Social Media
“Today around seven-in-ten Americans use social media to connect with one another, engage with news content, share information and entertain themselves.” Pew Research
Choosing which social media platform to use for your business can be challenging. When deciding which platforms to engage and optimize, we first advise businesses to consider their most important factor, the customer. Just as the customer should be the determining factor of the content that is published, they should also be the first consideration in deciding which platforms to engage.
When users engage on LinkedIn, their primary purpose is business related. In our experience, business to business companies should first focus on optimizing LinkedIn. It’s important to note that LinkedIn advertising is more expensive, but it also allows you to engage users in a different mind-set and of different demographics than other social media platforms. For example, you can target c suite executives on LinkedIn but not on Facebook.
Twitter is possibly the most questioned platform among marketers. As of 2018, about 24% of U.S. adults use this platform with 45% of users ranging ages 18-24.CMO, Leslie Berland, explains the purpose of Twitter best."Twitter is the place to see what's happening," she said. While many still connect on Twitter, it is utilized as more of a news source. Did you know that Twitter is actually under the "news" section in the App Store and not the social networking category? Twitter still has a space for updates and information, but more importantly, it's about what's happening and what's trending. If your business has announcements and "news type" messages to share regularly, you may find yourself dominating this platform.
Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform. With 1.15 billion estimated active users, it still leads the industry. Other than YouTube, no other social platform measures up. Not to mention their advertising options are much more dynamic than any other platform we’ve engaged, but that’s another topic entirely. According to Pew Research,
Many would like to discount the use of Facebook for young adults but the statistics still argue. While other demographics such as income and education are not quite as dynamic, the male to female ratio is more obvious. 83% of adult women using Facebook and 75% of adult men engaging there.
Instagram has an approximate user base of 600 million plus with 59% of 18-29 year olds holding accounts. There are only 8% of people 65 or older that are Instagram account holders. These statistics are evident in that if your product is aimed towards younger generations, it may have success on Instagram. Please take note of the qualifier, “may.” Engaging Instagram takes a few key components: consistent posting and dynamic imagery. Instagram is not a platform for businesses who don’t plan to get really consistent on their campaign calendars. When pages go stagnant, the fan base drops significantly. Instagram is a visually driven platform. While all platform statistics prove that quality visuals have a higher engagement rate, Instagram is at the top of that page. If your business targets the 18-29 year old demographic but doesn’t have resources for high resolution, compelling images or curated graphics, we suggest starting with a different platform.
Platforms like Pinterest, YouTube, and Reddit are other considerations to make when planning your marketing campaign. Our focus today is what we consider the “core four.” NWA Brand recommends securing the URLs for your business name for each platform but decide which ones engage. It’s important to recognize that a concentrated effort on one social media outlet will bring larger results than inconsistent posting or ads on a single platform. We recommend building your social media presence at a rate that will allow focus, consistency and strategy. For some businesses, this may be one platform at a time while others may have the capabilities and resources to manage multiple outlets. Develop a strategy that is conducive to the stage of business your company is in.Drop us a comment if you have any questions! This information only there surface of deciding which platform to engage in.
