely determinable by its number of users. The more people you have on a social site, the more likely you are to expose your brand to a wider public. Consider the number of users who use a social media network as a possible coverage of ads or impressions compared to traditional display ads. Naturally, it depends on whether the social network public aligns with your particular target group. You'll also want to consider how often each user uses the site, in addition to the number of users of each social platform.
6. Additional functionality
Some social media platforms provide additional features for their users. This can help to build a more rounded campaign for social media and enable you to implement more than one strategy. If you don't require any extra features, platforms such as Pinterest will be fine. But if you want a live streaming video, you might want to use the Periscope Twitter app that allows you to do just that.
You might want to be able to join groups or create groups in order to engage with potential leaders and build relationships, in which case you might be inspired by Facebook Groups or Google+ Communities. This can really help in making live product reviews or live question and reply questions. When you make your decisions, remember what your needs are. If you need no further functions, it could also be too difficult to use social sites that provide additional functions and could distract you from your main strategy.
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