Determining the best social media platforms for your business

    Social media seems to be the holy grail of advertising and marketing these days. And while that statement may seem like an exaggeration, it honestly isn’t. There are endless social media platforms businesses can choose from nowadays. Each platform is important and unique in its own way but determining which one to use can be extremely overwhelming. So, how does a business decide? What should they be looking for and considering when making this choice? Let’s dive in to find out! 

Social media 101

    While social media started off as a way for individuals to connect with others around the world, businesses have begun turning to this channel to reach consumers. Whether it is to increase brand awareness, increase sales or promote products and services, businesses around the world are using social media to do so. As of January 2021, there were 4.2 billion active users on social media (Statista, 2021). That is a lot of consumers brands have the chance to reach and interact with. Those 4.2 billion users are on a variety of social media platforms. Within the United States (U.S.), the most popular social media platforms are:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• YouTube
• Snapchat
• Pinterest
• TikTok
• LinkedIn

Each of these platforms offer something different which is why many of them can and should be used together in social media marketing. Before getting into the different features of each platform, let’s discuss how businesses can use social media.

Paid vs. Organic social media

    Paid social media are advertisements that a business pays for. Almost every social media platform has some type of paid advertisement feature (e.g., Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads or Pinterest Ads) a business can use to promote its company and/or its products or services. Paige Cooper (2020) states paid social media is a great way for companies “to target new audiences on social media, and convert them to customers.” Cooper (2020) also states businesses should use paid social media to:

• Raise brand awareness and attract new followers,
• Promote their newest content, event, product, etc.,
• Generate leads,
• Drive conversions.

    An important aspect of paid social media is that these advertisements can be targeted to reach a specific audience. A business can share its content with users that will be the most interested. Since businesses are able to avoid consumers who are not a part of their target audience, it helps them focus on those that will interact and engage with them to hopefully complete conversions that help businesses reach their goals.

    Paid social media does cost money – hence the word “paid” – so when deciding on social media strategies, a business needs to keep the cost of paid social media in mind to make sure it stays within budget. Each social media platform has different costs and requirements for paid ads. A breakdown of costs, put together by WebFX, can be found here.

    While paid social media is great for targeting a specific audience, organic social media has its own benefits for businesses. Organic social media consists of entirely free content (posts, video, Stories, etc.) that all users, including businesses and brands, share with each other on their feeds (Cooper, 2020). Cooper (2020) states that organic social media is the “best way to nurture a connection with your customers at scale.” According to Cooper (2020), brands use organic social media to:

• Establish their personality and voice,
• Build relationships by sharing informative, entertaining, and/or inspiring content,
• Engage customers at every stage of their buying journey,
• Support their customers with customer service.

    Organic social media also includes user-generated content (UGC) which is any content created by consumers instead of the business. Brands are able to share UGC on their own social media platforms which in turn helps boost their credibility and authenticity. Organic social media does not come with any additional costs but since social media platforms use algorithms to rank posts, organic reach has started to see a decrease. But that decrease is exactly why a brand should use paid social media along with organic.

Social media platforms

    Angie Gensler (2019), a professional marketer turned blogger, created the following infographic that describes a few features of the most popular social media platforms.

Reprinted from Gensler, A. (2019). How to Choose the Right Social Media Platform for Your Business [Infographic]. Retrieved from Angie Gensler: https://www.angiegensler.com/how-to-choose-the-right-social-media-platform-for-your-business/

Since Gensler does not include TikTok or Snapchat in her infographic, even though they are both popular social media platforms, I’ve listed some facts about each.

TikTok:

• One of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world (Mohsin, 2021).
• 689 million monthly active users worldwide (Mohsin, 2021).
• 62 percent of U.S. users between the ages of 10 and 29 (Mohsin, 2021).
• Allows users to create short videos with music, filters, and some other features (Mohsin, 2021).
• Ideal for brands looking to increase reach and engagement.

Snapchat:

• 265 million monthly active users (Barnhart, 2021).
• 75 percent of them ages 13 to 34 (Barnhart, 2021).
• Great way for businesses to connect with a younger demographic and increase engagement.

    Now that we have a better idea as to which social media platforms offer what, let’s figure out how to choose the best platform to use.

Best social media platform?

    With so many platforms to choose from, which one is the best? Gensler’s infographic includes three questions that should be answered to help determine which social media platform to use. While these questions are important, it might be easier to understand how to choose by listing what to consider when deciding. The most important factors to consider are:

• Target audience – what platform are they using? Where do they spend their time on social media?
• Type of content – what content are you posting (video, photo, text, etc.)? What content does your target audience engage with?
• Type of business – B2B or B2C? Are you a retailer, a restaurant or an educational institution?
• Goals – What are you looking to achieve? More brand awareness, sales, lead generations, etc.?

    A single medium or channel marketing campaign is a thing of the past. In order for a marketing campaign or social media marketing campaign to reach its full potential, it should use more than one social media platform – as long as they make sense for that campaign or brand. Deciding on what platform is best ultimately depends on the type of business or campaign. For example, a company with a target audience consisting of Baby Boomers probably shouldn’t be marketing on TikTok, where it’s demographic is much younger. But since the average social media user has an account on eight different platforms, it might be beneficial to use multiple social media platforms (Kepios, 2021). So how should a business allocate its marketing resources?

