Social media is the most rapidly growing marketing platform for all kinds of businesses. While promoting your business on social media is no longer a new concept, many businesses seem to have trouble figuring out which specific platforms they should be promoting their brand on. It’s not as easy as posting on Facebook every so often, but it’s also not the smartest idea to promote blindly on all the popular platforms.
When deciding on a platform or multiple platforms we need to first look at how each platform operates and their strengths/weaknesses. Then, assess how each platform is compatible with your business and what it offers.
Less talk…more show
- Among the most visual platforms out there
- Visually heavy profile and timeline overview
- Your profile’s grid layout gives you a chance to create color palettes and/or themes
- You can upload 10 pictures or videos at once if you have a lot to show
- “Story” feature allows you to post a fleeting video or photo that disappears after 24 hours
- “Story Highlights” allow you to save stories to your profile
- “Explore page” shows posts based on your activity to facilitate engagement and “explore” (😉) more content outside of who you follow
- Ability to “follow” relevant hashtags so they show on your timeline
- New “Shopping” feature where you can upload your products and sell right from the app
- Ability to host lives
- Connect to Facebook to get business profile insights and data
Instagram is Best for:
Service based B2C – E.g., carpet cleaning service (residential), hair salon, car repair shop
Product based B2C – E.g., clothing store, jeweler, tech products store
Product Based B2B – E.g., office supply store, business card manufacturers
Instagram is your chance to show off your products or services in an aesthetic way. Take advantage of its many unique features and watch your presence thrive!
You can do it all
- You can have only-text posts or posts with photos
- Upload albums which can highlight various categories of content
- Upload up to 1000 photos per album
- Story features, much like Instagram’s
- Ability to create events with RSVP feature
- Ability to create job postings for your business
- Give prospects the ability to set appointments through your business profile
- Through the Messenger app you have the ability to create a bot messaging sequence so customers can get instant replies/support
- Ads Manager which benefits any business and you can also connect to Instagram
- Ability to host live
- Facebook Marketplace which allows you to post pictures of items for sale and browse items offered by nearby sellers
- Facebook Groups allow you to promote your business even further
Facebook is Best for:
Any business.
It seems that Facebook’s capabilities are never-ending. And they just keep adding more! With Facebook’s marketplace, wide capabilities for ads, images, events, and text capabilities, there is no limit to what your business can accomplish with Facebook!
Keep it simple
- Text heavy platform known as “microblogging”
- Publish pieces of text called Tweets
- Can be up to 140 characters long and can include links to relevant websites and resources
- App is heavy on resharing or “retweeting”
- Can upload 4 pictures per post
- Gain customer insights easily
- Twitter Explore page gives you an updated list of topics and hashtags trending in your region and relevant to your interests
Twitter is Best Used for:
Any business.
Although more simple, this platform has capabilities that will suit any business! Being able to link people easily to the proper sites, being able to post images to showcase your business, and being equally text and image heavy, Twitter is a great platform to market your business in.
Keep it professional
- More of a professional platform.
- Stories have recently become a feature.
- Can make a business page and create job postings.
- Can post polls, documents, (up to 9) photos, videos
- Ads manager for data and analytics
- Ability to create job postings
LinkedIn is Best for:
Any B2B business.
LinkedIn for business allows you to build credibility, create a meaningful network, and glean insider expertise from established experts in your industry.
Your online vision board.
- Heavily visual platform
- Great for ad placements and redirected shopping
- Algorithm on timeline is based on user’s previous activity
- Great chance to create infographics and DIY content
- Provide valuable content
- Create “boards” on your profile
Pinterest is Best for:
Product based B2C – home décor stores, craft stores, clothing stores, etc.
As opposed to trying to sell to your customers, this is your chance to create aesthetic and/or valuable content for your followers. Become a part of your prospects’ vision board and you’ll have a reliable brand they’ll be telling their friends about!
A Little Due Diligence Goes a Long Way
With social media taking the world of marketing by storm, it’s no wonder most businesses will want to take as much advantage of this as possible. However, it’s always a good idea to evaluate which platforms to put your efforts to so your hard work isn’t for nothing.
Instead of trying to do a little bit of everything, select a few key social media platforms and this way you can focus on creating quality content and actively engaging with your customers for the best ROI for your business!
