Times have changed. People are no longer asking “do we need social media marketing?” They know the answer is yes. However, the new question that has arrived is which platform to use. Despite having so many social media tools, it is not easy to maintain your presence on all the social media platforms. So I would like to discuss which social media platforms should be focused on what kind of audience.
Around five years ago, a question that used to be in the minds of the entrepreneurs and marketers was “do we need social media marketing?” After a huge success of social media in the past few years, this question is no longer relevant. Social media is not a choice nowadays; in fact, it has become the necessity for the business units who want the strong online presence.
Now, the questions that are prevalent nowadays are regarding the usage of social media platforms. With the passage of time, different social media platforms have offered a number of facilities to the business units. These platforms are also competing with each other, and this trend is being proven to be beneficial for the entrepreneurs and the marketers. So, the new question that is in the front of business units is which platform they should use for the promotion of their products, services of businesses.
This is the question of which you need to get the answer by yourself, because the requirements of niches may be different. Every industry has different target audiences, and you are required to consider which type of audiences you are going to target. When you decide this, you need to pay attention to the audiences available and the platforms, and you need to choose the one, which has the potential clients or customers for your enterprise. In a nutshell, you are required to determine strategically which platform is best suitable for you. However, you can also use multiple platforms and can major focus on one or two, which is/are most suitable according to your business needs.
The major platforms to accomplish your marketing goals are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. Here is the overview of what marketing looks like on each platform among which you can choose, which the best according to your requirements is.
Marketing on Facebook
Despite the growing popularity of different platforms, Facebook is still most popular among the masses. According to stastista, Facebook comprises of 2.27 billion of monthly active users as on the third quarter of 2018. Around 61% of users on Facebook are from the age group of 25 to 54.
Facebook provides the option to create a business page, plus facilitates the users to promote the page with a unique targeting option.
Facebook is the platform, where you can promote all types of stuff, such as written text, images, infographics, videos, and a lot more. Live video is one of the most engaging ways to get engaged with the users.
You must keep in mind that that user engagement is necessary on Facebook; otherwise, it will be just another advertising platform. You can do this by solving the queries of the users via live videos in which, the users may ask you the question in the comment section, and you can answer them with the help of live videos. Another way is to answer the comments of the users. Besides, you can start surveys, quizzes, and can add a lot of other stuff, which could engage the users.
The unique targeting option is available in the paid advertising option of Facebook. Facebook allows you to sponsor some specific posts or to promote the most recent posts, which are displayed in the news feeds of the users who are genuinely interested in them. Facebook allows you to target the audiences on the basis of location, demographics, interests, and behavior. You can select whom you want to target in your ad settings, and your promoted posts will be displayed in the news feeds of the target audiences.
The Facebook algorithm has a number of ways to find out your target audiences. Location and demographics are known with the help of profile information of the users. Page likes, other likes and some profile information is helpful in knowing about the interests. The behavior is known with different Facebook activities of the users.
Marketing on Instagram
It will be significant to mention first that Instagram is also now the product of Facebook and when you buy the Facebook advertisements, you can get the Instagram ads via the same program.
But, Instagram is an image-centric platform, which supports images and small videos. So, the nature of Instagram is perfect for the businesses, which have visual products. This is true that Instagram relies on images and videos, but it provides a number of fun tools to engage the audiences. The perfect examples in this regard are Instagram Stories and Instagram Live.
A number of new features have been provided by Instagram time to time. The question stickers of Instagram Stories are one of the features provided by Instagram recently. These stickers are the ideal tools to engage the audiences. You can ask the questions from the audiences and can take the surveys. Like Facebook, you can start the live videos on Instagram also.
An important aspect of Instagram is hashtag (#). Hashtags can be added in the feeds as well as stories, and they are the perfect options to attract the relevant audiences.
According to statista and techcrunch, Instagram had 1 billion active users in June 2018. Instagram is popular among young audiences. As per the findings of statista, 31% of audiences are from the age group of 18 to 24, and 30% are from 25 to 34. Next 17% of audiences are from the age group of 35 to 44. So, it is quite clear that Instagram is prominently popular among the young audiences, and if your products or services are appealing for the customers of this age group, then Instagram can be a perfect option for you.
Marketing on Twitter
Twitter has a popular platform for businesses to deliver messages and to communicate with their leads or customers.
Twitter provides the facility to add the short messages and is best for the quick information. It is a wonderful platform for the how-to articles’ promotion and for providing quick updates about the company. Hashtag (#) is the feature that works well on Twitter; however, every social media platform now supports hashtags.
Marketing on Pinterest
Pinterest is one more social media platform that is visually oriented. The users can create the visual digital bulletin boards and can organize them into different categories.
Pinterest comprises 317 million unique monthly users, which makes it a wonderful place to reach among new consumers.
Pinterest allows you to add the pictures, which are known as Pins. But, more than this, you get the facility to Pin the image from any website. The Pin also includes the information or the article associated with the Pin on the website wherefrom it has been pinned.
The entrepreneurs or marketers are recommended to add the Rich Pins. The Pins loaded with rich information have excellent sales power. The Rich Pins include real-time price and stock updates and the direct links to your website. It remains a good idea to add the Pins from your own website.
One of the most awesome features of Pinterest is analytics, which is available in the business accounts. You can create the free business account or can convert your personal account to the business account easily, and can avail the feature. You need to verify your account, and you will be able to see which strategies and content work, and you can improve your marketing constantly.
Pinterest’s extension can be added to the Chrome browser, and you can pin any imager from any website just in a few clicks.
Marketing on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a very effective social media platform for the B2B businesses, which are looking to expand their reach and to build their relationships with leads. LinkedIn has been one of the most popular professional networking platforms.
LinkedIn is a perfect place or finding and getting engaged with your leads. But, it is also a wonderful place for recruiting new talent, building the rapport as an industry leader, and promoting your business in general.
Marketing on YouTube
YouTube is the major video hosting website owned by Google itself. According to reports, users on YouTube are growing nearly twice as compared to Facebook. Video is a source to promote things in different forms such as lectures, documentaries, presentations and more.
YouTube has also become a great marketing channel in the past few years. First, you need to create a channel on YouTube. You need to pay special attention to the layout of the channel. Thumbnail, title and all the aspects matter a lot for the YouTube marketing. Always remember that you need to pay special heed towards the first few minutes of video because it is the aspect, which ties the users to watch the entire video.
The videos should be on the topics, which could appeal the users. How-to videos are most popular, and they are one of the perfect ways of marketing.
YouTube is a platform, which appeals to the users of all age groups, especially in US.
To Sum Up
You can choose from the above-mentioned social media platforms, which you find best suitable according to your business requirement. You need to consider two aspects before selection. First, whether the features and content type supported by the platforms suitable for the promotion of your enterprise. Second, if the audiences of these platforms are suitable according to your business.
Shubham is working with Canbayinc, a leading New Jersey SEO Company, as SEO Analyst with 3 years of experience. He loves to write helpful information related to SEO and social media, best practices and tactics on a regular basis. He is passionate about football and loves to get some dust off his boots whenever free.