The evolution of social media has changed the world in so
many ways. The way you market your business is no exception to this fact.
Social media has proven to be a complete game changer. As a company, you are no
longer in control of your message. Your consumers have the ball in their court.
They decide what they want to see and when they want to see it. Furthermore,
thanks to social media, your customers have the ability to share their opinion about
your brand and/or products (whether it is good or bad) with the entire world,
all at their leisure. Worldwide conversations are taking place about your company.
Are you going to ignore what people are saying and continue to send out your
one-way marketing messages? Are you simply going to sit back and listen to what
people are saying, without taking any action? I did not think so. You want to
get in on the action. Now comes the million dollar question—which social media
platform(s) do you choose to market your business?
No two businesses are the same. Even those that market
similar products still differ in their branding, their goals, their objectives,
and so on. Therefore, the answer to this million dollar question will not be
the same for any two companies. For Company A, Facebook might be the best
option. Company A might be looking to increase brand awareness and having a
presence on Facebook might be the perfect option for them. For Company B, the
answer might be Twitter. Perhaps Company B is a news-based company and they
need to get information out in real-time. Additionally, Company C might benefit
from a combination of Facebook and Twitter, and maybe even Pinterest. The point
is, choosing a social media platform(s) that will be the most beneficial to you
depends on your company, your industry, and your goals.
It is absolutely vital not to take on more than your
resources can handle. “Brands that have small social media budgets can still
achieve a high level of brand awareness by focusing their resources on just one
or two platforms” (Business Insider, 2013). If you are tight on time, people,
money, etc., it is beneficial to focus on just one social platform. “Most
people and companies can't be amazing on every platform; that takes a huge
amount of bandwidth and resources. Instead of having a sub-par representation
in a lot of places, be awesome on a few of them” (Levy, 2013). In some cases,
it might benefit you to be awesome on just one of them. Of course, this does
not mean that you should ignore the others. You should be listening to
conversations taking place all over the web when it comes to your brand.
However, do not bite off more than you can chew. Attempting to maintain active
profiles on too many networks may be spreading your resources too thin. In this
case, you might be there, but your efforts will likely go unnoticed by your
target audience. If you are going to do something, do it big. Pick a platform,
and go all out. Now, how to choose which is right for you?
If you Google around and read what the experts have to
say, you will frequently find a very good suggestion to start by learning more
about your audience, and where they come from. “The key to choosing the
right social marketing platform for your business is to know where your
customers ‘hang out’ online…” (Fishaw, 2014). Knowing exactly who you want to
target and then figuring out where these people are online will help you decide
which platform to choose. Of course you will have to do a little research to
learn a bit about each social network. Knowing their capabilities, their
limits, and what others are using them for will help you determine which social
network(s) will help you achieve your business goals.
Some of the more popular and widely used platforms are
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Facebook: The biggest social network out there, with over 1.5
billion active users worldwide (Fishaw, 2014). This makes it great for building
brand awareness. Two of the biggest age demographics using Facebook are 25 – 34
year-olds, and 45 – 54 year-olds. These are both highly desirable demographics.
Twitter: Twitter does not have nearly as many active users as
Facebook, and the most popular age demographic is 18 – 29 (Fishaw, 2014).
However, this is the preferred social network for many B2B companies. According
to an article in Business Insider, Twitter is used by more Fortune 500
companies than Facebook (Business Insider, 2013). A total of 73% of Fortune 500
companies have active Twitter profiles, while only 66% are active on Facebook!
Pinterest: Users of this social network are comprised of mostly
females. It is a very visual-based platform, so if your company has great
image-based content and is targeting women, this is the place for you.
LinkedIn: This is your go-to if you want to network with business
professionals.
Keep in mind that these are only a few of the most
popular sites. Google+ and YouTube are also great options to look into.
Now that you know a little about each network, once you figure
out where your audience is you can start to determine where you want to make
your presence. Regardless of which you choose, make sure you go in with a
clear-cut strategy and goals in mind. It might take a while to build traction,
but you need to keep working towards your goal. “Social media is a long game
and while it is a bit of a cliché it is all about relationship-building. Brands
with the patience to stick to a smart strategy will see it pay off in the
medium- and long-term” (Business Insider, 2013).
As web metrics expert Avinash Kaushik points out (2011),
an important part of this strategy should be what happens after your post your
content. This is where the conversation starts. As Cory Doctorow points out,
“Conversation is King, content is just something to talk about” (Novak, 2010).
Choose a platform or platforms that will enable you to post quality,
conversation-starting content. Then, make sure you engage your consumers in
this conversation to keep it going. This will help you increase reach and
create a desire among your consumers to share your content and continue the
conversation elsewhere. This, in turn, helps build brand advocates and keeps
people coming back for more.
To summarize, it is important to first know your business
goals. Next, research which social networks your target audience is spending
time on. Learn a little about the capabilities and limitations of each network.
Figure out which you can fit into your budget, and then pick a platform or two.
“Money and effort should not be wasted by brands to be on all platforms, even
if the budget allows for it. A surprising number of small and medium-sized
brands fall into the trap of believing they have to be on all the social media
platforms. A well-crafted ‘platform-native’ approach is always better than a
diluted presence on a half-dozen networks” (Business Insider, 2013). The next step is to create a strategy, stick
with it, monitor your results, and adjust as you go to help you reach your
goals.
To give a real-world example, I am considering starting a
party planning business. My business would be small (I would be the only
employee!), it would be local, and it would be a B2C company. I would likely
choose to social network on Facebook, where I can build brand awareness, share photos,
and target my local audience. I would also likely be active on Pinterest where
I can show off my skills in images. I would be able to target mothers looking
to plan Sweet 16s, Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, birthday parties, retirement parties,
baby showers, etc. These two platforms would benefit me more than Twitter,
where my tweets might be lost and it would be difficult to start a
conversation. LinkedIn would not benefit me for obvious reasons. So, keep in
mind, it is all about your specific business, your specific goals, your
specific audience, and your specific resources.
References:
Business Insider. (2013). How To Choose The Right Social
Media Platform For Your Brand. Retrieved on January 25 from http://www.businessinsider.com/choose-the-right-social-media-platform-2013-7
Fishaw, Justin. (2014). Choosing the Right Social Media
Marketing Platform for Your Business. Retrieved on January 26 from http://digitalsherpa.com/choosing-right-social-media-marketing-platform-business/
Kaushik, Avinash. (2011). Best Social Media Metrics:
Conversation, Amplification, Applause, Economic Value. Retrieved on January 27
from http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/best-social-media-metrics-conversation-amplification-applause-economic-value/
Levy, Scott. (2013). How to Choose the Best Social Media Platform for
Your Business. Retrieved on January 25 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/230020
Novak, C. (2010, July 27).
Why conversation, not content, is king. SocialMediaToday.com. Retrieved January
27, 2014 from http://socialmediatoday.com/wordspring/152636/why-conversation-not-content-king
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