Social Platforms And Business

Social Platforms And Business

Should A Business Be On All Social Platforms?

There are so many ways businesses can communicate with customers; and for a small business trying to stay on top of all communication channels requires going in and out of multiple platforms a day.


It makes one wonder if a business should be on all social platforms or just a few key ones.


So, how should a business decide which social platform they should be on?


Only way to answer this is to research each platform; see which ones your competitors are on; which ones your target audience is on most; and to a lesser extent which ones you like.

Know Each Platform

Researching a little about each platform is a good place to start in order to gain knowledge on how each one caters for business.


Facebook

Now a place to advertise rather than keep up-to-date with friends and family, you can have a profile (which is mandatory), groups or pages. Each one serves a different purpose and are all linked to your profile.


A profile is what you use to open a Facebook account and is usually in your name with your details. You can like a page, a post or comment using your profile. As well as make comments on other people’s posts.


A group is created within a profile and has members who have similar interests. People can request to join your group even if they do not follow your personal Facebook profile. Groups can either be closed, where you have to be a member to see what has been posted; or public, where anyone can see what has been posted.


If you have intentions of advertising on Facebook, then you’ll need to have a page, as this is the only way you can create a promotion.


So why use Facebook? As a business, using Facebook groups is good for engaging with customers, learning about problems they are facing and testing out solutions to these problems.


Not all businesses need to use Facebook. However, because you can promote your business using Facebook, there is no harm in creating a business page.


Instagram


Like Facebook, there are different ways to get your message to customers using this platform.


You can post to your feed, or create a story and highlight that story to give it a lifespan of more than 24 hours. You can create a vertical video and post to IGTV, aka Instagram TV.


This platform offers a variety of ways to communicate with followers.


You can even use stickers to conduct polls and ask questions. You can also receive messages either in the app or via email from customers, making it a fun tool to use as a business.


Twitter

Blink and you’ll miss it.


With tweets lasting only a few minutes it is a wonder how people keep up-to-date with tweets.


Why use Twitter?


It creates brand awareness, it’s good for people who have a short attention span or just want to be informed quickly.


With the short life of messages, I am still uncertain how it will lead to more visits to a site… I can see how it creates brand awareness though.


The more posts seen from a brand, the more the brand starts to be imprinted in people’s minds.


Pinterest

Pinterest?


I just don’t get how it works. You can save, like and try. You also follow either boards or whole accounts.


It seems to me there are too many choices available.


Additionally, to get any sort of traction, it is suggested you pin at least 15 times a day.


It does seem more complicated than it needs to be.


The benefits you get from persevering with this platform is apparently worth it, as it can drive a lot of traffic to your site.

Check Your Competition and Customers

To find out which platforms you should be on as a business, the first thing to do is have a look at what platforms your competitors are on.


Go to your competitor’s website, see which platforms they are on and look at the engagement levels on each. If the engagement level is minimal, that is probably a platform you do not need to be on.


Also, try to find out which platforms your ideal customer uses most as that would be one to definitely be on.


Using the information you collect, it is then up to you to decide which ones you want your business to be on.

Summary

There is no need to have a presence on all social platforms as a business. Especially, as trying to keep apace with multiple platforms can be time consuming.


So after researching which platforms your competition and target audience are on, you can then add a third dimension to your selection criteria, which would be to include your own preference in the decision making process. Just make sure your preference comes after looking at your competition and your target audience.

Links on this post may be affiliate links, which will provide me with a small commission if you make a purchase using my link.


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Images created using Visme.


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