Social media marketing is part of running a business, from a small business owner starting up to a big corporation.
For non-tech-savvy small business owners, social media marketing can be a bit overwhelming. Let’s face it, from making the decision to start a business doing what you love, suddenly, you are a wearer of many hats dealing with all things involved in running a business.
Should I be on all social media platforms?
Well, the short answer is no; however, I would suggest that you have a profile set up on the main social platforms. Why? So that you have your business username secured on these platforms. Even though you may not have any intention of using Instagram or Twitter, having a profile set up means that should someone search for you on that platform, they will find you, and you can direct them to where you are hanging out.
Which social media platform should I use for my business?
This really depends on who your ideal clients are and what your goals and purpose are for being on the platform. For many, when you talk about social media, the first platform you think about is Facebook, and that is mainly because there are over 2.5 billion monthly users there.
Creating a business page on Facebook is easy to do, and Facebook provides straightforward steps to follow. Once set up, you are ready to start creating content that will be useful for your audience. Facebook has many different post formats that you can choose from, such as uploading an image or a video, going live, and creating text-only posts using a coloured background post (depending on the number of characters).
Instagram has over 1 billion monthly users and is a visual platform, with all posts needing an image or a video. Now owned by Facebook, there are some elements that are now appearing on Facebook, such as stories. Hashtags play a bigger part on Instagram than they do on Facebook, and you should consider relevant hashtags for your posts.
For many, Twitter is not as popular as Facebook and Instagram. However, with 206 million daily active users, it does have its place. Twitter is mainly used for real-time and live updates, which it does really well. Like Instagram, the use of hashtags works well on posts.
Seen by many as a corporate social platform, LinkedIn has adapted a few of the features from other platforms. LinkedIn is popular for making business connections and collaborations. You can create a business page and use it to post updates, similar to Facebook.
Pinterest is more of a search engine than a social platform. It is popular for finding ideas and inspiration for recipes, homes and gardens, fashion, and beauty.
TikTok
Launched in 2018, TikTok is used for creating and sharing short videos. It is a good way for users to express themselves through beauty, hair, and fashion, as well as singing, dancing, lip-syncing and funny videos.
There are other social platforms such as YouTube, Snapchat and Clubhouse which you may want to consider using.
Choosing the right social media platform for your business
It is important to consider what your goals are for being on social media, and knowing who and where your audience is.
If you are new to social media marketing, then pick one main platform to focus on and do well. Social media marketing takes time and effort. You can incorporate additional platforms later but there is no point in spreading yourself too thinly across all platforms.
