Which social media platform is right for your business

Business owners are often being told they need to be on Social Networking sites, but with so many platforms to choose from it’s sometimes difficult to decide what’s best.

Social media is becoming a crucial part of marketing campaigns for a wide range of businesses. It is thought that businesses tend to perform better if they have a dedicated social media platform as part of their marketing strategy.

There are new social media platforms being created all the time, some do better than others. Instagram has seen a huge increase in numbers over the past year, with many brands doing very well on this platform, here are 5 brands that are doing really well on Instagram.

In order to run a successful social media marketing campaign you need to know which platform will work best for your business. With so many social networking sites now available it’s understandable why businesses are feeling pressured and confused about what platforms to choose.

There is no point creating profiles on multiple social media platforms if you’re not utilizing them effectively, as this could have a negative effect on your business. Remember each platform you adopt will take time and money so be smart.

Focus on the platforms that you know will suit your business style. It may be worth concentrating your energy on one or two of the main social media platforms and make the most out of them.

Brands that have small social media budgets can still achieve a high level of brand awareness by focusing their resources on just one or two platforms. Remember platform choice is crucial. Even the businesses with the deepest pockets shouldn’t be wasting money focusing on a platform that isn’t right for their business and probably never will be.

If you’re having trouble deciding on what social platform to choose, here are some steps that could help you make a decision:

Step 1. Find where your audience hangs out

Go where your audience is, this is the basis of marketing, digital or not – you must find where your target audience hangs out.

Brands need to be present wherever audiences invest their time and attention. If you engage with the right audience social media can make you stand out from your competitors.

Engaging with your customers online can raise awareness and build your reputation as a trusted supplier. If done properly, social platforms can give you the opportunity to connect with a wide range of new contacts from the comfort of your own office.

Step 2. Define your objectives

What are your objectives? You must set goals for what you wish to achieve with your social media efforts.The main goal of every social media campaign is to build a community.

If your social media objective is to reach a larger community then a huge platform like Facebook may be a good option, you must remember however that not everyone in this community will engage with your business. Try not to focus on the size of the community but the potential to convert those community members into customers.

Step 3: Competitive Research

Check out what social platforms your competitors are investing in. Is it working for them? Could you do it better?

You may find that your competitors aren’t even using social media. Businesses that are invisible on social media will miss a chance at engagement that their competitors might seize. On the other hand there may be a reason why they are not using it, perhaps they tried and it didn’t work for them.

Step 4. Your Resources

It is important to look at what resources you already have, if you’re an analytics software company developing tools for SEO’s and Internet Marketing professionals then Google+ would probably be choice.

A video production company will have a lot of videos by default so YouTube would be the way to go, however a photography studio should probably lean towards Instagram rather than Twitter. Utilizing your existing resources will save you a lot of time and money.