What Social Media platforms should you be on?

This is the question I get asked the most as a Social Media Manager/Consultant.

What Social Media should I be on?

In this blog, I will break down the most important platforms to be on, and if you want to stretch to other ones, I will give you any benefits and drawbacks of doing so.

Ideally, you want to have your own website and email marketing list first. This is yours. If social media goes away tomorrow you have your own website to publish content on and a list of people who want to hear from you.

Unfortunately that is an upfront cost that not a lot of people can afford straight away, so I will recommend the two social media platforms you want to be on, and work towards website/email list.

First of all, you need to be on Facebook. Facebook is like a second version of your website. You can set it all up so you have everything on there that your customer needs to know. You can get reviews and recommendations, advertise, start up a shop, join groups to promote, and share content. This is an important part of your social media strategy as it’s a foundation. The drawback is that you might not find your demographic on there. Look at your Insights, test out things, work out who is responding, and go from there. I told a client to keep her page, but post only content that was doing well elsewhere and to just consistently post two times a week to keep it alive. People can still recommend your page to other people and you will show up in searches so its really worth being on there.

Instagram is my other recommended. Because Facebook and Instagram are owned by the same company, it’s a benefit. When you advertise over Facebook, it also pushes your ad to Instagram too. Instagram is more creative and popular with the 24-44 age range, which is a little younger than the Facebook age. It also has the benefit of IGTV, it’s stories are really great to navigate, and it means that you can make your grid into an aesthetically pleasing place to be. Your clients will get to see more of your fun side, while Facebook is a little more business.

Those are the two I definitely recommend you start on, and see how you get on.

The next are ones that I can suggest you go on, but you have to decide whether it’s right for you and your business, as too many platforms and you’ll get exhausted!

Pinterest is quickly emerging as an exciting and lucrative place to be. Not only is their ad spend less, but you can have your post go very very far. If you have a product to sell, this can be seen by millions of people. It’s a secret weapon of a lot of bloggers and influencers. You can set up a business profile, claim your website and social media handles, set up boards, and go! Don’t forget to spend a little bit of time on it each day and repin your posts. Join a group board you can submit your content into. Plus make your boards relevant and interesting to your idea clients.

Google My Business is a great place if you are a brick and mortar place - there is so much to do on this much under utilised platform. You can update your profile with your latest offers, updates, pictures of your shop - even a tour! Plus its an excellent place for people to review your business on a trusted platform. You can pop in your opening hours, where you are, and more. This also helps you show Google that your business is credible and it may get bumped up the rankings.

Twitter is good if you have something to say. Often the place where celebrities, comedians and politicians thrive, you have to have a strong voice and personality to cut through the mass of tweets. Businessy posts sometimes work, but a bad one sticks out like a sore thumb. However if you have a smart and well written campaign it can be an affordable place to advertise.

TikTok and Snapchat are for your younger demographic, often 16-24. If you don’t have that age range this might not be the platform for you. TikTok is excellent for video editing however and it could be that you make the videos on TikTok to push out on other platforms, but if your demographic isn’t using it, its not worth it, Snapchat, much the same - great filters for use on other platforms but it’s more of a younger crowd. If you are working with the younger demographic - use these coupled with Instagram.

I hope this helps you with selection of your social media platforms. Take a look at where your potential customers are spending their time and then go from there. Don’t take on too many platforms, and have fun and experiment!