Discover Your Best Social Media Platform for Marketing
In our fast-paced world, there’s always pressure to keep up. One of the ways we keep up with the world is through social media, so it only makes sense that social media marketing has become more important than ever. But just as your company is unique, so should your marketing strategy be. Targeting every single social media platform may sound effective, but it could actually be a waste of your time. So, which platform should you focus on? We’ll break it down.
Why is Social Media Marketing Important?
Before you can figure out what platform to market on, it’s important to understand why you should be thinking about social media marketing in the first place.
To start, nearly everyone is on one social platform or another these days. In fact, over 4.48 billion people across the globe use social media. If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to reach huge audiences, social media is it!
Social media marketing also gives you the chance to engage with your audience where they’re the most comfortable. You can form genuine relationships, hear what your buyers are searching for, and discover new ways to serve your customer base.
Finally, social media marketing is a great tool for updating your marketing strategy as time goes on. You can learn about new trends in your niche, answer your audience’s most frequent questions, and more. The best part? You can use social media as a way to push your other content, such as blog posts or email newsletters.
Major Platforms and Their Audiences
Your business likely has a specific target audience in mind. After all, your offerings probably aren’t meant for everyone. If your business sells women’s sandals, for instance, you likely won’t be targeting 40-year-old men in Colorado. It simply wouldn’t be the best use of your time or effort. So, taking the time to learn where your target audience congregates on social media can give you the best chance of connecting with them.
Facebook is one of the longest-lasting social media platforms today, and it also attracts some of the widest audiences. It’s challenging to find someone who doesn’t have a Facebook page these days. In fact, over 50% of Americans use Facebook regardless of their demographic category, be it age, gender, race, or income level. You may need to dig a bit deeper into your marketing strategies to succeed on Facebook, but it’s virtually guaranteed that your ideal audience is there.
Instagram tends to be a wonderful platform for companies selling products (as opposed to services) thanks to the visual nature. This social media outlet is most popular with younger audiences, particularly those ages 18-29 . In the United States, more women use Instagram than men, and usage is high in all categories of race and income level.
To share quick thoughts or push people to your website, Twitter is one of the best places to get your audience’s attention. Overall, just under a quarter of the U.S. population reports being active on Twitter. The majority of these users tend to be male, ages 18-29, black, and earning an income of $30,000 to $49,999.
TikTok
One of the newest players in the social media world is TikTok, known for its quick-spreading dance trends and its snappy and creative videos. It’s likely not surprising to hear that most TikTok users are quite young, with almost half of users falling between ages 18-29. TikTok users tend to be female and come from all races and income levels.
Finally, many businesses neglect LinkedIn when considering social media marketing, which could be a huge disadvantage. While this platform is only used by about a third of American adults, it can still be an incredibly valuable place to spread the word about your company and provide some input on business trends. LinkedIn users are most often men, ages 30-49, from any race, earning more than $75,000 annually.
Social Media Marketing Best Practices
These figures are just the beginning of honing your social media marketing strategy. You can take your strategy even further by looking deeper into your audience’s demographic information or even figuring out the best times to post on social networks. Even if you don’t go that far, there are a few key tips you can integrate to make your social media marketing strategy more effective.
First, it’s important to be consistent when posting on social media. Consistency can help you build a reputation as a trustworthy and socially active company, so users will know they can rely on you. Even if you can only post once per week, that’s a great place to start building a habit. Turning to an automated posting service can make this task much easier on a busy team.
In addition to simply posting content for your users, be sure to interact with them, too. That’s what social media was designed for, after all! Replying to comments and addressing user concerns in a timely manner is one of the best ways to show that you truly care about your customers, not just the views or the clicks.
Finally, create a mixture of trending and evergreen content. Trending content can help get your company in front of new eyes and keep the conversation going for users who may have been with you for a while. By also including content that can be relevant at any time, you can appeal to new audiences and offer added value to users new and old.
Social media marketing may seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. The team at Doukas Media is happy to help you create content, manage a crisis, nurture your online community, and more. Contact Doukas Media today to learn more about all of our social media marketing services!