Choosing your social media platforms reminds us a little bit of dating reality shows. Take "The Bachelorette," for example. An eligible young woman gets to choose between dozens of seemingly perfect guys. Each one has their own perks and the sheer amount of attractive options makes her choice agonizing.
While we don't mean to compare a social media platform to, say, a handsome patent lawyer from South Tahoe who also happens to love kids, the logic is similar. As a small business, you have a finite amount of time but many platforms to choose from. Of course, unlike the Bachelorette, you can pick more than one, but you certainly can't pick them all. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn — the list goes on. Where to begin? How to choose? These are the questions we hope to answer in today's post.
When choosing your social media platforms, it's important to ask yourself the following questions:
1. What's Our Target Demographic? Different platforms cater to different audiences. Fortunately, the Internet is full of useful studies that try to measure just who is using what. If we may generalize, the current consensus around social media usage looks like this:
- Facebook: Caters to an increasingly older audience; it's seen a 45% growth since 2012 in the 45-54 year-old range. Most interestingly, 86 percent of users reside outside the US.
- Instagram: Close to 70 of its users are female.
- Twitter: Almost 30 percent of the coveted 18-29 year old male demographic in the U.S. use Twitter. Older folks? Not so much.
- LinkedIn: This platform, while primarily a personal business networking tool, is now also being used for business-specific purposes. It's skewed towards the male gender.
- Google+: Where the guys are. This network is 70 percent male.
- Pinterest: Majority female (84% according to Nielsen) and mostly tablet users.
2. What Are We Selling? If you're selling a service (e.g. a law firm, personal trainer) Facebook makes more sense as it allows you to supplement photos with larger amounts of content. Twitter is helpful too, because you can briefly communicate important messages. If you are selling a specific set of products, sites that accentuate the power of photography like Pinterest and Instagram are a better bet. Businesses that are in a gray area — think of a community bank that sells financial products but also services — will want to consider all options but weigh more towards Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
3. What Are Your Goals? Different platforms serve different purposes. Do you want to expand your brand or sell more cars? Do you want to give customers a better way to reach you or get to the top of Google's Search results? Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are the best for pushing customers to your website to close the deal. If you're instead looking to improve your SEO, you'd want to consider Google+ and YouTube.
Furthermore, as you ponder the aforementioned question, remember that more isn't more. In other words, if you're solely looking to reach more "eyes," then Facebook is your best option. But if, for example, you're targeting young women and focus more on Pinterest, you may get less visits, but more conversions.
4. Can We Measure These Goals? If your goal is to get more conversions on your Website, it will be helpful to be able to measure this on the social media network. Facebook, in particular, providers great analytical tools. Ultimately it's important to be able to show your colleagues and supervisors how you're performing on these networks.
5. Do We Have the Skills to Make it Happen? If, for example, you want to focus on SEO, you'll emphasize networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. But do you have the writers to accomplish this? Make sure your goals can be met by your in-house skill sets. If they don't, you may want to re-examine your goals or consider third-party help to fill the internal skills void.
Now if you'll excuse us, we just got a tweet from recent "Bachelorette" Desiree Hartsock. She's "hitting the slopes" with her beau Chris Siegfried this weekend.
