Social media marketing has been rapidly growing in popularity in recent years and, with the rise of new technologies and platforms, the only thing separating your business from your customers is a screen. Social media bridges this gap, making it easier than ever to reach your audience. By making social media a part of your wider marketing strategy, you can boost brand awareness, reach new customers and reply directly to their questions.
There are so many social media platforms to choose from and it can often feel as though you need to stay on top of all of them as a brand. You end up stretching yourself too thin and sharing poor quality content. Selecting a few platforms and really focusing your efforts can help you get the most out of social media but how do you choose the best social media platforms for your business? Here are three simple steps.
Step 1: Understand Your Target Audience
The first step in creating a social media strategy for your business is to identify and understand your target audience. The more you know about your audience, the more powerful your marketing efforts will be. By knowing who you’re hoping to sell to, you can take your brand in the right direction and ensure you’re not wasting your time and effort trying to appeal to everyone. To help you gain a better understanding of your target audience, we would recommend creating buyer personas.
A buyer persona (also known as an audience persona or profile), is a representation of your ideal consumer, based on market research and data about your existing customer base. They are fictional profiles that represent groups of people within a target audience. It’s common to have multiple audience personas and this is totally okay. Think of an audience you’d like to target on social media, then ask yourself the following questions:
We recommend giving your audience profile a name, as it helps you to visualise them as a real person and makes life a little easier when discussing marketing plans. It’s easier to refer to “Sarah”, for example, rather than “Profile A”.
Once you identify your target audience, the next step will be to determine which social media platforms they favour. These platforms should be your focus. Afterall, there is little point in posting content to a platform that your audience doesn’t tend to use. Just because an app is available to you, doesn’t mean you have to use it. Post your content to the places where it’ll have the biggest impact.
Even if you’re not currently present on any social media channels, your audience likely is. Check to see where website referrals are coming from and identify the platform your audience already uses. Dig into the demographics of each platform and see how they align with what you know about your target audience. Meet your audience where they are.
Step 2: Understand Various Social Media Platforms
Once you’ve gained a better understanding of your audience, it’s time to get to grips with the various social media platforms available to you, their demographics, uses and advantages. As discussed above, it’s crucial that you identify where your target audience currently is online. This can be done by looking at the demographics of each social media platform and seeing how they align with your audience. Take a look at the typical age-ranges of platforms, the gender split, locations and industries to understand where your audience spends time online.
The next step is to dig into the uses, benefits and formats of each social media platform and determine how well suited your brand and content is to that channel. Let’s take a look at what makes each platform unique and how it may be the perfect place for your business.
As of April 2023, Facebook has an impressive 2.989 billion monthly active users. This is 37.2% of the world’s population. The largest age group is 25-34 year-olds (29.6%), and it is largely used by individuals to keep up with their friends and family. It’s a good platform for building the loyalty of your existing customer base, but it can be difficult to reach a new audience on Facebook due to its high number of overall users. Despite this, Facebook is a very varied platform which suits all types of content, including the option to create ‘Groups’ which brings a new opportunity for growth and engagement.
As of 2023, Instagram is home to 2.35 monthly active users worldwide – this is 25.31% of the world’s population. The largest age group using the platform is 18-24 year-olds, very closely followed by 25-34 year-olds. As a platform, it is best for sharing visual, eye-catching content and it can be perfect for taking your audience behind the scenes. Through feed photos, Reels, and Stories, you can show off your products and services. While Facebook is often used for staying connected to friends and family, Instagram’s users love to follow brands. In fact, 90% of all users follow at least one brand account.
In 2023, Twitter currently has 353.90 million users, which is a 3.93% decrease from 2022. The platform has been seeing a decrease in popularity since Elon Musk’s 2022 takeover, but it is still a very useful app for brands to interact with customers. The largest age group on Twitter is 25-34 year-olds (38.5%), and it’s where many people go for news, real-time updates and customer service. Use Twitter for your business by responding to your customers’ questions and build a strong relationship with your audience.
LinkedIn has 900 million users globally as of 2023 and people aged 25-34 account for 59.1% of the platform’s user base. It’s designed for businesses and professionals and is typically an excellent platform for B2B brands to reach their target audience. It’s very useful for Twitter for your business lead generation, networking, and even recruiting employees.
Step 3: Understand Your Marketing Goals
Your social media marketing goals should align with your overall business goals, working as part of your wider marketing strategy. Identify these goals and use them to inform your choice of social media platforms. You’ll want to select the platforms that will best help you achieve your marketing objectives. According to Sprout Social, the most common goals for social media are:
- Increase brand awareness (70%)
- Lead generation (59%)
- Community engagement (48%)
Spend some time defining your overall business objectives and your marketing goals, then see how your social media strategy can help you achieve them. Identify your social media goals and ask yourself the question; “what am I trying to achieve by using social media?”.
If your main goal is to increase brand awareness through social media, consider sharing behind-the-scenes content, eye-catching visuals and a wide range of content types on Instagram. If you’re hoping to build a relationship with your audience and increase community engagement, creating a Facebook group could be the perfect solution for you. If you’re a B2B brand who is aiming to generate some more leads by using social media, LinkedIn could be the ideal platform for you to focus on.
As we’ve discussed, different social media platforms offer different benefits, and these benefits will help you reach your marketing goals. Use your insight into your marketing goals, combined with your knowledge of your target audience and your understanding of each social media platform to choose where to focus your attention.
Talk To Victress About Social Media Platforms
Looking for some guidance on how to use specific social media platforms to work towards achieving your business goals? Get in touch today for a free consultation with a member of our team.
