The number of social media platforms grows every day. As a business, you must familiarize yourself with the most important ones. But, even when we narrow the list down, there are almost 20 social media platforms to choose from. That is a lot. Even though all platforms have their benefits, not all are equally good for your business. That is why we want to teach you how to choose the best social media platform for your business.
Know your audience
A successful online business requires building a strong online presence. Whatever method you use, one thing will always stay the same, and that is your audience. When choosing a social media platform, your audience plays a crucial role. The idea is to market your business to the right people. With that in mind, you need to be where the people are.
If your customers are using more than one social media app, which is probably the case, you need to measure the numbers and see what platform has the highest number of your customers. This is the first app to focus on.
The best way to find out this is to ask your customers how they discovered your business and what social media apps they use.
Consider the direction of your company
What is the goal of your company? What is the main product or service? Are you creating more visual content?
All these questions will give you valuable information that will help you decide what social media platform to choose. For example, if you primarily focus on B2C content that relies on images, you should research Instagram promotion strategies. However, if your company is working on a B2B model, LinkedIn is a must.
This is a crucial step. Even though almost any social media app can benefit your business in a way, only a handful will deliver fully. That is why you want to align your company goals with the platform with the highest chances of making it happen.
Research different platforms
We all know about social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTop, Pinterest, and many others. You probably have your favorite apps, just like everyone else.
However, have you ever used any social media app for business purposes? Are you familiar with its business features and limits? What about the payment plans?
What about social media platforms that are not on your top 10 list? What if there is an app that you never heard of, and it could be perfect for your business?
Too many important questions to answer. The point is that the research is crucial for this task. You need to know how flexible each social media platform is. Your business depends on its features.
Research competition
Remember that your competitors are doing or have already done exactly the same thing you are doing right now. Try to google your competitors and follow their social media profiles. This will tell you what platforms they use and how active they are.
Also, observe how they communicate with their followers on social media and what type of content they post.
Remember, do not copy their content if they have something interesting. That is one of many mistakes you should avoid when writing social media content. You can use their content as inspiration, but only to create something new and unique to your business.
Avoid the most common mistakes
When using social media as a regular person, you don’t have to be very careful about posting content. However, if you want to become a professional, this is where the game changes. You can make many social media mistakes that can harm your business and reputation. Be careful when posting online because you never know what might happen.
That is how to find out what is the best social media platform for your business
Before we finish for today, here are a couple of best practices that will help you to manage your accounts better:
- keep in mind available resources – creating content costs both time and money;
- pace yourself with the number of social media platforms, especially if you have a small team;
- tailor your content to match the structure of the content for a specific social media platform.
As you can see, there are many options to choose from. However, you must do thorough research to find the best social media platform for your business. Take your time, start slow, and then increase the number of platforms when you feel ready. Best of luck!
