Social media platforms are not a one-size-fits-all concept; choosing the right one for your business is key to your marketing campaigns. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all target different groups with different interests using different methods. Knowing who you want to see your ads is the first step in choosing what kind of advertising you want to put money in to, and it only goes further from that. Thereβs a reason there are entire companies who specialize in your online presence: they know how to navigate the ins and outs of various social media platforms. Thereβs a science to knowing which social media platforms are the right ones for your business, and weβve got that science lab open for business!
Finding your target audience is step number one for brand awareness
If your company is a law office, would you rather put flyers in a prison or an elementary school classroom? Itβs an extreme example, but it demonstrates how important your target audience is. Obviously, the lawyer who puts flyers in a school isnβt going to get any business out of kids who would beg mom for crayons, just as your business wonβt get any new clients by advertising to the wrong people. Knowing who youβre βtargetingβ, a term used in social media advertising to indicate who youβd like your ads to reach, is key to achieving a positive return on investment. Certain target audiences wonβt use certain platforms; a scrapbooking or ladiesβ fashion design company would see success on Pinterest, where most viewers are women. Facebook tends to lean towards people seeking a connection with old acquaintances, so itβs a great tool for letting your fans know what advancements youβre making. Instagram is photo-based, so people looking for visually striking businesses (i.e. a coffee shop with a beautiful matcha latte on the menu) will seek places to visit there. Identifying who youβre looking for will help your social media campaigns succeed.
Locate where your competitors are advertising
If thereβs a lot of fish in your part of the sea, they may be after a particularly delicious piece of bait. Social media is public, which means you get to take advantage of where your competitors are posting and what type of content theyβre promoting. This does not mean you should plagiarize a competitorβs ad campaign (weβve seen plenty of times this has backfired), but a little espionage wonβt hurt. Smaller businesses gain a huge step up by looking at what hooks (otherwise known as social media platforms) their competitors are using to reel in clients, and can play off of them to enter the market. If a similar business sees a lot of Facebook likes or retweets on Twitter, you know where to start posting.
Social media platforms should be used by businesses in a personal way
Social media was built to be just that: social. When people look or stumble upon your business online, they still want to feel some personality! How you project that personality ties directly in with which social media platform is right for your business. As we mentioned, Instagram is a very visual platform. Should your business be ripe with opportunities for bright, eye-catching photos, it would be a useful tool. Facebook is great for long-term connections, so a company looking for repeat customers would be wise to use their ad features. Whatever choice you go with, there are tips and tricks (such as using live streaming to increase viewer trust) to have your business succeed. For help launching and maintaining your social media ad campaign, reach out to our trusted social media team at Success City Online at 702-350-2870!