How to Know Which Social Media Channel Is Best For Your Business
We’re psyched to welcome TGL team member Laurel Lieb to the Slice this week! She’s our resident social media advertising guru, and she’s got some great advice for you if you’ve ever wondered where and how you should be promoting yourself on social.
As a social media professional, the question I get asked the most is, "What is the best social channel to advertise on?"
It is easy to fall into the trap of relying on channels that you know personally, that the organization has “always used,” or channels where creating content is easy to produce but you might be missing both your core audience AND new opportunities.
Social media has exploded from the days of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn being the big three, into a plethora of channels that connect with a variety of age groups, interests, and locations. Choosing the right mix of platforms will hinge on why you are using social media, who you are targeting, and what type of content you are creating.
Why are you on social media?
Clearly knowing why you are promoting your organization on social media is the first step in identifying what platform is right for you.
Are you looking for a space to build brand awareness and share information? LinkedIn or TikTok might be a great place to focus, since users there are looking to learn as well as be entertained. (You might think Tiktok is just for dancing, but there’s a lot more to it than that!)
Or are you selling a product/service? Instagram and Pinterest are two major shopping destinations, with the right tools for you to promote both your products and your brand overall in a wide variety of ways. Users on these channels are looking to be inspired and try new things, so you can put your brand in the right place at the right time.
Consider how your target audience actually uses a social media platform themselves, and think about whether what you’re offering naturally fits in with their behavior on that platform.
Who are you targeting?
Age, geographic location, interests and profession all play a vital role in what platforms are suitable for your organization. Are you looking to promote a cause or digital brand to Gen Z? TikTok, Snapchat, and Twitter might be the right platforms for you. Have a product to sell to Millennials? Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest may be your best bet.
Use TGL’s guide to customer discovery to learn how to better understand your audience and who they are, as well as where they like to spend their time online.
What type of content are you creating?
Content is all about telling your organization's story in ways that resonate with your audience. New content can come from a variety of internal and external sources, and a blog, newsletter, or even your sales materials can be repurposed into brand-new written or graphic content for your platforms of choice.
Depending on the social media channel you’re using, you don’t have to limit yourself only to the written word! Turn your best blog posts into TikTok videos, or use them as prompts for some interviews on Twitter Spaces. Think about how you can offer up your existing content in a new way, to reach new eyes or ears on the platforms your audience is already using, instead of trying to make them leave those platforms and come back to you.