How To Choose The Right Social Media For Your Business and Goals

Why is Social Media Important?

Social media has become a staple in our everyday lives, with 5 billion active users worldwide (it’s true, you can Google it), each serving a different purpose, catering to specific hobbies, demographics, and interests. On average, users spend approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes per day scrolling and engaging with social media. According to Statista, 86% of marketers say that social media has helped increase their brand’s exposure, followed by a 73% increase in traffic.

That kind of exposure is too big an opportunity to ignore. Success still comes down to choosing the right platforms for your brands. It’s essential to understand what type of content your audience enjoys, which platforms they use most, your own goals, and the age group you’re trying to reach. Being active on every social network can spread your resources too thin. It’s far more effective to invest your time and budget in the platforms that will connect you with your audience.

How To Begin Planning Your Social Media Strategy For Your Brand

There are a few things to do first before choosing your platforms. 

• Define Your Social Media Goals

Like any good campaign, we always want to begin with SMART goals. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound.) You should consider what matters most to your business, whether it’s expanding your reach, generating leads, building a community, or simply raising brand awareness. Every platform serves a different purpose, and aligning your goals will help you choose the right channel.

Remember to always complete your social media strategy to align with your overall business goals. Engagement is always significant, but it only matters if it drives real results. Having clear goals from the start helps you attract the right audiences, stay focused, and turn your social media efforts into growth. 

• Know Your Audience

Your audience is just as important as your goals when building a strong social media strategy. You need to understand who you’re talking to before you start creating content for them. Target audience personas are really great for this. It’s essential to look at the following; 

• Demographics
• Social media habits and platforms
• Content preferences 

To go even further, you want to understand how they speak (Gen Z’s slang can be a win or a sore loss, but it’s always worth staying up to date!), what they care about, and what makes them laugh. Once you have conducted thorough audience research and created a persona, you’re ready to choose the right platforms.

Choosing The Right Platform For Your Business

We’ve broken down each social media platform and its purpose to help you decide whether it aligns with your goals, with help from Wharton for some of the stats.

Facebook

Key Details: Facebook remains one of the most popular ways to connect with loved ones and brands. It works not only as a social network platform but also as a search engine, generating 1.5 billion daily searches for local businesses, services, and products.

Age Ranges:

• 68%-84% of Facebook users are aged 18-64.
• 46% of users are seniors.

Best Uses: You can seldom go wrong with Facebook because of its sheer volume. Best for when you need to upload videos, share blog links, share promotions about your business, get online reviews, and message individuals. Perfect for a small business.

YouTube

Key Details: One of the most widely used social platforms in the USA, with video traffic projected to account for 82% of online time by 2022.

Age Ranges:

• 87% of users are aged 18 to 49.
• 38% of users are older than 65.

Best Uses: As Google owns YouTube, it is great for ranking highly in search results and for creating explanatory videos. Any content format that requires long-form video would be perfect for YouTube.

Instagram

Key Details: Instagram is for sharing photos and videos and is currently owned by Facebook. It is image-centric, encouraging users to post aesthetic photos of their lives and encouraging followers to read the caption.

Age Ranges:

• 75% of users are 18-24.
• 57% of users of 25-29.
• 67% of users 18-29 are active.

Best Uses: Instagram is best for visual content and visual brands such as fashion, food, art, restaurants, and hotels. It’s also suitable for businesses that offer services, post videos of their services or company culture, and build their brand online.

X (Formerly Known as Twitter)

Key Details: Best known for its use in public relations. Mainly used by journalists and as a news source.

Age Ranges:

• 38% of users are 18-29.
• 26% of users are 30-49.
• 70% of users are journalists.

Best Uses: X is best used for building relationships with influencers, bloggers, and journalists who may cover your brand. It’s a very useful public relations tool, and it’s great for connecting with your target audience. Our only caution is to be careful of the public perception of its owner, as many are leaving the platform because of this.

LinkedIn

Key Details: It is a social network platform dedicated to professionals and businesses. It allows users to follow business pages for regular news and updates, and helps people find other businesses.

Age Ranges:

• 27% of adults in America are on LinkedIn, and are primarily business owners.

Best Uses: LinkedIn is best for building professional connections and is highly recommended for B2B business owners, as 80% of social media marketing leads originate on this platform. It’s known for having one of the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rates for social networks, if it’s the right fit.

Pinterest

Key Details: A visual-heavy social network where users can “pin” web items to “boards”.

Age Ranges:

• 42% of users are women.
• ⅓ of those users are between the ages of 18 and 49.

Best Uses: Pinterest is best for brands that rely heavily on visuals for their marketing. Especially any brand related to fashion, cooking/baking, home design or home improvement, and in the creative realm. Businesses can create branded boards featuring images from their websites and blogs, and source pins from other users to build relationships.

Common Mistakes When Using Social Media

Before you can make the most of your social media strategy, it’s important to recognize what not to do. Here are a few common mistakes to watch out for to help you stay on track.

• Posting without a strategy: Now this one is a little self-explanatory, but it doesn’t make it any less important! You need clear goals, messaging, and, most importantly, to offer real value with your posts. Volume without substance can lead nowhere. Every good project starts with a good foundation, and it’s best to scan out your surroundings before diving in.
• Posting too many promotional items: Let’s be honest with ourselves, no one goes on social media to stare at ads. But they will always be there. When developing a content plan, it’s best to follow an 80/20 rule, where content should offer value (whether it’s a tip, entertainment, inspiration, etc) 80% of the time, and the other 20% should be promotional.
• Not engaging with comments: Social media is a two-way conversation; people don’t want to talk to a wall. They get enough of that trying to get a hold of their bank or the Canadian Government. Don’t be elevator music. Engage with your users, respond to comments and tweets, and stay active.
• Advertise too often: Now you may be thinking, “Isn’t this the 2nd point?” to which I say yes! But now I want to discuss branding. Slapping your brand onto every post can make your posts lose their natural feeling and become an advertisement. Posts should look natural, be useful, and, most importantly, be human. People use social media to be entertained, informed, or inspired, not sold.