Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Flipboard 0 What social media platforms are right for your business? Choosing social media platforms. I get asked which social platform is right every single day. The answer is: “it depends.” It’s common today to launch on a platform because it’s “hot” or to question your presence on a platform because someone says the platform its “dying” but this isn’t a particularly effective strategy. Here’s why- there is a (large) audience on many social media sites. Your goal is to get the right message in front of the right audience then engage with that audience through content and conversation. Set the goals and strategies that work for YOU, don’t worry about what your competitor is doing. Choose your strategy and work it, work it, work it. For the average business, it isn’t necessary to be on every single social platform, invest in a couple and do them well. Let’s understand something: failures in social media are almost never the “platform’s fault.” The platform doesn’t “suck,” because it doesn’t work for you. Choosing your social media platforms is a balance between content, audience, and goals. Regardless of social media platform, there are spectacular successes and flaming failures. social media success happens for 3 reasons: 1) absolute audience clarity 2) commitment to goal and objective clarity 3) content creation that matches the audience’s motivations That’s it. It’s that simple and it’s that complicated. With that in mind, here are some considerations for choosing the right social platform for your business. Objectives & Goals You probably have numerous strategies for social media-now its up to you to decide which social media platforms are right for your business. It’s not enough to say “we’re on social media,” because everything you do hinges on knowing what you’re trying to accomplish. It could It’s not enough to say “we’re on social media,” because everything you do hinges on knowing what you’re trying to accomplish. It could eyeballs (branding), engagement (building community and fans) or it could be website click-thrus (conversions), all those things are possible on social media, but they require a deep understanding of how and why your audience participates with the platform and what kind of content they engage with. Be sure your platforms, goals and metrics are all aligned. One platform might be a better branding platform, another might be a better engagement platform. Engagement might vary by audience on the same platform. I’ll give you an example, in broad strokes, millennials are ON Facebook, but not highly engaged, except millennials with kids, they’re pretty engaged with the right content. Yet, I just did a campaign where our content was so spot on, millennials (with and without kids) engaged on Facebook and the brand wasn’t even on Snapchat (we break rules over here sometimes). My point is – whatever broad strokes we point to, based on the rest of the considerations, there’s always an exception to be made. Set clear goals and expectations and use content and the right platforms to meet those goals. Audiences: Yes, the number of active users matters, but let me put it in context for you. The 2017 Superbowl drew 111 million viewers, making it the 5th most watched Superbowl in history. It cost approximately $5M-$5.5M to run an ad during the Superbowl, and that’s just for the airtime, not including commercial conceptualization, production, etc. So with that in mind, may I present some of the ACTIVE USER NUMBERS for social media platforms as of January 2017: Facebook: 1,871 Million WeChat: 846 Million Instagram: 600 Million Twitter: 317 Million Snapchat: 300 Million Snapchat, the darling of the social media world has only slightly fewer daily users than Twitter, which is occasionally called a “dying social channel.” Neither of them comes close to the number of people on WeChat. What gives? Why do people say Twitter is dying and Snapchat is hopping and no one in the US is developing WeChat content? There are some serious problems on Twitter (bots, trolls) which Snapchat isn’t suffering from, and as Snapchat gets some of the “new shiny toy” glow, but let’s put that aside for a moment. On BOTH platforms there is an audience of an extremely sizeable daily audience – 3X the size of the Superbowl. Facebook’s daily audience size is 100X the size of the Superbowl. So when someone tells you “no one is on that platform,” go ahead and unleash your side-eye. Audience size matters, but quality over quantity- let’s really consider whether the platform has YOUR audience, whether your audience is engaged there. Content First and foremost, you’ve got to consider what motivates your audience to engage with content. Do they want to be entertained or informed? Highly shareable content tends to be something that your audience feels reflects their self-story, so if you want your content to be shared, consider your audience’s self-perceptions of themselves. People share content because they feel it reflects the story they want others to know about them. Someone who considers themselves geeky interacts with different content than someone who considers themselves artistic. Do they want to be entertained or informed? Highly shareable content tends to be something that your audience feels reflects their self-story, so if you want your content to be shared, consider your audience’s self-perceptions of themselves. People share content because they feel it reflects the story they want others to know about them. Someone who considers themselves geeky interacts with different content than someone who considers themselves artistic. Highly shareable content tends to be something that your audience feels reflects their self-story, so if you want your content to be shared, consider your audience’s self-perceptions of themselves. People share content because they feel it reflects the story they want others to know about them. Someone who considers themselves geeky interacts with different content than someone who considers themselves artistic. Almost all platforms are diving headfirst into video and livestreaming. In platforms (like Facebook and Instagram) where video is prioritized in the feed, you’ll see video almost always out-performs other types of content, so be sure you’re considering video in the mix – especially short video. Social media has made our attention spans so incredibly brief – you have about half of a second to engage the viewer and hook them. Regardless of content type, the key is to create content that’s in the sweet spot of your brand story and your audience’s self-story. In short, choosing the right platforms depends on your specific mix of objectives, audiences and content. Trust me, there’s a sweet spot for you on social media, whatever platforms you choose when you “get” your audience and create the right content. Sources: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/ Twitter Tweet Facebook Share Email This article originally appeared on The Poodle Mafia Blog and has been republished with permission.Find out how to syndicate your content with B2C Author: Tara Coomans Follow @taracoomans My PR, marketing and branding agency specializes in elegantly aggressive solutions for companies with aggressive growth plans. We have a thorough digital pedigree, so our programs always take the latest trends into account. We start with strategy always. Implementation second. Not the other way around, so you can break in,… View full profile ›More by this author:3 Compelling Components of Corporate Storytelling6 Times When Your Company Is Ready For a PR Agency or Marketing FirmHow to Decide: PR, Marketing or Branding?