How to Choose a Social Media Platform for Your Marketing [Updated 2020]

Choosing where to begin your digital marketing campaign should not be done in the blink of an eye. Social media is a huge determining factor in the success of many businesses, so making the right platform choice is essential for your company. The first thing you should know is that you do not, and should not, try to keep up with every social media platform; you’ll get overwhelmed and burnt out, and it’s unlikely you’ll see the results you’re looking for.

If you want to increase exposure for your company, Facebook and Instagram are great platforms to start with. 

If you’re looking to create a content-only search experience through visual marketing and images, Pinterest and Instagram will be great starting channels for you. 

Want to get past the gatekeepers and straight to the decision-makers? Check out LinkedIn. 

Aiming to reach a younger audience? Snapchat and TikTok are the way to go.

Every site features unique benefits as well as drawbacks. Knowing what you want to accomplish with your digital marketing campaign is a great way to select the best site for you.

What Are the Different Social Media Networking Sites? 

Each social networking platform has different characteristics, benefits, rules and best practices. Learning each one can be a lot to handle if you’re new to social media. That’s why we are going to help you simplify the process by breaking down the major social media networking sites. Once you’ve read through each, choose one or two channels that feel right for your business and start testing content. Once you feel comfortable, you can add new channels to the mix if they’re a good fit.

Using Facebook to Market My Business

Let’s start with the king of social media: Facebook. If you’re looking to just plunge into the world’s deepest digital ocean, then this is the place to be. Facebook has an audience of over 2.7 billion users, and marketers to this day still say that Facebook is too big to ignore. 

Realistically, you’re not going to reach every user, and that’s fine. It’s unlikely most businesses care to reach audiences outside of their service area. 

Fun facts: More than 80 million small businesses use Facebook to promote their products and services. Seven out of 10 U.S. adults use Facebook. Users spend an average of 58.5 minutes on the social media platform each day!

Using Twitter to Market My Business

As one of the original and longest-operating social media platforms, Twitter has done well to maintain its own unique and viable platform. With 330 million active users in 2020, according to Oberlo, Twitter is still one of the most prominent channels. 

Are you thinking of taking your company global, or do you already have a global fan base? Twitter is in 40 languages, and of the 330 million active users, only 69 million are in the United States.

Twitter provides more opportunities for “listening” to your audiences. By setting up alerts for specific keywords and phrases, you can have conversations with users who are talking about your business or looking for your products and services.

Using Pinterest to Market My Business

Pinterest is a powerful visual search engine. It’s a huge platform for eCommerce, bloggers, content creators and service businesses such as event planners, dentists, chiropractors, home developers and real estate agents, just to name a few. 

Unlike most social media channels, where content is only visible to users for a short time before it’s no longer shown in news feeds, Pinterest delivers content based on searches, meaning your post is more “evergreen” and will go further in terms of being found when consumers are looking for you.

How many users can you reach on Pinterest? Pinterest has 442 million monthly users as of 2020, and many of those are businesses. 

Why? Because people go to Pinterest to search for inspiration on what to buy. It’s been stated that average saved pins equate to a two-week turnaround between saving and purchasing. That’s huge for brands! 

Using LinkedIn to Market My B2B Business

LinkedIn is a great way for B2B businesses to bypass gatekeepers and get straight to decision-makers. 

As a brand, your company profile enables you to connect with your employees, contractors, vendors and consumers. Keep in mind, LinkedIn is not Facebook, so you should keep your company positioned in a professional way. Instead of funny memes, use photos and videos that spotlight your products, services, and employees. These types of posts help to establish trust in your business over time.

Use your connections to gain more connections. Engage with your followers and post about company activities such as events, job openings, and when you have room for new clients. 

Does your business produce HR software? You can search for and target HR managers on the network. Looking to sell cleaning products to school departments, target facilities management directors.

Using Instagram to Market My Business

Much like Pinterest, Instagram is primarily a visual social media platform. It now has features enabling you to go live with your audience, host webinars, and even promote and sell products through videos and images. 

Each post allows you to create a caption that can include hashtags and profile tags, so you can join related searches and conversations with topics like #BlackFriday or #ShopLocal, while also tagging relevant profiles of business and organizations you’re involved with like @ChamberOfCommerce.

Fun facts: Instagram has over 1 Billion users as of 2020. The average Instagram post contains 10.7 hashtags. 71% of the billion monthly active users on the Instagram app are under the age of 35. 71% of U.S. businesses claim that they use Instagram for business.

Using Snapchat and/or TikTok to Market My Business

The latest social media platforms to take the world by storm have focused on our short attention spans. Both Snapchat and it’s more recent competitor, TikTok, feature short videos that appeal to younger audiences.

Snapchat, with over 229 million users, and TikTok with 800 million users, have both begun providing advertising opportunities to businesses in addition to creative ways to promote businesses organically. Much of the success for business marketing on these platforms has come in the way of influencers. Younger audiences want to be marketed to differently than previous generations. Rather than seeing a 30-second advertisement that tells them to buy something, they’d rather hear a product placement from a personality or influencer that they follow and trust. This has grown a new industry for “internet celebrities” to connect with followers while monetizing their niche. It also allows brands to handpick endorsements from influencers who closely connect with their target audience.

If these channels are of interest to your business, be ready to get creative!

What Do Social Media Networking Sites Have in Common? 

No matter which platform you choose, success requires that you plan, prepare, analyze and engage with your customers and fans. It takes time and daily dedication. 

Trying to learn each platform could take a lot of time — months, or even years. Don’t do it alone. Instead, contact Dream Local Digital’s Social Media Marketing Team to help you achieve success. 

Not sure which platform is right for your company? No worries. Our SMM team will help you pick the appropriate platform based on where your ideal audience is more likely to see your brand. We’re looking forward to helping you soar!