The Complete Guide To Choosing The Best Social Media Platform For Your Business

Have you ever wondered Which social media platform is best for your business since there are so many out there?

Let’s face it, with the birth of social media platforms, laser-focusing on your prospective customers is so much easier than ten years ago. Small businesses now have the ability to market directly to their customers and reach out to them on a more personal level and at a fraction of the usual advertising price.

The beauty of social media is that it suits frugal entrepreneurs like myself. You don’t need to splash out a ton of money in advertising anymore to reach out to your prospective customers, you just need to be social media savvy and you’ll be able to reach your target market for FREE which means there’s more money in your pockets.

Cha-ching!

But how do you know which social media platforms are the best fit for your business? Which platform would effectively help you deliver an effective online marketing strategy? Well first, you have to familiarise yourself with how each platform works and then you can make a decision.

That said, below is a list of the seven best social media platforms that are widely used by other businesses.

1. Facebook

What type of business should use it: Every single business you can think of because everyone is on it even your cats and dogs.

With more than 2 billion users, Facebook is the undisputed king of social media platforms.

It’s an incredible social media platform that can connect businesses to its prospective customers from all over the world. Facebook is quite honestly the best equipped social media platform to spark interaction and conversation out Of all the other social media platforms out there.

Facebook also provides you with incredible data that’ll help you laser-focus on your target market. From age to relationship status, to hobbies and interests, you can literally zero in on your audience and serve them with content that’ll appeal to their needs.

One of the best things you can do on Facebook is to create a Facebook page for your business wherein Facebook can provide you with detailed data on how your audience is engaging with your brand. The data is so detailed that Facebook can even tell you what time of day it is best for you to reach your audience.

Keep in mind that you should never make your Facebook page look like a massive billboard advertising your business though. Rather, you should use it to engage with your customers and talk to them on a more personal level so that they’ll actively engage with your brand on a constant basis.

2. Instagram

What type of business should use it: fashion, events, travel, luxury brands, food, Lifestyle – basically any business that has a visually driven marketing strategy.

According to SEO guru Neil Patel, more than 800 million people all over the world use Instagram on a constant basis so it’s another force to be reckoned with next to Facebook.

Did you know that Instagrammers also use Instagram to shop?

According to Statista, Instagram will apparently generate $6.84 billion in mobile ad revenue in 2018 which is a massive increase from the $1.86 billion that they generated back in 2016.

Brands also receive four times more engagement on Instagram than they do on Facebook and as many as 14% of users are likely to buy items directly from Instagram itself.

So whether you just want to increase your revenue and sell your products directly to people or you just want to increase your brand’s exposure, Instagram should definitely be included in your list of social media platforms to include in your online marketing strategy.

3. Twitter

What type of business should use it: Every single business you can think of as well.

We all know that Twitter is Donald Trump’s favorite social media platform and so does a host of celebrities, but besides the obvious, this social media platform is also a huge asset in any entrepreneur’s social media strategy.

Twitter is the fastest way to get your message out there. Your aim as an entrepreneur is to use Twitter to deliver tweets that’ll hopefully encourage more people to share your posts and “retweet” your content resulting in more followers.

A majority of the biggest businesses and media companies use Twitter to announce press releases and post the latest news and updates.Hashtags are a huge deal on Twitter so you need to pay attention to what’s currently trending so that you can include relevant hashtags in your tweets.

4. YouTube

What type of business should use it: Businesses with video content. It’s great for businesses who want to establish their authority in their field by providing video tutorials.

YouTube is owned by Google and the second largest search engine which is the big reason why you need to tap on the power of YouTube if you want your business to thrive.

Furthermore, since Google owns YouTube, this social media platform is perfect if you want your website to be search engine friendly.

Did you notice that videos are more likely to appear in Google search results than any other websites? That’s another big reason why you need to include YoUTube in your social media strategy.

5. Pinterest

What type of business should use it: fashion, events, travel, luxury brands, food, Lifestyle – perfect for businesses who have female customers.

Pinterest is a bookmarking website and is actually one of the most popular social media platforms and most visited websites in the world. It has over 100 million active users and how it works is that people can pretty much “pin” whatever they found online on their Pinterest “boards.” People can either share their bookmarks, save it for later and you can also use the Pinterest search bar to find out what other people are bookmarking.

This social media platform is perfect for fashion retailers as it is visually driven and if you have some amazing high-quality images to share they are likely to go viral on this website. Same as with any other platform, if your image gets pinned by a member with a huge following then it has the potential to be viewed by millions of people.

Pinning and re-pinning on this social media platform frequently are quite necessary if you want your images to appear repeatedly within the results for a given search term.

6. Yelp

What type of business should use it: bloggers, restaurants, stores, travel – basically brick-and-mortar outlets

Yelp is very important for entrepreneurs because it can make or break your business.

You need to have a strategy in place that can help your business receive favorable reviews.You probably need to provide an incentive for your customers to leave positive reviews for you on Yelp just in case you have a bad one – at least the number of positive reviews can drown out the negative one.

Pay close attention to keywords when it comes to updating your information on Yelp because Yelp listings appear quite prominently in Google searches for local businesses. You need to constantly monitor customer feedback about your business and respond to any concerns a reviewer had so that your customers know that you care what they think.

A smart but sneaky tactic for Yelp is to offer your customers a discount on their next order if they decide to review your business. That should drive some positive reviews your way.

7. LinkedIn

What type of business should use it: Recruiters and B2B (business to business) service providers – it’s also perfect for Job-Seekers

This social media platform is perfect if your business is in the B2B field.

LinkedIn enables you to target businesses by industry, job title, and many others and it’s also about building connections and relationships similar to other social media platforms.

An awesome feature of LinkedIn is LinkedIn Groups wherein you can create groups in your niche or industry and then invite others related to your industry to join.

Businesses that are seeking clients or job seekers seeking employment should grow their LinkedIn networks by adding as many authentic connections as possible. You can also use your second and third-degree connections to possibly request personal introductions to enable you to gain some real connections.

8. Google+

What type of business should use it: bloggers, B2B service providers, and businesses who are already on the other major social networks

Google+ is Google’s answer to Facebook. Since this is a Google initiative, the use of keywords and search engine optimization techniques work well on this platform. If you have a Google+ account just make sure you often link to your website to maximize traffic potential.

You can also set up Google Authorship to enable your Google+ profile to follow your content from across the Web in the search results.

A search engine’s goal is to surface the best, most relevant results for your search query. The way they do that (after considering relevancy) is largely through evaluating authority and popularity signals.

Generally speaking, that means older websites that have been around and publishing on the same topic day in and day out for years tend to get the benefit of the doubt (over a brand new upstart).

Here’s a perfect example. Type in any search query into Google right now. Let’s do “grow a website,” because that’s generally what we’re talking about.

That doesn’t mean you should expect SEO to deliver new customers overnight suddenly.

One day it might, but right now, there’s going to be a tiny trickle (if any). There definitely won’t be enough to lift your business off the ground.

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