Social Media Marketing: Choosing the Right Platforms

Today, almost every business can benefit from some form of social media marketing. But with so many social media platforms out there, which ones are the right ones for your business? There are a few important things to consider. First, there are many platforms out there…and it seems like their popularity changes in the blink of an eye. For most companies and industries, a combination of a few platforms will be far more beneficial than trying to do it all. Secondly, the element each platform has in common: they all require research, strategy, planning and consistency.

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Is Your Social Media Marketing Smart?

The most important takeaway of this blog is to help businesses decide which social media platforms to continue using, which to look into further, and which ones to say no to. While most businesses think, “I should post on as many platforms as I can,” that’s not the smart way to handle social media marketing. It’s better to have one to two platforms being managed correctly, than posting on all platforms and not meeting best practice minimum of each platform. We’ll review the most popular platforms to engage with when considering social media for business use, and what’s needed to be successful on each platform.

Facebook

Facebook is an ideal social media marketing platform for businesses that want to post light and engaging content that is best suited for viewing on a mobile device. Posting only informational content or inventory material may be off putting to the platform’s audience. Also, Facebook’s algorithm showcases accounts that consistently post over a period of time more than they share accounts that post sporadically. Facebook also performs well when using lifestyle content. 

Facebook has reported that as of 2021, 56% of its users are male, while 44% are female. According to Statista, a study showed that “male users between the ages of 25 and 34 years constituted the biggest demographic group on the social media platform.” It’s also reported that most of their traffic is through mobile devices.

If your target lead or buyer is more often men than women, and within the largest age range as reported above, Facebook would be a great platform for your business. The types of organic content that often do best on Facebook are funny posts, events, giveaways, inspirational quotes and images, and videos – which are the top performing medium on the platform. Be sure to keep posts on Facebook fun and relevant to the lifestyle choices of your audience. And remember, not every account performs the same on every platform. While some Facebook accounts may perform well with static image organic posts, others may be more engaging using Stories or Reels, or both!

Instagram

Instagram is the perfect marketing tool for businesses whose products and services are visually captivating. It’s a visuals-first platform, with an increasing focus on video as of late in an attempt to compete with TikTok. If you provide an image-friendly service such as photography or home building, or you have a brand that can expand into an adjacent lifestyle space, Instagram is the perfect match for you.

When shouldn’t you use Instagram? If your niche doesn’t have a lifestyle community around it (i.e. utility trailer dealership), or your business doesn’t lend itself well to photos (i.e. garbage disposal). As Instagram heavily pushes their in-app shopping right now, one of the downsides of this platform is that they want users to stay on the platform. The only ways to drive leads to your website through Instagram is a link in your profile or in your Instagram stories. It’s also a platform that requires a significant time investment. Consistent activity on this platform with curated images and edited videos are the minimum required for a return on your effort.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn may be a great platform for your business if you’re looking to market towards B2B connections. It encourages business professionals to share advice or knowledge and offers somewhere to connect with other professionals within like industries.  While focusing on information-based posts about your business may not be best practice on other platforms such as Facebook or Instagram, it’s the perfect content for LinkedIn.

When your business is looking for a B2B or professional audience, LinkedIn is a no-brainer for social media. Organic posts, links to blogs or blogs posted directly on the platform, and advice/education content perform best on this platform. Recent focus on work/life balance and healthy work culture has also led to very honest content about both topics on LinkedIn. Content that includes a little of all mentioned is the “secret sauce” here. Business professionals have humanized themselves in the past few years. This is crucial to success on LinkedIn, both for your business page and your business presence.

Pinterest

Pinterest is a fantastic platform for driving traffic and link clicks to your website. What sets Pinterest apart is that it’s more visual search engine than it is social network, and every post is clickable to your site. There’s less of a focus of keeping you on the platform here, and more about empowering discovery and inspiration. However, you will still need captivating visuals in order to entice clicks amidst highly aesthetic and topic-specific feeds.

One important thing to note about Pinterest is that this platform goes hand in hand with having either a blog or a catalog. You need landing pages for users to click through to, and typically how-to’s, recipes, guides and shoppable posts perform the best. If your website has a blog that establishes you as an industry expert and includes calls to action like contacting you for more information, you’re set up to succeed on Pinterest.

Pinterest is the most successful for businesses that can post eye-catching images and educational content about your niche. If you don’t have a blog and don’t plan on starting one, it will be tough to build landing pages that are enticing for clicks. Pinterest can also require a big time investment, since best practices encourage multiple pins per day. For more information on how to get started using Pinterest for Dealerships, check out our how-to guide!

Twitter

Twitter is an unusual social media platform. It is extremely popular, especially among men ages 25-34, yet it one of the most difficult platforms when it comes to effectively advertising.  The businesses that do well on Twitter have one of two things going for them. They are a very large corporation already, such as Nike or Taco Bell, or they have made it their mission to humanize their brand by using sometimes self-deprecating humor. One of the most notorious accounts like this is the ever-popular Wendy’s twitter account. Celebrities also have a mass following on twitter.

Posts also have a character limit of 280 characters per post. You must get your point across in a short but attention-grabbing manner. All links, hashtags, spaces, and letters are considered a character in the twitter character count. This platform is best when you can provide quick snippets of entertainment. Unless your business can provide something new and unique to entertain users, Twitter may not be for you.

YouTube

YouTube is ideal for businesses who are able to consistently produce high-quality, long form video content. While there is no exact number of recommended posts per week, consistency is key. You should be able to commit to two to three posts per week and consistently post them on the same days at the same time every single week.  

With the rise in popularity in streaming, YouTube has grown exponentially over the past few years. A  2020 study by Hootsuite showed “74% of all adults in the US use YouTube.” YouTube differs from other social media platforms in the “life” of a video. Video posts will live on YouTube for years, not just a few days to weeks like on other social platforms. Some videos will even go viral years after originally uploaded. Use of well researched SEO-based titles and descriptions are important on YouTube also. It’s the world’s second largest search engine, generating over 3 billion searches per month.

While YouTube is one of the best social media platforms for search and generating revenue, it is also one of the most time consuming. Businesses need to shoot high-quality video content, edit video, create thumbnails, write SEO friendly descriptions, and respond in a timely manner to all comments.  If you have the time and knowledge though, this is a platform that can be very beneficial to any business selling a physical product.  

TikTok

TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform, even surpassing Google and Facebook as the most popular web domain in 2021. Although you can view videos on a desktop, TikTok is almost always used on mobile. TikTok videos are similar to Instagram Reels: short, vertical videos with a casual, friendly or satirical vibe. Videos range from 15 seconds to three minutes – but use long videos sparingly! People choose TikTok because videos are short and fun, and they’re likely to scroll quickly.

It’s the best platform to reach a younger audience, with 47% of users between the ages of 10 and 29. In March 2021, 61% of active TikTok users in the United States identified as female. The platform is growing to include older users but is still dominated by Gen Z and Millennial audiences. It works best for a national audience, as the algorithm targets people by interest over a large location. You can only target by location in TikTok Ads.

If your business is able to dedicate time and resources to a video-first platform and targets a younger audience, TikTok might be a great place for you. Content should be casual, creative and friendly. It’s widely recommended that you post on TikTok daily for best results, similar to most other social media platforms. Creating videos can be time consuming, so be mindful of this when considering if TikTok is really right for your business- before investing time and resources.