Which Social Media Platforms Should You Use

Posted 23.02.2017

By Lorna Burrows

More and more businesses are understanding the importance of using social media. However, social media can be extremely time-consuming so it’s important to know which platforms are going to be most effective in achieving your goals.

Social media strategy

First, have you got a strategy?

  • Do you know enough about your audience to know which platforms they are using?
  • Do you know how much time you can dedicate to social media?
  • Do you know what you want to get out of using social media?

These are all questions you must answer before you can decide which platforms to use and how many to use.

Most popular social media platforms

Here are the most popular social media platforms and some of their uses:

Facebook is best used as a way to increase brand awareness and provide customer service rather than selling directly to your client base.

If you are a B2B business, Facebook is very unlikely to be your best option. However, it is still important to have some sort of presence on the platform as it gives your business credibility. It is also a good tool for recruitment purposes as you can show your personality on this platform.

Twitter is a great way to build relationships with your target market. You can find individuals in your demographic using the advanced search tool and start conversations with them. For this reason, Twitter is a great tool for B2B businesses as you can target the decision-makers within the industry you sell to.

Instagram is fantastic for visual people. If you can take or produce fantastic images then Instagram is for you! It’s a great way to let your client base into your company’s culture and show off your products/services with the use of great imagery.

LinkedIn is the “professional” Facebook. You can set up company pages on LinkedIn, however, using your own profile to network and build relationships is the most effective way of gaining leads on this platform. Writing blogs for the platform and sharing industry news is a great way to build your reputation as an expert in your field and build trust with prospective clients.

YouTube is a great tool for every business if you have the resources to create good-quality videos. There have been multiple findings which suggest people prefer learning about a product from a video as opposed to reading product descriptions. Find out all the ways you can use videos online with this blog written for us by Future Proof Films.

Pinterest is a bookmarking tool – it is not to be confused with a platform like Instagram which is purely visual.

If you have a blog on your website that is updated frequently, Pinterest is a great tool to share this content. Infographics work extremely well on Pinterest so if you have the resource, create an infographic to supplement your blog.

Some Social Media Statistics

Business statistics:

Video Statistics:

User Bases (as of 2016):

Source: Brandwatch

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