Maintaining a social media presence is a lot of work. Crafting the right content and messaging takes precious time, but if you’re posting to the wrong channels for your audience, the best messaging in the world won’t do much to help grow your business or sell your product.
To find the right fit for your brand, ask:
Who is our target audience?
Is our target audience using this platform?
If so, how are they using it, and how often?
What opportunities are available for our brand on this platform?
Are other businesses like ours using this platform effectively?
Does this platform fit our brand image?
What adverse implications could possibly be inferred about our brand if we were to maintain a presence on this platform?
TOP Social Media Platforms to Consider:
Facebook - If you’ve been in business for longer than five minutes, you likely have a facebook page for your brand. Facebook is the largest platform around, with more than two billion monthly users, more than 65 million businesses maintaining pages, and more than six million advertisers. Facebook is great for sharing written messages, photos, graphics, videos, live videos, and stories. But since it’s such a saturated channel, beware of the ever-changing algorithm and see our blog “Getting Seen on Facebook” for more details about what kind of content they currently prioritize.
Messenger - This is the popular messaging app owned by facebook, and while you might not think of a messaging service as a social media opportunity for your business, hear us out: you can can advertise here, use chatbots for customer service, or send newsletters to your followers, etc. Here’s a great article with some ideas for using Messenger in your marketing plan.
Instagram - This photo and video sharing social media platform is ALSO now owned by facebook. It’s great for sharing photos, videos, stories, and live videos, and like facebook, it provides you with post analytics and the ability to schedule content posts using third-party social media schedulers. Here’s a complete guide to marketing on instagram.
Twitter - Twitter is a microblogging site that allows users to post short messages, photos, and links. It’s great for following news, large brands, and big events in real-time, making it wildly effective for certain industries, yet a completely irrelevant presence for other types of businesses.
YouTube - This video sharing platform, owned by Google, is where users watch a BILLION hours of videos every day. It’s the second-biggest social media site (after facebook) and also the second largest search engine after Google. Video has become ever more important on social media (and make sure to use captions because up to 85% of video is watched without sound on). Read up on YouTube SEO here.
LinkedIn - The most popular business-oriented social networking site, LinkedIn is great for entrepreneurs looking to boost their professional networks or reach out to B2B clients. Read LinkedIn for Business: The Ultimate Marketing Guide.
Snapchat - Like Twitter, Snapchat will prove to be a wildly effective platform for certain industries, and completely irrelevant for others. It’s definitely a beneficial arena for companies marketing to younger users and moms of school-age kids and teens. Adding place filters folks can use when they’re nearby is a great idea for events and businesses that rely on maintaining their cool-factor. Read more about advertising opportunities on Snapchat.
Pinterest - This platform allows users to create and keep track of different boards where they can save photos and content from a variety of sources online. Businesses can use it to post products and promote blog posts – a must for “makers” and retail. How to make Pinterest work for your business.
Yelp - Known for hosting reviews of local brick-and-mortar businesses (with an emphasis on dining), you can create a business profile and interact with customers through commenting.
WhatsApp - This messaging app has been building up its business platform to now include a business profile, where you can provide customer support and share updates with customers about their purchases. It is starting to feel like a good fit for retail and big business. Hear directly from companies using WhatsApp here.
TikTok - Relatively new on the scene, TikTok has taken over as the place to reach the notoriously difficult-to-market-to Gen Z, which is becoming more important as they gain a stronger foothold in the economy. Unlike Instagram, TikTok generally rejects polished, high-quality content. “As such, it has earned a reputation as a casual platform where users feel comfortable expressing themselves,” says Business News Daily. Additional info on TikTok’s marketing opportunities can be found here.
We’re Here to help
Let Green Apple Lane craft a plan for your social media presence, create your content and messaging, or completely outsource your social media management to us – we’re here to help.