With 74% of online adults being active on social media, you cannot afford to skip using social media as an avenue to reach potential customers. However, finding the right platform to use can be a daunting task for businesses who are new to social media.
Quality is always better than quantity, so before joining every social media channel ask yourself:
- Where is my target buyer?
- Where is my competition?
- How many channels can I do well, consistently?
Keeping your answers in mind, continue reading to find the perfect fit for your business in the fast-paced world of social media.
It’s no secret that Facebook is the market leader for social networking with 1.44 billion monthly active users. 77% of all females active on the internet are on Facebook along with 66% of all males. The platform generates up to 645 million local business page views per week along with 665 million visits to the site each day.
EVERY businesses should have an active presence on Facebook due to the sheer number of people that are visiting Facebook on a daily basis. Additionally, Facebook’s advanced targeting metrics make it possible to reach potential customers in almost any industry. Facebook requires a considerable amount of time, money, and attention to build and monitor advertisements; however, when properly executed the results for your business will definitely be seen!
24% of adult men and 21% of adult women use Twitter. According to the Pew Research Center, here are the age demographics of adults that use Twitter:
- 37% of adults 18-29
- 25% of adults 30-49
- 12% of adults 50-64
- 10% of adults 65+
If your target market is fairly young and tech-savvy, Twitter is a good place to find them. Twitter gets heavy use from information seekers, providing opportunities to connect with people who are looking for news and insights about a particular topic. The platform is also a great way to connect directly with your customers. If you have an unsatisfied customer you will hear from them via a tweet, which provides you a great opportunity to respond quickly and excel at customer service.
LinkedIn is the largest social network for business professionals, making it the perfect platform for business to business companies. There are over 230 million users and 2.7 million business pages active on LinkedIn. When creating content and advertisements, it is important to be cognizant of the fact that LinkedIn has a more serious approach than the other social channels.
The higher average income of users and working mindset of the network make it an ideal social network for communicating with other industry professionals. LinkedIn makes this easy to achieve through its “LinkedIn Groups.” These groups provide a place for professionals in the same industry or with similar interests to start and participate in discussions. So in short – if your business is in the B2B (Business to Business) industry or you are trying to reach business professionals in anyway – LinkedIn is the place you should be!
A staggering 68.2% of Pinterest users are women, 50% of which have children. 27.4% of Pinterest users are between the ages of 25-34 and 22.1% are between the ages of 35-44.
These demographics reveal that if you have a product or service that caters to mothers (Mommy bloggers), Pinterest is the place for you. Pinterest content tends to lean toward female interests such as clothing, recipes, and interior design. With 135 million daily visitors, Pinterest is a valuable platform to use when promoting an apparel, fitness, culinary, or home design brand.
Instagram has the largest number of young users compared to any other social network. 53% of 18-29 year olds use Instagram. Because the platform is strictly for photo sharing, it is important to note that you must have a lot of visually appealing content that captures the attention of Instagram’s younger demographic.
With over 300 million active users, companies can see great success when utilizing Instagram in their marketing mix. Apparel, fitness, and food based businesses tend to receive the most engagement on this platform. If your business is “visual” and can take advantage of photo sharing, then Instagram is definitely an important social media channel for your business. I would also recommend on this platform it’s all about quality. Don’t post random pictures – keep your posts high quality and you will see great engagement!
Now that you know which channels are dominant for your business’ target market, focus your time and money promoting your brand and offerings on those channels! Share with us in the comments below which social channel is best for your business and how you have used social platforms to increase awareness and sales! If you’re still not sure which channel is best for your business…ASK us below and we will be sure to help you out!
*All images provided by Sprout Social
