Social media dominates the Internet landscape today.
For instance, Pew Research Center reports that 72% of U.S. adults use at least one social media site today, compared to only 5% in 2005.
Additionally, seven out of ten Facebook users say they visit the site everyday!
Finally, most of the reasons for using the internet listed by Datareportal in their 2021 Global Overview Report can be done on social media sites! These include 1) finding information, 2) staying in touch with friends and family, and 3) keeping up to date with news and events.
No wonder brands flock to social media to stay relevant within their markets.
But not all social media platforms are created equal.
In this article, we will first answer three questions on why it is valuable to use social media marketing, what the drawbacks are that we need to prepare for, and what types of social media platforms are currently used. Then, we will address three more questions that will help you ascertain the most strategic platform for your organization:
In answering these questions, we will discuss the most important points to consider when choosing the right platforms for your social media marketing.
The answer is simple: the social media platforms used today are designed to be focused on different content types and topics. There are three main content types by format:
Most of the social media sites allow posting these three main content types in a wide range of topics, but they can be designed with one dominant content type and/or topic. For example:
This means that both the nature of content and audience type will depend on the platform. However, recent changes to these platforms mean that you can post all three types of content.
Social media marketing has its drawbacks. Australia’s business.gov.au lists the following drawbacks of using social media for marketing, copied here verbatim:
All of these possible pitfalls can be prevented or mitigated if you plan in advance.
Choosing the right platform means we should also look at the features of each social media platform. We have the following types of platforms, modified from Search Engine Land’s original list:
The choice of which social media network to focus on may depend mostly on the nature of your brand. For example, according to Social Media Examiner’s 2021 Industry Report (link at the end of the article), 96% of B2C (business-to-consumer) and 89% of B2B (business-to-business) companies market their products and services to Facebook.
Their second most-commonly used social media network, however, differs depending on whether they are a B2C or a B2C: 83% of B2C companies use Instagram as their second choice; while 81% of B2B companies use LinkedIn as their second choice.
To further strengthen the distinction, the same marketers were asked the most important social media platform for their marketing strategy. Facebook took the lion’s share for both B2C (63%) and B2B (40%) companies. For B2C companies, the second place goes to Instagram at 24%, while LinkedIn was the second-place for B2B companies at 35%.
You should also find out what social media networks your existing customers and your target market use. Chances are, they can be found on the same social media networks. There are several ways to look at where your market is. For the data, we will cite the result of Pew Research Center’s survey on social media usage.
In terms of sex,
In terms of age group,
In terms of annual income,
From these data, you can infer the following:
There is another consideration:
If your eCommerce niche is relatively narrow and you are present in their communities or groups on a social media site or two, then you can advertise directly to these communities or groups.
As almost everyone is on social media, there are diverse ways that you can use it to improve your brand. HootSuite lists a whopping 23 benefits of social media for businesses. They can be summarized into seven major benefits:
One strength of social media is that you can achieve two or more of the major goals here at the same time using a single marketing campaign! For instance, you can both build brand awareness and generate sales by partnering with influencers.
All in all, there are three main questions you need to answer when selecting the best social media platforms for your brand:
The answers to these questions will help you pick the best social media platforms for your organization. The answer may differ from what you expect!
Demographics of Social Media Users and Adoption in the United States
Pew Research: Social Media Use in 2021
Social Media Examiner | Social Media Marketing | Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
13 Top Tips For Choosing The Right Social Media Platform For Your Business
23 Benefits of Social Media for Business
How To Choose The Right Social Media Networks For Your B2B Business
Social Media Marketing How to Choose the Right Social Network for Your Business When I started
Which Social Media Platforms Should You Use for Your Business? | DMI
Article Choosing the Right Social Media Platform for Your Business Check out our 3 step guide