We bet you have heard of the figure of speech ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’. The said Jack, dabbles in many things but doesn’t really cut it, which isn’t ideal in any conceivable scenario. All the more in digital marketing. One might be seduced by the idea of going bonkers on all the social media platforms out there thinking they will attract their target audiences and convert them but the question is, “Would that guarantee one the exposure, popularity, and sales they want for their business?” No. And that’s because there is a method, a rationale, a set of USPs behind all that madness that social media is. You have to delve deep before making the jump.
Each of these platforms has its own demographic, intended use, language, tone, and subculture. Like, for example, Instagram is the natural go-to choice for lifestyle brands, whereas LinkedIn is more of a no-nonsense professional outlet that is massively popular with B2B companies. Another important thing to know about these social media platforms is the way their community interacts. It is this underlying dynamic that separates a tweet from an Instagram caption or a connection invitation to a friend’s request. So, you now get the drift-simply setting up accounts on every social media platform won’t bring you the desired results.
You need to have the right mix of social media that aligns with the personality and business objectives of your brand. Here’s a detailed primer on how to choose platforms that will dovetail with your target audience:
Define your Goals
Start by clearly defining your goals for being on social media. What it is that you want to achieve? Do you want your target audience to know about the existence of your brand-aka brand awareness or do you want people to buy your products or avail of your services-aka lead generation? While every social media outlet has a provision for both, however, if your intention is simply to create awareness for your brand then Facebook and Instagram are your best bets. Likewise, if your main objective is to generate leads or drive conversions-Facebook along with LinkedIn and Twitter will be a lucrative blend for you.
Understand Where your Target Audience is Spending Most of its Time
As we said earlier, every social media outlet has its own subculture and demographic. Which means that after you have pinned down your business goals, you will need to study where all your target audience loves spending most of their time. It would mean wasting your time, efforts, and money if the demographic you want to target is 65 years old women and you are looking for them on Snapchat or Instagram. To get a better insight into platform-wise social media demographic, we recommend you peruse Social Media Demographics for Marketers in 2020 put together by Hubspot that has all the statistical information you need to get going.
However, if you already have accounts on multiple social media channels and are wondering which ones to keep and which ones to say ba-bye to, we suggest conducting social monitoring, also known as social listening (there are many GOOD and FREE tools available) to check out what people are talking about your brand or the topics that matter to your business. The data you find there will help you determine which platforms are worth sticking to, which aren’t.
Study your Competitors’ Social Media Arsenal
You can learn a lot about your industry’s trends and content formats favored by your target audience by examining your competitors’ social media activity. Cherry-pick 3 competitors who you think are doing really well on social media and study their strategy. Do an in-depth analysis as to what social media channels they are on, the kind of content they publish, the frequency of posting, the average number of likes and shares they get on their posts, etc.
It goes without saying that your content has to be original and not simply a copy-paste of your competitors’ content. The idea here is to basically be equipped with the strategy and current trends so that you can build and hone your own social media skills.
Know How many Social Media Outlets you can Handle
Of course, you can’t miss this out. Given the fact that each of these platforms is a uniquely engaging world in itself with its own rules and language-you need to ask yourself if you have the right resources to produce content on a regular basis that will fit with your objectives and the platforms.
Say, if you are a beauty brand, then your content repository will HAVE TO HAVE videos (as people want to know how to apply the product or to choose a shade according to their complexion). Can you create video content frequently? Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat yield encouraging results for video content, so it goes without saying if you are intending to be on them, videos need to be a constant. If you are a B2B company and looking to establish thought leadership, you will need to incorporate long-form content formats like white papers, case studies, trend reports, etc.
Depending on the social channels, you will have to keep relevant content ready in the pipeline so that your audiences are being consistently drip-fed with the information they need to stay connected with you. There are many good automated software options that will ease your load in scheduling and publishing your content at a time on various platforms. Make use of them.
We hope our blog helps you in cherry-picking relevant channels for your business. If you are in search of an agency that will guide you from start to finish for social media marketing, get in touch with us TODAY!