Allocating marketing resources

    Once a business decides what social media platforms are right for the brand and/or the campaign, it’s time to figure out the best way to utilize its marketing resources. How much of the marketing budget should go to social media? According to the 2019 CMO Survey over the next five years, the percentage of marketing budget spent on social media will be as follows:

• B2B Product: 16.6 percent
• B2B Services: 20.5 percent
• B2C Product: 20.9 percent
• B2C Services: 24.7 percent

Katie Sehl (2019) suggests using the industry averages as benchmarks for a business, then tailoring those around a brands goals and resources. Sehl (2019) also suggests a business should research its customers and determine how social media will help achieve the brands marketing objectives. Once a business has conducted all the necessary research, it should have a pretty solid idea on what social media platforms to allocate resources to and why.

Content or Conversation

    In order to engage users, a brands content must also be engaging. In order to build strong relationship with users, a brand must engage with users on its social media accounts. The following real-world example perfectly outlines why both content and conversation are factors when deciding on the best social media platform to use.

    Warby Parker, an eyewear company, has had great success on social media. The brand has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter. The company posts frequently on Instagram as well as responds to its users. This organic social media is entertaining and engaging. The company also encourages and reposts UGC on their social media accounts. The owners of that content have tagged the company (@WarbyParker) or used hashtags recommended by the brand (e.g., #WarbyHometryon or #warbybox).

Reprinted from Hart, K. (2019, March 2). Warby Parker, Warby Barker, and 13 Other Brilliant Instagram Campaigns from Everyone’s Favorite Eyeglass Brand. Retrieved from Jumper Media: https://jumpermedia.co/warby-parker-instagram/

    Not only does Warby Parker interact with its customers on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The company has an entire Twitter account dedicated to customer service (@WarbyParkerHelp). According to Liz Alton (n.d.), the brands Twitter timeline is “filled with praise for excellent customer service, fast responses, and their personal touch.”

Reprinted from Alton, L. (n.d.). Creative roundup: 4 brands that take Twitter customer service to the next level. Retrieved from Twitter Business: https://business.twitter.com/en/blog/creative-roundup-customer-service.html

    The combination of different social media platforms allows Warby Parker to interact with its current customers while promoting UGC to build authenticity and credibility with potential new consumers. The brand does a great job at integrating different styles and optimizing each feature on their respected social media accounts. The content and the conversation are how Warby Parker has had such great success with social media.

Conclusion

    Neil Patel said it best when he said “There’s no single, universal ‘best social media channel’. But there is the right one for your type of business.” Each social media platform offers different and unique features that are best suited for different types of businesses. Deciding on what platform to use is not a difficult task if a brand conducts the proper research. Social media is not going anywhere so businesses must continue implementing social media marketing strategies and campaigns in order to stay relevant in this ever-connected world we live in. A social media campaign should be an integrated approach that allows for marketers to utilize both paid and organic social media on different platforms that will optimize its strategies.

 

I would love to hear your thoughts on social media and how businesses should approach it. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

 

 

References

Alton, L. (n.d.). Creative roundup: 4 brands that take Twitter customer service to the next level. Retrieved from Twitter Business: https://business.twitter.com/en/blog/creative-roundup-customer-service.html

Barnhart, B. (2021, March 9). Social media demographics to inform your brand’s strategy in 2021. Retrieved from Sprout Social: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/

Cooper, P. (2020, August 17). Organic vs. Paid Social Media: How to Integrate Both into Your Strategy. Retrieved from Hootsuite: https://blog.hootsuite.com/organic-vs-paid-social-media/#:~:text=Paid%20social%20media%20is%20another,content%2C%20or%20designing%20unique%20advertisements.

Gensler, A. (2019). How to Choose the Right Social Media Platform for Your Business [Infographic]. Retrieved from Angie Gensler: https://www.angiegensler.com/how-to-choose-the-right-social-media-platform-for-your-business/

Hart, K. (2019, March 2). Warby Parker, Warby Barker, and 13 Other Brilliant Instagram Campaigns from Everyone’s Favorite Eyeglass Brand. Retrieved from Jumper Media: https://jumpermedia.co/warby-parker-instagram/

Kepios. (2021). GLOBAL SOCIAL MEDIA STATS. Retrieved from Data Reportal: https://datareportal.com/social-media-users

Mohsin, M. (2021, February 16). 10 TIKTOK STATISTICS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW IN 2021 [INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved from Oberlo: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics

Sehl, K. (2019, July 17). A Social Media Budget Breakdown for Every Size of Business. Retrieved from Hootsuite: https://blog.hootsuite.com/the-7-components-of-every-social-media-budget/

Statista. (2021, January). Global digital population as of January 2021. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/617136/digital-population-worldwide/#:~:text=Almost%204.57%20billion%20people%20were,percent%20of%20the%20global%20population.