Which Social Media Should I Use to Get More Customers?

Answering the loaded question: Which Social Media Should I Use?

Every business wants to find ways to improve its visibility in the online marketplace.

Social media marketing is an effective way to stay relevant in the busy online world while putting your brand in front of new audiences. 

So the question is no longer about if social media is a necessary marketing tool. Now, the question is which social media should I use?

The truth is that getting your business started on social media can be quite difficult.

Between building your audience, managing content, and engaging with your fans and followers.

You just don’t have the time (or budget) to be everywhere at once.

And also, that isn’t a smart move. Over time, some current social media platforms will fall out to make room for newcomers.

Remember Google+ and Myspace? Yes, that’s what we mean.

Today, there are several social media networks you can choose from. So as a marketer, it’s imperative to segment your audience now more than ever.

After all, your ultimate goal should be to reach the right audience on the right social media platforms.

That’s why it’s vital that you strategically determine the answer early on to your question of “which social media should I use?”

Below, we’ve put together a quick guide to help you answer the question of which social media should I use to get more customers?

We’ll give an overview of what marketing looks like on each social media channel and what each platform can offer your…

…business in terms of exposure and engagement.

Facebook Marketing

No matter what new social media platforms hit the market, Facebook remains one of the most popular networks across the board.

With over 2 billion monthly active users, 61% of which are between the ages of 25 and 54.

Facebook is typically a great social media channel for any business.

When used correctly, Facebook is a great platform for showing the more human side of your business while…

…building relationships with leads and customers.

In terms of user demographics, Facebook provides a nice even spread across the board.

Which is another reason why we recommend that every small business have a Facebook page.

Whether you are targeting men or women, teens or seniors, high income or low income, you will find your audience on Facebook.

This also makes Facebook ideal for brands that have multiple and varied target audiences.

Facebook allows you to reach a wide demographic of people who are interested in brands like yours.

Not only does Facebook allow you to reach a wide range of audiences on its platform.

But it also helps you accomplish a variety of goals for your business.

Brands can use their Facebook business page to:

• generate brand awareness
• bring in more leads
• drive traffic to their site
• provide quality customer service

This makes Facebook a versatile platform that’s essential for any business, regardless of its size or industry.

When it comes to Facebook, many different types of content are appropriate.

You can post images and videos, quick text updates, share your content, post links back to your site, and even start a…

…conversation in the comments section.

The key to successful Facebook marketing is to post content that shows a different side of your business.

Though Facebook does enable you to reach a large number of consumers, it also comes with a lot of competition, so you need to be on your A-game.

Another benefit of Facebook is its ad platform. Facebook ads allow you to hone in on your target audience through sophisticated ad-targeted features.

This is great for businesses who know who they want to target online.

If you’re just getting started with Facebook ads, you may want to contact a Facebook advertising agency for help setting up and managing your campaigns.

Getting help from professionals will help you maximize your Facebook ad return on investment.

Instagram Marketing

In the past few years, Instagram has truly become a force to be reckoned with in the social media world.

Instagram’s audience numbers have steadily increased over the past 5 years, bringing current audience estimates to a whopping 1 billion users.

And what’s even more important is that these users are active on a daily basis.

Making the potential for engagement higher than many other social platforms.

With Instagram’s audience numbers increasing every year, it’s attractive that helps some businesses find an answer to their question:

Which social media should I use?

The nature of Instagram makes it ideal for businesses that have a visual product.

For this reason, businesses in more artistic niches tend to excel on Instagram.

But really any business that has a visual story to tell can attract and engage their audience here.

Instagram’s platform relies on images and videos.

But it also offers a variety of fun and engaging tools like Instagram Live and Instagram Stories that help brands offer a behind-the-scenes.

More human look at their business.

There are many different reasons why a small business would choose to market its brand on Instagram.

To excel at Instagram for business, you will need to post quality images.

It helps if you have someone on your team with photography skills or at least a creative eye for detail.

These shouldn’t just be images of your products.

But also images that help tell the story of your products and highlight different aspects of the lifestyle your products promote.

Since Instagram is a high engagement platform, you’ll need to make sure that…

…whoever provides Instagram marketing services for your business finds new ways to engage your fans and followers.

Using relevant and popular hashtags on your posts is a great way to expand your reach on the platform.

Holding an Instagram contest can be another effective way to expand your reach on the platform.

Now that Instagram is owned by Facebook, you are able to enjoy the benefits of Facebook’s ad platform for this social media channel as well.

You can target specific groups of people with your Instagram ads.

And the best part is that these ads appear as native content in the user’s feed. So it doesn’t disrupt their experience.

If you need help with Instagram ads, we also provide Instagram advertising services to help you get more out of your online ad budget.

Twitter Marketing

Twitter remains a popular platform for businesses that want to deliver messages and communicate with their leads and customers in real-time.

This platform is all about the here and now! Giving you the opportunity to put out news, announcements, and other important information in real-time.

Most of the users on this platform are under the age of 50, making it ideal for brands with a younger target audience.

This platform is also ideal for businesses that produce easily digestible content. Pieces like how-to articles and listicles tend to perform well on Twitter.

Other simple content like quotations, facts, and statistics, and images also perform well on Twitter.

This is just a quick look at the different audience demographics on Twitter that might help you determine which social media should I use.

One of the most unique things about Twitter is it’s real-time messaging. This makes it a great social media platform for customer service.

When a customer experiences an issue or has a question, they can tweet your business and get a response in real-time.

Some consumers prefer to reach out on social media rather than email or phone. Twitter gives them a perfect opportunity to do just that.

Twitter can be used to grow different aspects of your business.

While Twitter can be great for short-form content, it isn’t the best platform for every business.

If your business is highly visual, you may want to spend time elsewhere.

