Choosing the right Social Media platform

In today’s digital realm, choosing the right social media platforms for your business can be quite daunting. Not only are there a lot of platforms to choose from, but they all possess different roles and functions in terms of engagement and ROI. One thing to keep in mind is that not all social media platforms will work for all businesses. Social media isn’t a fad or trend either. It’s an enduring reality of online existence. For marketers, it’s indispensable. Social media marketing includes a myriad of potential social media sites, a vast array of ways to engage, and a medley of styles for each platform. (Patel, 2014)

 

Luckily, advancements in social media analytics have given businesses and marketers a greater understanding on how companies should leverage social media into their marketing mix. Companies are now utilizing social media and executing their objectives with the proper platforms.  Social media is reinventing marketing, communications, and the dissemination of information. While businesses now have access to these rich channels, the true promise of social media lies in the direct connections between people who represent companies and the people who define markets of interest. (Solis, 2010) 

When thinking about social optimization (aka social media), we're actually trying to drive engagement and interaction. The objective of any social media strategy is to provide the right tools, so that people can engage with your brand/people/products/services onsite and offsite. (Reed School of Media, 2015) You need to figure out which of the legion networks to join. Then, you need to determine optimal messages, posting frequency, cost of social media management, integration with other marketing channels, and how to make the most of the billions of people who are purportedly hanging out on social media. (Patel, 2014) Knowing that these are the elements that comprise a social media strategy, it’s now time to look at the four biggest social media platforms and how they should be used. 

Four Platforms for All

There are four social media platforms that stand out above all of the others and are considered to be the most crucial to own, regardless of your audience, your business model, and your strategy. (Patel, 2015) This post will look at these four will discuss the social media platform, its role and function and what kind of business is best suited for each platform.

1.)     Facebook

Facebook has over 1.3 billion users, the largest of any social network. In its ten-year history, it has become a fixture of the daily online experience. Nearly half of all Facebook users are active each day. When they visit Facebook, they spend an average of 18 minutes per visit! These users aren’t only browsing profile updates or viewing photos. Each Facebook user is connected to an average of 80 pages, groups, or events. (Patel, 2014) As the data shows, almost every marketer is on Facebook. Why? It’s the dominant site globally according to the Global Web Index. (Cohen, 2015) The targeting capabilities in the Facebook advertising tool have been changing the way we advertise online. Because users put their personal detail onto the platform, we can target based on those details. Imagine targeting your ad not just by basic demographics, but by job title, the age of a user’s kids, the fact that they recently returned from holiday. The list goes on. (Scherer, 2014)

Which businesses should be on Twitter?
Facebook is the only social media platform that you need to be on no matter what field your business is in. (Scherer, 2014)

2.)     Twitter

Twitter is a happening place. The average user, with their 208 average followers, 307 average Tweets, and average of 170 minutes on Twitter each day, is a market segment full of potential. About half of Twitter users use it daily, and at least 29% of Twitter users are active several times a day. Twitter isn’t as much a lead generation platform as much as it is a brand loyalty platform. (Patel, 2014) Twitter works best when you don’t limit your participation to self-promotion. Twitter requires engagement with followers and sharing other people’s content. (Cohen, 2015) 

Which businesses should be on Twitter?
SaaS companies, marketing companies, sports-related businesses, and all news organizations. Here’s why: Twitter, more than any other platform, is inextricably tied to in-the-moment developments. If your sector or business is based around things that are happening now, you need to be on Twitter. (Scherer, 2014)

3.)     LinkedIn

Every second, two new people join LinkedIn. Now, with more than 270 million users, LinkedIn is a force to be reckoned with. According to Search Engine Journal, marketers love Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. They leave out LinkedIn. But here’s the deal. LinkedIn is the platform for B2B marketing not B2C marketing. LinkedIn proudly touts their user base of professionals. Many of those professionals are connected with companies. These companies could benefit from the extra marketing love. (Patel, 2014) LinkedIn is for professionals, and it’s about professionals. It’s hugely influential in the job hunt, both for employers and applicants. It’s great for networking, and the content sharing function is getting better on a weekly basis. (Scherer, 2014)

