You may wonder what are the best social media platforms for business? There’s no doubt that it’s a necessity to use social media marketing for your small business. It can help create brand awareness, increase sales and leads, as well as engage your customers.
However, it can be confusing to know which platforms you should dedicate your time and money towards. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to the best social media platforms for business, so you’ll need to do your research. Understanding who your audience is, what your goals are, and what each platform can offer for your business is essential.
Who/where is your audience?
Social media allows you to connect with your target market/audience. For that reason, it’s vital to know exactly who your target market is and what kind of social media platforms they are currently using. You don’t want to invest all your time and energy on Instagram only to find out your audience loves Facebook!
If your target market is females aged 30-55, then you need to find out what platforms they prefer using. By searching ‘what social media platform do women 30-55 use?’ online you can find some useful statistics.
In this case, statistics show that 75% of Facebook users are female. The data also shows that 79% of individuals between the ages of 30 and 49 use Facebook. In comparison, only 47% of individuals in this age group use Instagram. Therefore, it would make sense to focus more time on creating a Facebook account for your business.
What are your goals?
It’s important to know what you want to achieve by creating social media accounts for your business. This is because some platforms are better suited to certain goals.
Some common goals that help you maximise your ROI on social media platforms include:
- Increasing brand awareness
- Increasing website traffic
- Generating leads
- Increasing revenue
- Increasing community engagement
Source: Buffer
What are the main social media platforms?
When you think of social media platforms the one that usually comes to mind is the OG platform, Facebook. With over 2 billion active users worldwide, it’s the largest social media platform. In Australia alone, there are an estimated 15 million active users and 50% of these people use the site daily.
Pros
- Huge reach and broadest range of audiences
- Easier to connect with customers directly
- Best targeting options in online advertising
- Suitable for both B2B and B2C businesses
Cons
- Difficult to get organic reach
- Declining popularity with Generation Z
- Need to invest a lot of time in creating visual content
Source: Vertical-Leap
Even with the decline in use among younger demographics, it’s still the most popular platform out there. For that reason, making Facebook your priority would be a wise decision.
Instagram is a visual app that lets you share photos and videos. It’s ideal for brands that can create engaging visual content such as fashion or food brands.
Some pros for using this platform include:
- Fast-growing user base
- Excellent targeting options
- High engagement
- Helps you to connect with Millennials and Generation Z
- A great visual branding tool
However, the cons include:
- Creating enough visual content can be demanding
- Minimal organic reach
Source: Vertical-Leap
If you think Instagram is for the youngsters then you would be correct – 67% of people aged between 18 and 29 years use this platform. If you’re trying to target both a young and old audience then you could consider dividing your efforts between Instagram and Facebook.
If networking with your audience is your goal, then LinkedIn is your best friend. As a user, you can share informative posts, photos, and videos relevant to your industry. This content can help increase awareness of you and your brand with your target audience.
Pros include:
- The definitive B2B platform – 76% of B2B content marketers use it
- Business-minded user base
- Excellent targeting options
- Allows you to target decision-makers and high-value prospects
- Written content is less demanding than the content needed for the more visual networks
- 277% more effective than Facebook in generating leads
However, the cons include:
- High CPCs
- Exporting analytics data needs to be easier
- The interface is not as intuitive as it should be
Source: Vertical-Leap
With over 5.5 million monthly users in Australia, LinkedIn is a popular player in the social media stakes.
So, what are the best social media platforms for business?
As discussed before, there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to the best social media platforms for business. Generally speaking, Facebook is a must-have for small businesses as it reaches all demographic markets. However, depending on your audience you could also add more platforms into your marketing strategy. New emerging platforms such as TikTok are worth considering as well, especially for reaching a younger audience. The decision is up to you but keeping some of these pros and cons in mind when creating your business social media accounts is handy!
If you would like to discuss your social media or digital strategy then get in touch with the Gordon Digital team today.
