Does your business need a Twitter account? Is Snapchat the right social media app to expand your brand? Should you just jump on board every popular social network to maximize your reach? With so many social media channels to choose from, deciding which ones deserve your attention can be difficult.
Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be on every social media platform. In fact, that approach can do more harm than good if you spread yourself too thin. Even large brands with dedicated social media teams often limit their social media presence to a handful of channels.
For most businesses, the best approach is to handpick social media channels that make the most sense for the brand, rather than try to be everywhere. Your decision should be based on several different factors including your target audience, industry and social media marketing strategy.
If you've ever asked yourself whether you should be on Instagram or Snapchat, keep reading. We're going to break down how to choose the right social media channels for your business, and how to manage all your accounts like a pro.
Where Is Your Audience?
The first thing you should ask yourself is what social networks does your audience use? It doesn't make much sense to be active on Vine if the people you're targeting don't use it. Define your target audience, and match it against these social media demographics.
This will give you a great starting point. For instance, if you're primarily targeting women over 50 years old, Instagram probably isn't the best option. You're better off with Facebook or Pinterest.
In addition to these statistics, you should also do a manual review of the social networks where you're interested. Look at the content being published, and who are the actual content creators. If content related to your industry seems to resonate well, it's a good sign.
This approach is great for social networks with very diverse users like Reddit. You can run a search for keywords related to your industry and see if there's an active audience for it.
Don't choose social networks based on what's trending. Look for the channels that are popular among your audience.
What's Your Industry?
Not every social media channel will work well for your industry. For instance, visually driven industries like fashion, cosmetology and dining gravitate toward channels like Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat. These channels rely more on visuals than text, so they're a great fit. However, software companies have seen a lot of success with Twitter because they can curate content and pull users into their site.
The simplest way to determine what social networks cater to your industry is to look at your competitors social media activity. Ask these two questions for each social media profile they have:
- Are they active?
- Do they get engagement?
The first question is important because companies don't tend to be too active on a social media channel that's not giving them results. Whether it's driving traffic to their site or generating leads, there's a reason they're more active on one channel over another.
Paper towel brands Scott, Brawny and Bounty regularly update their Facebook and Twitter accounts. But their Instagram accounts are either inactive or nonexistent.
Social media engagement is crucial because it shows there's an active audience. When we talk about engagement, it's not about the size of the brand's account. How many likes, shares and comments do their posts have? Having hundreds of thousands of followers doesn't mean much if they're not active.
Which Social Media Channels Already Bring Traffic?
Sometimes the answer to which social media channel you should use is right in front of you.
If you're in a position where you've been giving multiple social networks a try, but want to focus on just a few, this tip is for you. Look at how many visits your site currently gets from social media. You can find this in Google Analytics under Acquisition & Social & Network Referrals.
If you're already getting traffic from certain social networks, start focusing your efforts there. Look at your social media analytics to find your best performing posts, then create a strategy for growth.
Think Outside the Mainstream Sites
Niche social networks are very popular right now. Everyone talks about Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but you'll rarely hear of sites like Untappd or Doximity. However, these social networks have the advantage of being very targeted and less competitive.
Their audiences may seem small when compared to sites like LinkedIn and Pinterest, but the numbers aren't anything to laugh at. Oil Pro is a social network for the oil and gas industry. Despite serving a very niche audience, the site has over 650,000 users that publish industry relevant content.
Niche social networks solve one of the biggest challenges businesses face on mainstream channels. You don't have to fight for the attention of your audience.
Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram cater to multiple industries. People aren't joining for the sole purpose of getting news about your industry. Some people use Instagram to follow celebrities, others use it to stay in touch with friends. But with niche sites, the users are there because they're interested in your industry. You content doesn't get buried beneath a mountain of Justin Bieber headlines.
What Type of Content Will You Share?
Most brands completely neglect this step when choosing social media channels. Before you make your decision, think about how you want to use social media. Specifically, what type of content do you plan on publishing on social media?
Content that performs well on Instagram doesn't always translate well on Google+. Here's a brief breakdown of what type of content works best on the major social networks:
- Curation: If you plan on curating content and sharing a lot of links, consider Twitter, Google+ and even Facebook. These platforms thrive off of people sharing articles. They even include thumbnails, snippets and other features to highlight blog posts and articles even more. For B2B companies, LinkedIn is also a great choice.
Are you managing a large social audience? Whether you're a celebrity or have millions of followers, strategy is
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