Social Media: Be Where Your Audience Lives

Choosing which social media platforms your company should be on is no small feat. Some companies assume they should be on every platform and spread themselves very thin. Other companies just pick one platform and spend all their time, energy, and budget in one place. Neither of these ways of thinking is really the best way to manage your social media presence.

The best way to determine which social platforms to be on is to determine your audience. Who are you trying to reach? If you want to reach the above 50 crowd on social media, Facebook is probably your best bet. If the under 24s are your golden goose, head over to Instagram or even Snapchat. There’s no point to being on a platform where your audience isn’t; it’s a waste of time and resources. Your content will not be received as well nor will you reach the right people. Think of social media in the same light as TV commercials. You wouldn’t show a commercial for new golf clubs on the Disney Channel or promote a monster truck show in between episodes of All My Children. In order to reach your goals you have to be where your target market is, even if it isn’t exactly where you want to be.

Another factor to consider is your type of business and the tone you wish to portray. If you’re an insurance agent, you’re probably a little too serious to be on Snapchat. If your company culture is very visual like a bakery, you definitely want to get your images out on an image-based platform, Instagram. That’s not to say your company can’t mix it up and have fun despite being in a serious industry. It just means that when choosing platforms you need to keep in mind that perception is key and you don’t want people to see your business in a non-flattering light.

You should also evaluate your current audience on the channels you plan to focus your attention. Who are they? Tools like People Pattern help you look at your current audience and determine whether or not they are you target demographic. This allows you to see if your social media marketing strategy is attracting the right people and analyze who already likes your brand. Seeing who is interested in your brand could point your company to a new target market you had never considered and influence changes in your social media targeting strategy.

            Working in social media, there is a big debate over quality vs. quantity on content and platform presence. I am on the side of quality. Why try to exist on a platform you do not have the bandwidth or content to be successful on? The Huffington Post dubbed 2015, the year of quality on social media, “High-quality, rich content will win over quantity, and informed, data-driven decisions will determine success." Posting too often is not only a waste of time, but it annoys your community. Companies that post 60+ times per month receive 60% less engagement than those who post less. With engagement and conversation being one of the biggest success metrics of social media, doing anything to decrease this is obviously a big no-no.

            A similar debate rages for conversation vs. content. I think these battles are one in the same. Conversation is quality while content is quantity. You can put out the best content in the world, but if it isn’t seeing success then it is wasted effort. “Content without conversation is just broadcasting, or just advertising." With the way social media algorithms are written, your less engaging content isn’t likely getting in front of any new eyes or being widely distributed.  Catherine Novak suggests creating content that invokes responses from fans and followers. Producing boring content on your chosen will get your company nowhere close to meeting your goals. It is also important to remember when choosing and posting on networks that each network has it’s own set of unwritten rules and guidelines.

When deciding which social networks to post on, you need to think about the content you have or will be able to produce. This can help shape your decision on which networks to be active. If you will be unable to produce regular or quality video content, YouTube and Vine are not the right platforms for you. If what you have to share is much more informational and high-level, you may want to focus your energy on Twitter. All content does not work on all networks.

People use social media platforms for different purposes. 72% of social media users believe that certain platforms are better for certain interests of theirs than others. Some platforms are better for professional use. Others are good for connecting with friends or discovering new interests. Below is a graphic showing how people use different social networks.

The same study also showed that people are more likely to engage with brands on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest than Instagram or LinkedIn. This is something to keep in mind when choosing your company’s main social media platforms.

At minimum, I believe every small business should at the very least have a Facebook business page where customers and consumers can reach out to share feedback, ask questions, and discover information about the brand. Social media has become the new customer service platform. 2/3 of consumers preferreaching out on Facebook to calling on the phone. As more and more people head to social media platforms to receive customer support, social media managers have to be on their toes almost 24/7. With 42% of customers expect a response within 60 minutes, 57% still expect that quick response time even after business hours.  

The most important thing to remember when choosing and using social media platforms is that they are always changing. As new networks emerge and older ones update their features, you should evaluate to see if your current networks are still where your audience live or if they have moved on. You always want to be on the most relevant platform for your audience. In the every changing world of social media, you have to stay ahead of the curve; otherwise you may lose your relevancy and post potency.