Social media for your business. Do you need it? In a word...YES. Now lets take a look at which ones. These days there is a giant list of social media to choose from and as a brand new business it is tempting to go for all of them. However, whilst this seems like a good idea and that you are covering all your bases, it doesn't always work. (Just take a look at my insta)
There simply aren't enough hours in the day to cover them all properly - so chose one or two and stick with those.
Now before you choose you need to think about your ideal client.... Where do they hang out? How old are they? Are you looking for other businesses, B2B or B2C? If your ideal client is retired it's no good marketing for them on Instagram.
So once you know what type of media your ideal client likes you know which social media might be good for them:-
Facebook for over 35's
Instagram for 20's and 30's
The new Clubhouse app - currently only available on iphone - over 40's
Twitter for over 40's
Linkedin for over 30's
Of course these are generalisations - there's always the exception to the rule.
In a recent 2020 social media survey, Facebook (94%) and Instagram (76%) came out on top as the most used social media platforms for marketing, closely followed by Linkedin (59%), Twitter and Youtube (both with 53%)
Beware of fads! Snapchat, Tiktok, Chat bots - can be great fun and look like the next big thing, but do your research before spending time and money on diving in. Will they work as marketing platforms for your business? Will your ideal customer be found there? Will they engage?
So by now you should have a rough idea of which social media platforms might work for your business. My advice is to pick one to be your main focus and shelve the rest for the time being, unless you can afford to pay for someone to do your social media for you.
Can't I just link them all together? Post the same stuff on each one?
Yes, you could.... but this isn't the best idea. Lets say you are using Facebook and link it up to your Instagram (so whatever you stick on Facebook now posts on insta too) - Great you think, both social media platforms covered.
Here's why its not such a great idea:-
As we have discovered Facebook and Instagram have different target audiences.
Although now owned by Facebook, Instagram is photo/video based and uses hashtags to link to topics as a way for people to find your content. Facebook was built for comments and pictures and relies on you having friends/joining groups to spread your message. Since the Facebook take over the two have become more compatible and you can now use #hashtags on Facebook (1 or 2 at most) - but its worth remembering the difference. Sticking a photo on Insta with 1 hashtag won't get you anywhere, you'll need 9+
Algorithms - all social media have them, but what are they? Well essentially they are a current list of likes and dislikes the the social media uses to determine how much visibility your post gets. They also change regularly.
Follow a good social media expert (that's not me by the way) and check google for updates on your chosen social media platform.
It pisses people off - If you stick a post on Facebook with a bunch of hashtags at the top instead of a comment it just annoys people and shows that you can't be bothered to post properly on Facebook. - It also annoys Facebook too, so your post is seen by less of your audience.
Yep, there's a lot to consider with social media.
Why are you using social media? To create an online presence? To drive traffic to your website? - Yes both of these. If someone Googles you or you industry you want to pop up and be visible. Social media and your website should work in tandem to do this. However good your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is it won't just work like magic and ping you to the top of Google for all to see. It takes constant work (more on this in the next blog)
So in conclusion, pick one social media platform and do it well. Once you have a handle on that you can always expand to another or better still pay an expert to manage it for you.