How to Choose The Best Social Media Channels For Your Business?

21st Aug, 2020

The seas of social media can often make the journey confusing for businesses looking to leverage the advantages social media marketing brings to the shore. There are so many decisions that you need to make to get the best out of using social media for your business, and the most important of them all, is choosing the best social media channels for your business.

To make a solid decision, you will need to devise a strategy and that is exactly what we are going to discuss in this post. We will share the exact steps you need to take to choose the right channels for your business. So, stay with us till the very end!

Steps to Choose The Right Social Media Channels For Your Business

Know Your Target Audience

The very first thing you need to do is figure out where your target audience hangs out online. This will involve finding the channel they use the most, analysing their demographic and if the particular social media channel you have in mind, suits that demographic. For example- Seniors (65+ year old’s) are the fastest growing demographic on Twitter. Snapchat’s audience is majority 18-25-year old’s and Pinterest’s demographic is 85% female. Once you have analysed the demographic of your target audience and which social media platform/s suit them best, analyse their activities and what they like to do on their favourite network. This will also give you a clear indication on what content they like to consume as well, assisting you in what type of content to plan and produce about your company, and how to circulate it on the correct social media channels.

Find Channels That Align With Your Brand

Next, you will need to answer to your brand and your market to figure out what social media channels align with your market values. Different social media channels align differently with your brand and industry. For example, there are strict rules on Facebook around various industries. To name a specific one, Facebook resists any marketing around the sale of animals- whether it be pets, game, or other farming animals, which automatically becomes non-conducive for pet stores, game breeders or livestock farmers. So, make sure you find out if the products and services you are selling are conducive and accepted, by the social media platform/s of your choice. Finally, also consider non-mainstream social media channels as well like instant messaging or even up-and-coming social platforms like TikTok.

Audit Your Existing Traffic Sources

It is also important to know where you exist at present with respect to social media marketing. You will have to take note of the social media channels that are generating traffic for your website, but also take note of the quality of that traffic. It does not help that a particular platform generates 80% of your traffic but contributes the most to your bounce rate or stimulates very low web conversions. You will be able to make a better decision if you happen to find a common pattern between the channels you use and how they contribute to your over-all digital presence, even if you haven’t formalized a business strategy around using the platforms, yet.

Check Your Competitor's Online Presence

Find out what your competitors are doing on various social channels. If you are able to determine the channels your competitors are using, it will become easier for you to perform an in-depth analysis of their social media strategy. Take a note on the channels and the kind of content they produce on a consistent basis. Also, analyse post frequency in relation to engagement. Social Media is all about building a community and communicating with that community. Some businesses require volume posting to keep their engagement levels up of their built community. Other businesses need to limit their number of posts, so as to avoid irritating their community. It is a delicate balance and not one you want to get wrong.

Know Your Social Media Goals

Lastly, you should determine the results that you can expect from your upcoming social media marketing strategy. Some of your social media goals can be brand awareness, customer support, online traffic generation, lead generation, or community building. Social citations are also an important organic ranking factor and really, your social media strategy should support your other digital marketing and traditional marketing efforts.

Final Thoughts

To build a wonderful wall, you will first have to lay each brick as perfectly as you can. And that is what building a solid social media presence is all about. You will first have to look around to figure out where you want to start marketing online and then leave your own trail. We hope this piece of content brought great value to you. If you have questions, feel free to put them down in the comments section. We would love to hear from you! Contact us for Digital Marketing Services