Choosing the Right Social Media Platform for Your Business

Published on: May 3, 2023
With so many social media platforms to choose from, each with its own unique audience and features, finding the right one to invest in can be overwhelming. That's where careful research and strategic planning come in. The truth is, just because a platform is popular doesn’t mean it’s where your company should be engaging, and you don't need to be on every social media platform to see results. By strategically selecting the right platform for your business, you can maximize your marketing efforts and achieve greater success in reaching your target audience.
Determine the who
To effectively reach and engage your audience, determine who your target audience is and where they are interacting. This includes understanding both your current and ideal audience. Additionally, researching where your competitors are engaging can provide insight into what platforms may be useful for your own strategy. But pay attention to whether customers are actually engaging with them on those platforms. Evaluating what’s working for your competitors and what’s not will help you avoid potential pitfalls and capitalize on successful tactics.
Establish the why
It's important to identify the message you want to convey and what goals you hope to achieve through social media. Are you trying to sell a product or service? Do you want to generate leads or increase brand awareness? Or are you looking to fill an open position or communicate with customers? By understanding the purpose behind your social media strategy, you can determine which platform is more tailored to your company and can better achieve your marketing goals. This will also create more consistency in your branding across the social media channels you choose as this affects what you post.
Learn the what
Consider your team's capabilities when choosing which platforms to focus on. If your team lacks the resources necessary to produce creative content and track trends, then platforms that require detailed video content may not be ideal since creators often commit a lot of time to making trendy videos that are engaging. Learning what kind of content you should post involves tracking common trends and types of content on each platform, and then marrying your marketing goals to them. It’s helpful to follow successful accounts with similar goals to see how they’re engaging with their audience, and to see how their content differs from channel to channel.
Break it Down
LinkedIn has become the cornerstone of professional networking and lead generation, especially in B2B. This platform allows you to leverage your business connections to both fulfill company needs and provide solutions to others’.
For better or worse, Twitter is now relied on as a trusted news source for many users. It’s also one of the largest hubs for conversation on just about any topic.
TikTok
TikTok is among the newest and fastest-growing platforms. With engaging videos and a fast-paced scrolling method, this social media channel is meant to quickly grab the attention of your audience in an exciting and creative way. Failing to do so means you could get swiped past without hesitation.
YouTube
Tried and true – YouTube has been a reliable platform for all forms of video content. Most DIYers know they can come here and find a how-to on anything from making to building to fixing. Nowadays, B2B companies can leverage this niche audience and post content that goes into more detail than some of the other platforms allow time (or attention) for.
Instagram originally gained popularity for its lifestyle-focused content. However, as its abilities and audience have grown, B2B companies have achieved brand recognition and engagement with the right approach. Instagram has since capitalized on marketing interests and created a variety of in-app business tools.
Facebook has lost some interest from younger audiences over the years as they’ve shifted to platforms like Instagram and TikTok, but it remains the main form of communication and community building for many looking to connect – whether to people or businesses.
Conclusion
The business approach to social media should be to become a chameleon. You want to blend in with the popular content and trends, while subtly advertising for your brand. Post content that is creative and engaging while still getting your marketing goals across, and users may be surprised to find that what they're seeing is actually an ad. They might even start following you simply for the entertainment you have to offer – which keeps you top of mind and at the top of the newsfeed.
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