Which social networks should your business be on?

It’s a no-brainer that if your business wants to remain relevant and visible in today’s competitive online world, social media is a necessary tool. A strong strategy & correct online placement creates a mix for a larger ROI.

Social Media is an excellent way to build brand awareness, connect with existing customers, and generate new leads to fill your funnel. However, there are a crazy number of platforms out there, are you using the ones that’ll benefit you the most?

We’ve compiled a 5-step process to guide you through picking the best social media platform for your brand!

1. Narrow the choices

There’re simply too many social media platforms out there. It's not justifiable to be on all of them. Let's look at those with the most monthly ACTIVE users & what they're about:

• Facebook - 2.740 billion monthly active users

Facebook is a great platform for most businesses. Although paid ads may get expensive, they're optional. Installing the Pixel will contribute to growing your leads list. It's a good idea to be active here to keep in touch with your customers.

• YouTube - 2.291 billion monthly active users

Invest some time upfront in upskilling your shooting and editing skills, it doesn't need to be Hollywood standards, just to meet YouTube users expectations. Videos can be made on most smartphones.

• Instagram - 1.221 billion monthly active users

Instagram is highly effective for eCommerce, there's even a “Checkout” feature! You will find a large community of younger mobile shoppers on this platform.

• TikTok - 689 million monthly active users

TikTok is fantastic for organic reach and opportunity to go viral however, to build a community brands need to be extra creative as Genz's have no time for advertising.

• Pinterest - 442 million monthly active users

Pinterest is better suited to those situated in industries like home decor, cooking recipes, photography sites, and travel. This platform has the potential to drive major traffic to your website.

• Reddit - 430 million monthly active users

If you're already using Reddit in your personal capacity your business should do well on this social media platform, increasing website traffic. Users will generally investigate whether or not you're genuinely contributing to the community or if you're just after traffic.

• Twitter - 353 million monthly active users

Although you'll need an aggressive marketing strategy that commits you to multiple tweets a day, you'll be able to connect with your consumer and influencers too. Twitter is a great platform for growing brand awareness.

• Quora - 300 million monthly active users

There's no reason not to try Quora out for a while. It's a great way to stay on top of your game. Simply find questions that don't have too many answers so you're more likely to get upvoted.

• LinkedIn - 250 million monthly active users

LinkedIn is tailored to individual users to expand their professional network. Once making a new connection they're likely to view your business page so it's best to be sure there's something to show.

Those were the most popular social media platforms at the moment, each meets specific consumer wants and needs. However, you need to relate it back to your business.

2. Determine your goals

Your goals will not only determine the best platform to use but what type of content you'll be making too. Get specific here, but remember to stay realistic.

Some typical goals may include:

1. Improve customer service by meeting your audience where they already are.

2. Identify new qualified leads and prospects that align with your brand.

3. Find a new audience and expand your demographics by increasing brand awareness.

4. Learn about your customer's needs, wants and habits too.

5. Increase website traffic.

3. Find your audience

The whole point of social media marketing is to put you in contact with your ideal audience.

Where are they? Are they actively participating on this platform?

• Get really specific here. Do a thorough analysis on:

• The situational

• The demographics

• The psychological

• The multicultural

• The topic

• Interest and prior knowledge.

A top tip: Set up a specific audience type in Facebook and they'll estimate

the size of the audience you can expect to reach.

4. What can you create?

Certain social media platforms were designed for certain types of content.

Understanding what type of content does best where will ensure strong results.

First, have a look at what you're currently creating.

Next, determine what you can or are willing to create.

• Blog posts

• Podcasts

• Testimonials

• User-generated content

• Webinars and live streams

• Ebooks

• Whitepapers

• Videos

• Photographs

5. Pick a platform

Once you've:

1. Figured what the different platforms are about

2. Determined what your wants and needs are

3. Done a thorough audience analysis and figured out where they're hanging out

4. Decided on the type of content your able and willing to create

You'll clearly be able to identify which platforms you should be taking advantage of.

Now your social media will be working for you, not the other way around!