What Social Media Platforms Should Your Small Business Prioritize?
If there is anything you need to believe about social media platforms, it is that they are not equal in terms of impact and effect. Contrary to what you might think, having a business page on TikTok or Instagram does not guarantee that your business will get much engagement.
It is crucial that you develop platform-specific strategies for marketing a small business on social media. Your small business must be primed for the best social media platform that can deliver the right customers to your doorstep.
Spending your resources with the right strategies on the right social media platform is different from what any business wants. Many social media strategies might even put down facts to the effect that it will be a loss to use just one or two social media platforms for brand awareness and ignore the rest. However, while that is a good tactic, not every business is big enough to cover that much ground or pour so many resources into numerous social media platforms simultaneously.
Hence, small businesses are on a need-to-know level; they should be aware of which platform suits their business best and how to take advantage of that platform. Keep reading this article to gain insight into how social media helps small businesses.
Why You Need to Know Which Platform Will Be the Best Fit for Your Business
Misdirected targeting and strategy end in a waste of company resources! If your business page is up and running on Facebook, for example, and much of your target audience is not on Facebook, then why are you running ads on Facebook?
After all, the whole point of showing up on social media is bring you in contact with your most receptive target audience. To do that, you need to meet them where they are.
Questions to Answer to Help you Find the Right Place to Be:
Who are You Trying To Reach?
The ‘dreaded’ target audience question. 😉 You will have to gather data from and for each platform and categorize users according to age, location, interest, income, and gender….and so much more. It’s never as simple as knowing their age and location, so check out our blog post: 65 Questions to Ask when Defining your Target Audience.
Is My Niche Known For/On This Platform?
Check where your industry is most relevant and where it is most engaged. That’s right - you need to be tracking your competitors and see what’s working for them. There’s a reason it might be working for them.
For example, LinkedIn tends to help professional B2B industries with a more traditional focus (finance, real estate, marketing, and law). YouTube is video-focused, a place for media and technology companies that must show what they do and how they do it. But just because this is what the online data tells us, doesn’t mean it’s the place YOU should be.
WHAT GOALS DO YOU HAVE?
Your goals will influence the platform(s) you select, the content you create, and your target audience. Here are some social media goals that you may choose:
Identify new prospects and leads
Increase brand recognition
Enhance customer service
Drive traffic
Discover the wants, requirements, and routines of your audience (market research)
What Content Type Do You WANT To Post?
Honestly…if you HATE the idea of posting video, we wouldn’t suggest putting your time and energy into TikTok quite yet. Even if it is the place where everyone is. You need to dedicate your time doing something that will be sustainable for you, and if you hate something, you’ll likely fall out of consistency, which is one of the worst things you can do. You need a consistent form or pattern of posting content that will be distinct and unique to your brand.
The Best Social Media Platforms to Use for Your Business
We can’t tell you exactly where to hang out without knowing more about your business, but here’s a glimpse into some of the most popular platforms, to help you gauge where to be.
YOUTUBE
YouTube boasts more than two billion users daily around the globe. This is no mean feat, of course, but this is possible due to the simple way to access and post content. The recent addition of YouTube Shorts (which users find more engaging by more than twice the usual) has increased the amount of time spent on the app daily, clocking forty-five (45) minutes in the United States alone. It is only second to TikTok in this regard.
It also features a variety of video content, another reason why it is so popular.
If you've followed our journey at Hello Media, then you know Instagram is OUR favorite - but it’s not for everyone! It has always been a short-form content platform, with Instagram Reels being one huge reason for its relevance as this can single-handedly help in marketing your business on social media. However, it has recently experienced a drop in popularity due to the emergence of TikTok. We have a strong belief that Instagram is a wonderful place to build a foundation and start exploring social media for most (not all) small businesses. It’s easy to navigate and the growth tactics are pretty straight forward.
If you are a business targeting businesses, this is where to be. LinkedIn offers a great way to reach and connect with professionals and businesses. It has slowly become the largest community of professionals in the world. LinkedIn is suitable for connecting with past and future colleagues and employees, but catching up with your old college buddies isn’t the only thing you can do over there! If LinkedIn is where you plan on spending your time, we suggest you prioritize building your personal page as the Founder, Director, Etc. first, and then work on your company page.
Joining industry-specific LinkedIn Groups to ask and answer questions can help you build brand awareness and drive traffic to your company profile and website.
Pinterest is not a social media platform in every sense of the term. However, one thing it is suitable for is using it to identify current trends and driving traffic to your website. It is also an excellent place to start your brand's journey, as there are many ideas to choose from and grow with. We always say our number one goal with social media is to drive users OFF of social media, and if you have a robust content library (catalog, blog, downloads, etc) then trust us when we say you should be on Pinterest.
One of the best things about Pinterest is its content shelf-life. At the time of writing this blog post, Hello Media hasn’t been pinning for 6 months now (I know, tsk tsk) yet we’re still getting over 1.5k website visitors per month directly from old pins!
TIKTOK
We feel like TikTok has been talked about too much lately, so we’ll keep this brief. It’s really not a bad place to be for ANY brand right now, simply because of the massive amount of users you could reach. It’s also not REQUIRED for a small business to be on TikTok - there are still many other ways to drive traffic. The best thing about this platform is that it is also tending in both directions when it comes to age. The most popular demographic at the moment remains Gen Z, but many other age demographics are slowly getting absorbed by the app and its attractive features.
As much as people like to "hate on” this app, it’s still a powerful place to be for MANY small businesses, especially a brick and mortar. It has the most robust advertising opportunities, and at the time of writing this, Facebook Reels is actually increasing in popularity and is an incredibly effective way to organically reach a large audience (because they’re trying to compete with TikTok and IG). Utilize Facebook to publish everything from photographs to vital business information. It’s the most versatile of all the platforms, but it’s true that organic reach has become increasingly harder on Facebook.
Our Reminders to You:
Be realistic about your resources. Social media and content creation can be time-consuming. Posting a handful of times every month isn’t going to get you very far (unless you’re strictly here to maintain relevancy). Do you have a team to help you (like us 😉) or a content creator in house? I not, consider a low-maintenance channel or only focus on ONE channel.
Ultimately, the platform you select to help put your company out there is your choice and yours only. You might need to plan and adjust, but one thing is certain; you will need to make a choice and focus on one more than the rest. If you need a social media marketing agency well-versed in the art and craft of growing your business, then you are in the right place and we’d love to meet you. Reach out to us today and we’ll connect with you soon!
