There’s no question that social media has become a crucial marketing tool for businesses to reach their potential audiences and increase their sales. But in today’s world, there are many platforms that your business can use to effectively market your brand – you just need to know what you are looking for. Because there are so many options, it’s best to focus on the ones that will be best suited for your brand to really focus on the growth and expansion. When it comes to social media marketing, it is certainly quality over quantity, so before you make a profile on every site you’ve heard of, here are some things to consider.
Identify Your Goals
Find what makes your brand special, what makes it memorable? You want to stand out, not sink in a pool full of brands trying to be seen. What are you trying to sell and how does it differentiate you from everyone else? These are such important questions to ask yourself to before attempting to find your audience.
Identify Your Target Audience
In social media, nothing you say really matters unless people are listening, so find the audience that will most likely be intrigued by what you say or post. There are different audiences in each social media platform, who are you trying to reach? Figure out the age range and gender your brand is trying to market to. If you’re having trouble, do some research on your competitor’s audience or even make your own focus group.
Type of Content
This is the part which will help you determine where your desired content will be most accepted. Think of your social media marketing capabilities. Do you have a team to create content? Will you use graphics, images, and videos? Is there a copywriter on staff? These questions will help you determine what kind of content you will be able to produce, and therefore narrow down the types of platforms you can use.
To go more in-depth, here are some starter social media platforms with the highest traffic:
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Facebook
Easily one of the most popular social media platforms with over 2 billion monthly users, Facebook is the classic go-to platform for businesses. It is generally regarded as the best website to market because of it’s boosted and sponsored post capabilities. If you have the budget, you can easily reach a large audience and build relationships with Facebook.
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Instagram
One of the fastest growing social media platforms over the years with 1 billion monthly active users, Instagram is known for its visual-based content. For most people, it is easier to see than read thus, becoming more memorable, which is why a lot of brands have success on Instagram creating high quality content.
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Twitter
Twitter is known for it’s immediacy and fast response abilities. It is great for brands who are on top trending topics and are quick to engage with the community. Twitter has features to add photos and videos, but text posts are definitely more standard.
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LinkedIn
LinkedIn is perfect if you’re a B2B business and strive to build connections with other professionals. It is also a platform to build authenticity for your brand and let everyone know what your brand is about. For B2C brands, however, this platform can be useful to leverage any company announcements or business-angle stories you may have.
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TikTok
Having soared in popularity, TikTok is a fun platform that is great for brands looking to target Gen Z. The key to success on this platform is creativity, following trends, and consistent posting. Therfore, don’t try to tackle this platform unless you have the time to support it. Especially because it is video content, it can be more time consuming and involved. However, if you have the team or time, it may be worth the investment.
Overall, finding the right platform for your brand takes some time but once you’ve discovered where you fit best you’ll need to start building. Here are some social media marketing strategies to help you boost your follower count.