If you regularly update your brand blog and enjoy sharing relevant third-party content with your fans and followers.

Then you will most likely find success on Twitter.

Ultimately, Twitter is one of the best platforms for quickly spreading the word about your business. Relevant hashtags can help you boost visibility.

And when other users re-tweet your content, you can reach even more users.

But if you use this platform, it’s important that you find a balance between branded content, third-party shares, and re-tweeting content from other users.

Pinterest Marketing

Pinterest is another visually-oriented social media platform.

It allows users to create visual digital bulletin boards and organize them into different categories.

You may be wondering, how does this help me find an answer to which social media should I use?

Well, if you have a visual brand or operate in one of the niche industries that Pinterest caters to then…

…this social media platform may be perfect for helping you connect with and engage your audience.

Let’s start with the basic demographics. Pinterest has 317 million unique monthly users, making it a great place to reach new consumers.

There is an equal distribution between ages, but active Pinterest users are predominately female.

Millennials also use Pinterest as much as they do Instagram.

So if your audience is primarily female millennials, this may be a great place to spend your time.

Though you can search and pin nearly anything on Pinterest, the most popular categories include:

• do-it-yourself projects
• fashion
• beauty
• weddings
• travel
• photography
• exercise
• food/recipes

If your brand is in one of these industries, you will find a large and active audience on Pinterest.

If you aren’t in one of these industries, you can still do well on Pinterest if you find a way to make your products visually interesting.

What’s more exciting about this social media platform is that users who find products on Pinterest are more likely to…

…make an eCommerce purchase than those finding products on other social channels.

In fact, over 90% of Pinterest users plan purchases using the platform.

That means that many users are in the decision phase of the buyer’s journey and ready to make a purchase.

Making Pinterest ideal for B2C brands that are aiming to boost conversions.

Since Pinterest users are looking for inspiration on what to buy.

There’s a good chance that these consumers are in the decision phases of the buyer’s journey.

One of the best features on Pinterest for business is the Rich Pin.

Rich Pins allow brands to add additional information to their pins, such as product details or location maps.

This feature puts the metadata on the pin itself, helping pinners learn more about the products they love.

Rich Pins make it easy for consumers to get the information they need about your products and take the next step toward a purchase.

Pinterest also has promoted pins, which are essentially ads that users can click on to purchase certain products.

Much like Instagram, these ads appear as native content in the user’s feed when they search for relevant terms.

This makes the ad experience more enjoyable for users.

And since many users are ready to make a purchase, they may be inclined to click and buy based on what they see.

Getting started with Pinterest can be a little tricky. You’ve got to know the platform well and use it to your advantage.

Similarly, managing your content and ads on this platform can get rather time-consuming.

That’s why many brands opt for Pinterest management services and Pinterest advertising services.

That way, they can focus on their core tasks while getting the help they need to grow their business on this popular social media platform.

LinkedIn Marketing

LinkedIn is an effective social media platform for B2B businesses that are looking to expand their reach and build relationships with leads.

With 260 million monthly users, LinkedIn is the most popular professional networking platform.

Not only is it the ideal place to find and engage your leads, but it’s also the best spot for recruiting new talent.

Building your reputation as an industry leader, and promoting your business in general.

These stats show just how powerful LinkedIn can be as a tool for marketing your business.

Since LinkedIn was developed as a professional social network.

Users on this platform expect to engage with other businesses and connect with other professionals.

The majority of LinkedIn members (80%) want to engage with brands to help them make smarter purchasing decisions.

What’s more, is that 50% of LinkedIn members are more likely to buy from a company that they engage with on LinkedIn.

Here’s just one approach to marketing on LinkedIn and closing more clients and customers.

Though LinkedIn is not an ideal marketing platform for B2C brands, it opens up big opportunities for B2B companies.

With LinkedIn, you can find the specific industries, companies, and job roles that you are trying to target.

For instance, if you are trying to reach business decision-makers in the tech industry.

You can search CTOs to find the specific people who are most likely going to be interested in what your business has to offer.

LinkedIn is also the ideal channel for building authority in your industry.

You can share content from your own blog or site on LinkedIn or publish content directly on the platform.

This offers a great opportunity to share your ideas and insights with leads, customers, and others in your industry.

You can also join relevant industry groups on LinkedIn, giving you the opportunity to engage with others in the industry and build further authority.

LinkedIn also has an advertising platform that can help you boost traffic and increase website conversions while increasing awareness for your brand.

LinkedIn ads help you reach a more professional and educated audience of high-level executives and other decision-makers.

With LinkedIn ads, you can target by occupation, job title, industry, location, and more.

This makes it the ideal advertising platform for B2B brands who want to narrow the audience for their ads and increase return on investment.

Which Social Media Should I Use?

Now that you know all about the different social media channels that you can use for your marketing.

It’s time to answer the question – which social media should I use?

In short, the answer to this will depend on which channels your target audience use most often and…

…which social media platforms offer the greatest benefits to your brand.

To get started narrowing down your choices, ask yourself the following questions:

• Which social media channels are my audience on?
• Where is my audience most active?
• Which social channels does my audience use for search?

After reviewing each of the channels above and considering what each can offer your brand, identify which…

…social media channels make the most sense for your business.

Then you’ll have your answer to “which social media should I use?”

Though you may want to invest in more than one channel, you shouldn’t try to be all places at once.

This is a surefire way to burn through your budget and spread your team too thin.

Want more help answering the question, which social media should I use?

The team at LYFE Marketing would be happy to consult with your business to determine which…

…social media channels are the best use of your time and budget.

We can even help you develop a social media strategy and manage your day-to-day social media tasks so that you can get back to what’s important.

Learn more about our social media marketing services. And contact us when you’re ready to get started.

The post Which Social Media Should I Use to Get More Customers? appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog.