From the local plumber to the five-star restaurant to the Fortune 500 company, nowadays every business is utilizing some sort of social media platform to connect with customers and spread brand awareness. But not every platform is created equal and investing time and money into a social media networking site that isn’t populated by your customers is not only a waste of resources and money, but it’s also a waste of time.
With U.S. audiences spending an upwards of a half an hour to three hours on social media daily, it would be essentially suicidal for businesses to not have a presence on social media. But where do you start and how do you determine which platform best suites your needs and the needs of your customers? While the benefits of using social media are clear, the roadmap to success is foggy to say the least.
A newly released infographic titled, “What You Need to Know About Choosing the Most Effective Social Media Platforms,” lays out the most effective social media platforms for companies based on user demographics, business objectives and skills.
For example, if your company specializes in delivering content through video, Twitter wouldn’t be the most opportune platform. Instead, YouTube or Facebook may be better avenues as sharing video fits nicely into their bread and butter. The same could be said about text-driven content. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are preferred platforms for text and articles, as opposed to a visually driven platform like Pinterest.
Next, you need to determine your businesses’ cyber needs? If you’re looking to boost SEO, for example, then Google+, YouTube and StumbleUpon trump Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. Conversely, for those looking for increased traffic, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, StumbleUpon, Reddit and SlideShare is the name of the game.
If your product or service is geared toward a particular demographic then the platform you’re using should reflect that. For those aged 18 to 24, Google+, Reddit and StumbleUpon are more appropriate. For ages 25-24, Google+, YouTube and Twitter are your go-to networking sites.
Don’t have a staff of copyeditors or graphic designers at your disposal? Then try using a platform that doesn’t require a lot of text or design involvement.
With all of the statistics out there, it’s common for large and small companies to be scared into thinking that they need to be utilizing all social media platforms, but the fact is, a well-constructed social media plan is better than a weak, un-tailored approach to several platforms.
Check out the full infographic here.
Edited by
Carrie Schmelkin
