We posted an article not so long ago about the ‘big 5 of social media’ where we likened the 5 biggest social media platforms to the African wildlife ‘big 5.’ We’re going to re-visit that big 5 in this article – the social media big 5 that is, not the animals! – as we examine the question “What’s the best social media platform for your business?”
It’s a question worth examining and within it, as we examine each platform, are another 3 questions, because any form of marketing needs to look at a) who you are targeting? b) what the media platform offers and c) how can you best use it? So read on and see where you can best spend your hard earned marketing bucks….
This is a winner for every type of business, large or small, or even the one man band. Whoever you are targeting, from the high powered businessman to your Granny, they are active somewhere on Facebook. Here you should post content once, or even twice, a day and it should not be directly business related, but conversational. It offers great advertising options that can very directly target a specific market at a reasonable cost.
This platform is particularly good for businesses of all sizes, recruiters and job seekers. It is the B2B Granddaddy, with a massive business following and is the nearest thing to an online business network. Thought provoking articles or short posts, making you a ‘thought’ leader in your industry should be posted around twice a week. It offers great ways to make connections, advertising opportunities and good networking groups.
This too, like Facebook is pretty much for every business, but maybe even more so. Here nobodies mingle with Politicians and the highest powered businessmen. Points can be made and conversations had directly with the clients you are targeting. The downside is several tweets a day need to be posted, so rather let this be handled by online marketing experts, as they also need to be word specific to be effective.
This platform is about sharing visual content including some very short (up to 60 seconds) videos, so is ideal for businesses offering lifestyle products like food and fashion, also personal personality branding and luxury goods businesses. The response rates are excellent on this platform, but posts should be limited to once a day preferably after working hours. There is also an excellent ‘integrated sharing function’ to Facebook and Twitter.
Youtube
As this is a massive visual platform, it is best used by businesses that are able to create video content on a regular basis and scientific, educational, industrial etc type institutions intent on sharing visual technical information. Short (less than 1.5 minutes) video content should be posted once or twice a week. The big advantage of this platform is that Google looks after its own and Youtube content is easily found in Google searches.
We hope this has given some insight into what’s the best platform for your business on social media, but remember a well planned spread of marketing spend is usually the best idea, as some presence on all major platforms could give you the best result. Contact us for advice on this and a digital marketing plan that, through tracking your results, ultimately gives you the best options.