What do you do when you want to promote your start-up business online but have no idea where and how to do it? You might start doing your research and probably end up relying on Instagram because come on, you HAVE to have an Instagram account these days.
But hey, why not on Facebook? It has billions of users whom you might convert into potential customers. Oh, and how could you possibly miss Twitter? Any business has the maximum scope on Twitter. Maybe you can promote your business on all the social media platforms? Or will it be too much?
So how do you decide the best social media platform that would make your business grow? Well, let’s dive into it step-by-step!
1) Decide your target audience and study them:
The foremost step of promoting your business online is researching and deciding on your target audience. Knowing who you are targeting and creating content for, does half of your work already. It is essential for any marketer to know precisely where and when the targeted users are hanging out on the internet in order to convert them into potential customers. Research about your competitors’ marketing strategy and where, when and how are they engaging with their audience.
Study the demographics of your targeted tribe – age, gender, preferences, location, etc. so that you can directly market to them accordingly. For example, maximum teenagers nowadays spend most of their time on Instagram and Snapchat. So know about them in order to let them know about you!
2) Focus quality over quantity:
As there are a number of social media platforms available, many marketers tend to promote their business on all the social media platforms available. This creates a messy clutter on the internet which proves unhealthy for your brand. Instead, follow the idea “the best few” and prefer quality social media platforms rather than just increasing the number of accounts you’re online on. Select the platforms that are suitable for your business and prioritize each one of them.
3) Define your goals and objectives:
Each and every social media platform have different returns and results to offer, and hence it becomes very important for every marketer to understand and study each one of them individually. Identify what is your primary objective and then decide the platform accordingly. Initially, it is highly advised to ignore the hunger of gaining the ‘number’ of followers and instead focus on increasing the engagement of the audience.
Do you just want to entertain users and create buzz? Or do you want to concentrate on the sales of your products and services online? Or you just want to be an online informative news agency? There are different platforms for all these different objectives which need to be studied and evaluated carefully.
4) Research and learn about the chosen social media platforms:
Now that you have selected your best suited social media platforms, make sure you learn each and everything about them. Each social media platform has their own pros and cons and understanding them would only help you to make the best use of them. Study the engagement of your posts with reference to the time, duration and the gap between your posts. Research the type and genre of content that is being published on those platforms and create content accordingly.
For example, jewelry or a cosmetics store wouldn’t get as much of engagement on Facebook or LinkedIn as it would get on Instagram. Want to show-off and sell some fancy products, go to Instagram. Want to contact and engage with the audience personally, go to Facebook. Want to get in touch with other businesses and agencies, go to LinkedIn and Twitter. Learn, adapt, execute!
5) Stick to your audience:
The most important factor that could make or break your business online is your engagement with the audience. Once you create an awareness of your social media presence, your primary objective should be the interaction with your audience. Post quality content consistently to let your audience know that you’re there 24/7. See what kind of content they are interested in and target accordingly. Unlike the ‘number’ of followers, increasing the rate of engagement with your audience, in turn, would increase the chances of them turning into potential customers.
There is never a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ social media platform for any business. In the end, it’s all about being who you are online. The “perfect” social media platforms don’t exist, you got to create one. Keep trying and experimenting with different strategies. If one thing doesn’t work, try another. Don’t forget to keep your content authentic and never stop providing value to the users.
So now you know what’s the drill for deciding the best social media platform for your business, don’t you?
Author’s Bio
Mudabbira Khan is an English Hons. Graduate. She is a passionate about writing and blogging and currently working as contributing editor at TheArticle.in.
Hi,
This is nice post for best social media platform and having great explanation here and thanks a lot for sharing with us.
Good to see you social media post and thanks a lot fro sharing with us .