Which social media platform is right for my business?
These days, there’s no getting away from social media. In the UK, 67% of the population uses social media – that’s around 45 million individual users* – which makes it an invaluable tool for business. This is especially the case for small business owners, who can access an enormous audience for a relatively low cost.
However, it’s important to be smart about your business’ social media marketing. Rather than opening accounts on every platform and spreading your efforts too thinly, it’s better to concentrate on just one or two that you can dedicate serious time to in order to make them work for you.
But which platforms should you use? Today we’re taking a look at three of the biggest social media sites – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – to help you decide which could be right for your business.
Facebook has the largest user base of any social media platform in the world, making it a smart choice for most businesses. It also has an older demographic than many social media platforms, so if a large part of your audience is over 50, this may be the place to meet them.
A company Facebook page allows you to present practical information about your business (opening hours, website, contact details), to share your own promotions and blog posts, and to engage directly with your customers. Bear in mind that you will have to pay for your posts to reach your whole audience, so while Facebook is a great choice for building the loyalty of existing customers, it’s less effective as a way to reach new ones.
Twitter is another platform with a global reach, but its demographics skew younger than Facebook’s, with the majority of users being under 30. Plenty of people check and update their Twitter once a day (or more), making this a fast-paced platform where it may be tricky to get noticed.
For this reason, Twitter isn’t for everyone. The most successful users post frequently, so you will need to have plenty of time to dedicate to it. It’s also a particularly word-focused site, so it’s less relevant if your business relies heavily on photos or videos for marketing. Done right, though – with frequent updates, an engaging brand voice, and as a place to curate lots of interesting content rather than just to push your own – Twitter can be hugely rewarding for a small business.
Instagram has around one billion active users around the world, the majority of whom are aged under 35. It also has a notable gender bias – while Facebook and Twitter have roughly similar numbers of male and female users, Instagram tends to attract a more female audience.
Instagram is, first and foremost, an image-sharing platform, making it the perfect home for businesses that use a lot of photos, videos and visual designs in their marketing. To be successful on the platform, your images must be good quality, so unless you have the time and skills to invest in producing beautiful pictures, it’s best to steer clear. However, for businesses in the food, design or beauty industries in particular, Instagram is the perfect place to promote your product and connect with customers, old and new.
Do you need help with your small business’ social media? Look no further. Get Ahead VA has a number of digital marketing experts who are ready to handle any social media marketing work you need done. To find out exactly how we can help, please give Get Ahead VA a call on 01483 332220 or email us at office@getaheadva.com. We pride ourselves on being the staff you don’t see, but the difference you do.
Sources:
* https://www.avocadosocial.com/latest-social-media-statistics-and-demographics-for-the-uk-in-2019/
