Which social media platforms should your business be using? The answer to this question is different for every company. A company’s social media marketing plan should be specific to the audience they are trying to reach. Before deciding on a social media marketing strategy, companies must first establish who the target audience is (i.e., consumers or businesses, or a mix of both), where the target audience is the most concentrated and accessible, and where they are most actively engaged. Identifying who the key audience is will make it easier for your company to narrow down which social media platforms are best for marketing your products or services.

A Bit of Both: Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

If your target audience consists of both consumers and businesses, Facebook and Twitter are likely the best platforms to use.

 

Facebook is the most popular social media platform, with a total of 2.7 billion active users worldwide. To put this number in perspective, if Facebook were a country, it would be the largest in the world; its current user base is almost double the current population of China. Facebook has an advanced ad targeting feature that allows businesses to target specific audiences based on location, demographics, interests, behavior, or connections. Your company can even choose to target a custom audience, where you can connect your contacts or email lists for retargeting or set up a Facebook pixel to automatically focus on those who visit your website. Facebook is generally best for audiences between the ages of 30 to 65. Why? Pew Research Center found that 77% of U.S. adults in the 30-49 age demographic use Facebook, as well as 73% of U.S. adults ages 50-64.

 

Twitter is another platform that supports paid ads and promoted content. However, if your business has a smaller advertising and marketing budget, Twitter is a great platform for establishing a large following without having to spend a lot on ads. Twitter is also a good way to build brand awareness. Businesses can use hashtags as a way of attracting users who are looking for products or services similar to those that your company may offer.

 

Business-to-Business (B2B) Targeting

For those looking to market solely to other businesses, LinkedIn is a good platform to use. 50% of U.S. adults who use LinkedIn make more than 75K annually, and 51% of users are college graduates. LinkedIn is useful for companies who are looking to expand their network and build professional relationships with potential clients, or for companies that are looking for lead generation or looking to hire (employment searches).

 

Business-to-Consumer (B2C) Targeting

Instagram is one of the best platforms to use for companies targeting individual consumers.  71% of individuals ages 18-29 use the app, making it the perfect platform to advertise on if this is your target demographic. Instagram has one of the highest audience engagement rates, with six in ten users saying that they visit the site at least once a day. Direct consumer engagement with your company’s products is easy on Instagram – ads on the platform can be linked directly to the product page.

 

While we have covered four of the most popular social media platforms, other platforms may work for your specific company, such as Pinterest or YouTube. Companies should focus on multiple social media platforms for two main reasons:

1. Engagement on multiple platforms allows your company to reach different demographics.
2. A presence on multiple platforms gives your company time to understand and work through any updates that social media companies are making to their platforms.

 

For example, say Facebook makes changes regarding advertising costs and your company needs time to assess how these changes affect the number of ads you can run. While you are navigating how best to adjust to the policy changes on Facebook, you are still able to advertise on another platform, like Twitter or LinkedIn. This is something to keep in mind, especially as user privacy and data laws are increasingly becoming a topic of debate. Increased protections on user privacy or data could make ad targeting more difficult in the future.

 

Working with a digital marketing agency can help your company stay up to date on the most recent policies and regulations. Another key benefit of working with an agency is its ability to work within your budget to maximize the efficiency of ad spending. Social media marketing agencies like Social Spice Media can create a custom strategy to determine which digital platforms would be the most effective for your business. In addition, they can help with designing custom ads to engage and connect with your targeted audience.

 

Social Spice Media has specialized in digital advertising and social media marketing since 2011. We can assist your company in developing a digital presence through content creation, measuring data analytics across social media sites, and implementing a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) framework for your websites. Our team is available to answer any questions you may have regarding digital marketing. You can contact us by calling (805) 482 – 8312

or emailing info@socialspicemedia.com.