Which businesses should be on LinkedIn?
All professionals should be on LinkedIn, as individuals. I also recommend all professional businesses to be on LinkedIn, though the effort you need to maintain your presence there is significantly less than other platforms. Check in periodically to ensure your profile is stable - but focus your valuable time and energy on the more revenue-generating or awareness-increasing platforms. (Scherer, 2014)

4.)     Google+

Savvy marketers labelled 2014 “The year of Google+.” At the beginning of the year, writers prophesied, “Google+ will become a major factor in social media.” Turns out, they’re right. Google+ is a game changer in the social media landscape. When you combine Google Authorship with the world’s dominant search engine, and create a social media platform that integrates them, it’s no wonder that Google+ is turning up as a dominant form of online social interaction. Google+ has also found a sweet spot in social collaboration through Hangouts. (Patel, 2014) Marketers have kept Google+ in their social media mix due to the close association with the search engine. (Cohen, 2015)

Which businesses should be on Google+?
Tech and engineering companies as well as marketing individuals. The top three brands on Google+ are Android, Mashable and Chrome, with Android leading the pack by a significant margin. That said, Google+ is an individual-friendly platform (thus why I included marketing individuals). The Communities function works well to give businesses from all sectors a place to find like-minded individuals and businesses. (Scherer, 2014)

There are plenty of other social media platforms that can be looked into that complement the four I just covered. I specifically wanted to cover these four as they can all be applied to all businesses; they just tend to benefit different industries in different ways.  Another thing to consider when beginning this adventure is content and conversation.  If you’re not going to have a consistent stream of content for users to engage with, there is no point in getting involved in social media strategy to deeply. 

Content without conversation is just broadcasting, or just advertising. It goes to the listener/reader/viewer/visitor and stops there. If the sender is lucky, it may lodge as a piece of information in the receiver’s consciousness, and they may act on it someday. If the sender is luckier, or perhaps more engaging, it may be something that the receiver wants to talk about. And then the message gets a whole new burst of energy. The energy behind the message is what gives it meaning, and a life of its own. That happens because we humans like to communicate with each other. Thus the conversation begins. (Novak, 2010)

Developing the content necessary to drive social and other content marketing initiatives is just an extension of that marketing calendar. If you establish a cadence, say, of two new content pieces per month, these can just get inserted into the calendar. Once you start with a given cadence, you’ve made a content promise. If you can’t maintain that promise, it will quickly alienate your readers. (Greenburg, 2009)

So remember, start out with the four big social media platforms.  Give those platforms a little time to develop and track the metrics. You can start spreading out to other social media platforms as well, as long as the tool aligns with your business and your strategy goals. 

…And above all else…provide engaging content and provide it regularly!

References:

Cohen, H. (2015). Use Social Media to reach the right audience for your business. HeidiCohen.com. Retrieved, November 8, 2015 from http://heidicohen.com/social-media-platforms-2015/

Greenberg, M. (2009). Content is king of social marketing. MultichannelMerchant.com. Retrieved April 12, 2012 from http://multichannelmerchant.com/social-media/1020-content-social-marketing/

Novak, C. (2010). Why conversation, not content, is king. SocialMediaToday.com. Retrieved April 12, 2012 from http://socialmediatoday.com/wordspring/152636/why-conversation-not-content-king

Patel, N. (2014). Which Social Media Accounts Really Matter and Why. Retrieved, November 8, 2015 from https://blog.kissmetrics.com/which-social-accounts-matter/

Reed School of Media. (2015). Lesson 3: Social Media Analytics & Advertising Channels. ECAMPUS.WVU.EDU. Retrieved, November 1, 2015 from: https://www.ecampus.wvu.edu

Scherer, J. (2014). Social Media Marketing: Which Platform is right for your business? Blog.Wishpond.com. Retrieved, November 8, 2015 from http://blog.wishpond.com/post/72672192941/social-media-marketing-which-platform-is-right-for

Solis, B. (2010). 21 rules for social media engagement. Mashable. Retrieved November 8, from: http://mashable.com/2010/05/18/rules-social-media-engagment/