It is a truth universally acknowledged that your business needs to be on social media. But with so many different platforms to choose from, it can be hard to know which ones are a good fit. Truth be told, you don’t need to be on every platform; in fact, doing so will spread yourself too thin and make for less engaging social experiences.

To determine which social media platform is best for your business, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Who are my customers?
  • What problems can I solve for them?
  • What kind of content can I regularly produce?

Social Media at a Glance

social media infographic

Go Where Your Customers Are

Your business serves a specific target audience and so do social media platforms. Drilling down who your customers are and where they hang out online is the most important factor in choosing social media for your business.

Age, gender, income, interests: these all play into where and how people engage. Screen time is spent building personas and communities that reflect who we are and what we’re looking for, and oftentimes, social media directly reflects our consumer habits and preferences.

For example, younger demographics probably wouldn’t be caught dead on their parents’ favorite platform, Facebook, while career-driven individuals are more likely to connect on LinkedIn than Pinterest. Knowing where to go helped the LDM team create Facebook posts and ads for local pizzeria Aurelio’s, getting users engaged with their favorite pizza topics in a playful yet natural format.

 

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at what your competitors are doing. Are they killing the game with informative YouTube videos while ignoring Twitter altogether? Are they getting good engagement with their content, or is it not connecting at all? Checking out what’s working (and what’s not) within your industry is a good baseline for where you can dive in.

Build on What You Do Best

We use social media for different purposes. Sometimes we need an answer to a problem, and want a blog, video, or webinar to walk us through the how-tos. Sometimes we want to be social, and find other like-minded people to share ideas, products, and solutions with.

How can you help? What content can you offer to fit into these needs? 

Let your product or service be your guide. If you sell a line of sparkle-covered sneakers that look amazing in sunlight, you’ll want to show off those products with eye-popping, shareable posts that highlight every angle. If you guide customers through mortgage refinancing, you’ll want to be as informative as possible, answering their questions in long-form content to help them borrow with confidence.

Stick with your strengths and create content that highlights what you can provide for customers, balancing organic, informative content with interspersed sales pitches to help build trust. An example of this was used for our client GLAC, who implemented Facebook messaging ads to start the conversation on auto financing in a way that was easy for Facebook users to do right from the platform. By the time users were presented with a “sign up now” call to action, they’d already been provided a beneficial experience, helping them feel comfortable with the next step.

Become a Social Superstar

No matter which platform you choose, you’ll need to plan a regular stream of consistent content to build a following. Don’t dive into YouTube if recording and editing videos is completely outside your wheelhouse; work with the talent and skills you have to start your uphill climb.

If you want to get social but don’t have the time or ability, don’t sweat it! The marketing nerds at LDM can help! We offer social media services tailored to your needs, so contact us to get started!

Meet Crystal Duran

Crystal Duran is a Senior Copywriter at Launch Digital Marketing. With a master's degree in Mass Communication and several published books to her pen name, she is a self-proclaimed word nerd and staunch supporter of the Oxford comma.