What platforms should your business be on?
While it is true that you should diversify your presence across platforms, being on EVERY possible platform is not always the best plan. Not only does that sound exhausting, but it's unrealistic to single-handedly expect to be able to post high quality and consistent content that speaks to every platform in addition to running your business. Make things easier for yourself! Focus on the platforms your target audience frequent the most and fit your business's niche best. Then, go all-in on making killer content for these platforms and stop worrying about the rest. Following this strategy will allow your business to establish a consistent and powerful presence on your ideal platforms without stretching yourself too thin.
What platforms should you be on?
Every platform is different and serves a unique purpose when it comes to business accounts. When deciding which platforms your business should be on, it is important to consider the specific tone, dominate demographic, and top-performing industries that perform best on that platform. We break down the biggest platforms social media has to offer and give you a step by step guide to figuring out which platforms are the best fit for your business.
Top Demographics: 18-35
Industries: Fashion, Food, Entertainment
Key Features for Businesses: IGTV, Instagram Shops, Influencer Marketing, Branded Content Tools
Tone: Casual and Conversational
Instagram is known as the go-to platform for sharing photos and videos. This makes it great for businesses who have visual content they want to show off, such as brands that revolve around media, clothing, and health and wellness. Instagram has also become the hub for all thing's influencer marketing. The vast majority of influencers make the bulk of their profits through this platform.
Instagram should be your go-to platform if your business's goal is to engage with users because it boasts the largest engagement rates of any social media platform. But because the platform is all about commenting, liking, following, and DMs, it requires regular maintenance and work from your end.
Top Demographics: 15-49
Industries: General
Key Features for Businesses
: Facebook Advertisements, Facebook Groups, Facebook Business Pages
Tone: Personal
We think it's safe to say that basically everyone knows about Facebook. It's the most widely used social media platform with over 2.7 billion active users (Statista). But, just because so many people are on it doesn't necessarily mean it's necessarily right for your business. Because Facebook is so oversaturated with business accounts, it's extremely easy to get lost in the crowd. Generally speaking, businesses seeing the most success on Facebook are heavily utilizing the groups and paid advertising features. Why is this? Because these particular features allow companies to reach a wider audience and overcome saturation.
So, if you're business is going to be on this platform, it's crucial to stand out and make full use of the tools the platform has to offer. Consider what makes your Facebook page better than the 60 million active business pages already set up. If you can't answer this question, Facebook might not be the right platform for your business.
Top Demographics: Ages 18-29
Industries: Media, Tech, and Education
Key Features for Businesses
: Google AdWords, Compensation for Creators, Google SEO
Tone: Educational
YouTube follows Facebook in terms of the largest number of active users on a single platform, hitting the 2 billion mark (Oberlo). YouTube is also the second biggest search engine, following Google. It is also the only social media platform that screens every post for keywords and ranks them on Google. This means that if you want your business to be more searchable, having a YouTube channel could seriously help expand your businesses' reach and build name recognition. However, if you want to be successful on this platform, you'll need to get serious about SEO.
One of the most notable features of YouTube is that it exclusively features video content. This is important because studies show that viewers and customers HIGHLY prefer and trust video content compared to still shots or infographics (Dream Grow). So being on this platform is a great way to diversify the type of content your business posts on social media.
Top Demographics: Ages 25-34
Industries: Politics, News, Corporate
Key Features for Businesses
: Business Profile
Tone: Short and to the Point
Twitter was one of the first social media platforms to be created, as it was released to the public in 2006. While users only have 280 characters to make the most out of a tweet, the platform is known for offering real-time feed updates. As a result, Twitter is great for time-sensitive information, such as politics and news. Twitter has also become a platform used for customer service purposes. This is because when people want quick information about brands, they are increasingly likely to turn to Twitter. After all, it offers the fastest response rate of any platform (i.e., users expect answers in a matter of hours) (Hootsuite).
Top Demographics:
Ages
30-49
Industries: Technology, Marketing, Advertising, Human Resources
Key Features for Businesses
: Open Networking, Job Listings, Business Pages, Paid Advertising, LinkedIn Articles, Live video
Tone: Formal and Professional
LinkedIn is the OG platform for businesses and professionals. Its purpose has always been to help users connect professionally, facilitate career-related networking, and promote employment opportunities. But the challenge businesses face when being on LinkedIn is not falling into the trap of looking like a stuffy old business that doesn't pay attention to their social media. Simply setting up an About You page will not drive traffic and enhance your professional reputation.
So, if your business does opt for having a LinkedIn, make sure your active on the platform! This is a great platform to keep your customers up to date with what your business is doing. Start posting articles and blog posts, join LinkedIn Groups, and connect with professionals in your industry. And make sure your profile is up to date and complete! Nothing is worse than going to look up a business and finding an unpolished and incomplete profile.
Top Demographics:
Ages
18-29
Industries: Startups, Entrepreneurial, Technology, Fashion, Beauty, Media
Key Features for Businesses: TikTok Business, Pro Account
Tone: Fast and Fun!
TikTok is the youngest social media platform (widely available as of 2018), but don't underestimate its power! It has quickly risen to the most downloaded app of 2020, with over 2 billion downloads worldwide (Tech Crunch). As the app is so new, there is no official guide for how businesses should be using it. But this is a strength that your business should be playing to! Companies that are pioneering the way on TikTok are seeing tremendous success (see here for examples). And because the platform hasn't become over-saturated with business accounts, it's easier and more effective to stick out from the crowd compared to other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. So, don't write off TikTok as a kids-only app; successful business opportunities are definitely there!
Top Demographics:
Ages
18-29 and 30-49
Industries: Creative, Service-Based, Online Products
Key Features for Businesses
: SEO, Lead Generation, Sales Funnel
Tone: Inspirational and Educational (not conversational!)
Surprise! Pinterest is technically not a social media platform but rather is categorized as a search engine. This is because its primary goal is to funnel users to other websites instead of trying to keep them on their own site for as long as possible, as social media platforms do. Pinterest is all about providing people with outside resources and intentionally works to get users to click through to other sites. This makes it great for businesses with online stores, and when used correctly, Pinterest can easily become your #1 source of traffic for your website.
Content on Pinterest also has the longest lifespan compared to any other platform. This is because the platform sorts pins based on keywords, rather than chronological order. This means that regardless of how long ago your business pinned something, it will continue to be front and center when a user searches for it (Epipheo). Another pro is that while the platform is known for hosting organic content and has high conversion rates, this is met with low engagement rates, making the platform very low maintenance as there are hardly any comments, likes, friend requests, etc. to keep up with.
How many social media platforms is your business on? And have we convinced you that it might be time to change your strategy? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Written By: Leah Ross, AMR Digital Marketing, Copywriter