If you want to stay ahead of the game, given that more than half the world now uses social media, it’s crucial that you have an online social media presence in your business.

But which one is right for your business? Social media channels are not all the same and so understanding the different nuances of each one is important when preparing your digital marketing strategies in order to achieve the best results.

We’ve outlined SEVEN of the Top Factors you should Consider when Choosing the Best Social Media Platforms for your Digital Marketing below:

   1. Understand the Different Social Media Platforms

Although Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform, things have evolved over time with other social media platforms coming to the fore depending on your business objectives.

Understanding each social media platform, their strengths and weaknesses will better enable you to choose which one is right for target audience.

Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform however it’s engagement levels are some of the lowest and it has very low organic traffic rates compared to some of the other social media platforms.

Instagram remains one of the best platforms for ecommerce products, using video and images. This platform has one of the highest engagement rates.

Twitter is the highest platform for the discovery of new things and it has the highest open click rate on advertisement (26%) than the other platforms.

LinkedIn’s seeing more traffic, so it’s a great platform for generating new leads. Pinterest, too, is on the rise, while if you’re going to create video content (a MUST!), then YouTube definitely should be on your radar.

It’s important to keep on top of the trends and to include these when setting your social marketing business goals.

Current trends show the importance of messenger applications like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat. Tiktok is another one to watch with huge audience growth in recent years. While not discussed as much as Twitter and Pinterest, Reddit, has more monthly active users than them. It has recently expanded its advertising programs to include targeting audiences interested in gaming and other activities.

  2. Know your Target Audience and the Platforms they use

The first step in any successful social media campaign is knowing who your target audience is because these are the people you’re trying to reach and engage with. Such as the gender, age, location, likes, dislikes. Create a character persona to help you get really clear on this.

With this information you can begin to dive deep into what your target audience social behaviours on social media are, what they really care about. Remember it’s not about what you want or like but what they do.

When you understand the demographics of your target audience, you’ll be able to narrow down your platform(s) and find the most beneficial one(s) to pursue.

CO-VID 19 has seen an increase in engagement across all social media platforms, so now more than ever it’s important to invest in a digital marketing campaign.

    3. Research Your Competitors

Have a look at what social media platforms your competitors are present on. What type of content are they are posting and how often are they posting? What’s working for them, that is, how many users are engaging in their content? Can you see room for improvement?

This is a great way to find out the Social Behaviours of your Target Audience and can plan your Social Media Strategy accordingly.

4. Have a Consistent Strategy across all Platforms and then Automate it

As a small business owner, you often don’t have the deep pockets or resources that larger companies have, so maximising reach for minimal time and effort is key.

What we recommend is creating a consistent content strategy that is manageable, then pushing that content to all the main platforms that your target audience are present on. Remembering to tailor the content appropriately to suit the relevant platform.

There are many free scheduling tools available at the market that can help with this. We personally use Hootsuite.

    5. Don’t put All your Eggs into One Basket

While having a presence on social media is crucial to achieve those business marketing objectives, it’s also worth remembering that emails are more important than followers.

We would recommend concentrating on building up your database, than followers. Email addresses are gold. If you can collect them, they’re yours forever — unlike social media followers, who could disappear at any time!

Plus you don’t want to be at the mercy of another business. Facebook and many of the other platforms are for ever updating their rules. You never know when the rules they implement become too burdensome for your business. Facebook also has the right to block or shut down your account at any time. For example, despite David Ickes popularity of million followers, Facebook blocked his account because they didn’t like his content.

6. Once you’ve Chosen your Platforms, Measure and Adjust Your Strategy

Once you’ve chosen your content, distribution strategy, your voice, design and style, now it’s time to measure.

By keeping a close eye on what is working and what is not, you can adjust your social media strategy accordingly.

When you implement a new strategy, it’s important to collect a baseline of how it was before, so you have something to measure it against in the future.

If you want to stay ahead of the game, it’s really important to continually monitor this.

    7. Always be looking to Increase Engagement

Not only does increased engagement sit favourably with the social media platforms themselves, increased activity and engagement is important for developing meaningful relationships with new and potential future customers.

Social media engagement is measured by a range of metrics that could include the following: Shares, likes, retweets and a particular favourite with the platforms -the number of comments.

It goes without saying that whatever platform you choose, publishing consistently, interesting, quality content will go a long way to encourage customer engagement.

Schedule your posts when your followers are most active, that way you instantly increase the likelihood of getting engagement. There are tools out in the market that can help you determine the best times to post on social media.

Alternatively post regularly at the same time and day(s) each week. That way your customers will always know when you’ll be online with new content.

Lastly use visual content, that is, images but mainly videos. Statistics show far more engagement with visual content than blocks of text.