Question: I’m a small business, should I be on all social media platforms?
The question should be, do you have time to be on every social media platform? (EEEeePPppp! There are so many social media platforms!)
If you don’t have the time (aka time poor), then you answer is definitely not, if you are going to do social – then it’s best to do one or two platforms well that have several bad looking non-engaged platforms.
Good social media actually takes up more time than you general think. True, you can repurpose content for other channels (and let me tell you it’s best to do this rather than trying to think of something new for each channel!), however all channels are now swamped with posts, image, article etc, it’s best to do the ones you can do well (and have time for).
So, how to decide what social media platform to be on for small business?
I know, the thought of this can be overwhelming as there seems to be a new platform every day!
Firstly, I think you need to ask a few questions to really see if social media is for you:
- What do you really want to get out of it? – is it just to have a presence? Is it to raise awareness of your business or is it simply to be genuine so that people can trust your business as being true (and not a phoenix company)
- Are you considering paid social media advertising – for example on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn
- Where do your customers hang out? – this is the best one to help you decide
Let’s have a closer look at social media channels for small business
First, let delve deeper into each platform to see if it’s a must for you
The world’s biggest platform, if we were going on a population size it would be bigger than every country.
Is it worth it?
Facebook is a must for any small business. Why? Most people will most likely search for you here as they have their own account, with so many people using Facebook (or know people that use Facebook) it’s an instant acceptance.
Facebook is for everyone, younger generations, middle generations and yes, I’m proud to say my parent’s generations (and they are grandparents). The reach of Facebook is much larger than any platform which means you can generate (or dish up exactly) specific advertising to your selected market.
The ability to connect with a vast number of people in the one platform is simply amazing, best of all there’s so many Facebook plugins and integration touch points. It’s the place to be searched and seen.
Instagram is all about the visuals. It’s owned by Facebook and let’s hope that it’s insights (audience demographics and statistics) also improve to be as good as the mothership. It’s quickly becoming the biggest growing social media platform in the recent years. However, should you be on it?
The question you need to ask yourself is – can you create appealing images with your small business? Do you have a visual or physical product that makes lovely photos?
If no, then steer clear. If yes, can you showcase your products or yourself in a great storytelling visual way?
If you want to use this platform and you are a little meh about the above question you may have to think outside the box in a creative way. Show people about your business, what’s behind the logo, things that you agree with or stand for, inject your personality behind your business.
Snapchat
It’s got the most younger demographics of all social platforms (in fact 60% of all users are under the age of 25).
I must admit, even though this has a mainly younger person’s audience although what it does best is allow you to communicate in a way that is most realistic to humans.
Content with this platform doesn’t last long (24hrs!) so you have to be short and snappy and create a sense of urgency if this is the platform for you.
Is it for you?
Ask yourself, where does your audience sit? Is the younger audience you are trying to reach? Can you produce enough content to service this platform?
Twitter has got a bad rap of late, however, I think there’s some value still to be had with this platform.
Twitter is always great for trending topics and news, share short information bites, communicate directly with your audience and search for topics you might share or be interested in.
They are improving to creating their user experience. They have increased their character limit, making it easier to tweet, they have created lists to easily connect with your interest and make changes to be able all types of image, videos or gifs with each tweet.
Is it for you?
It’s easy enough to do, it’s not too time intensive and if you can repurpose content from another platform, so why not!
This is the business professional’s choice of platforms, actually, I think it’s even the oldest platform.
It’s the place where all business minds come together in an official way. The focus of this platform is done in a professional setting.
There’s still the ability to be personal and business-y.
Is it for you?
Perhaps consider if you could use this platform to promote jobs or share career opportunities. You could display what it’s like to work at for you or at your business.
There’s the ability to join groups with like-minded people to showcase your knowledge or engage in other people’s content. Could you become a subject matter expert?
The best type of content for this platform is educational, ebook, and white paper related. Ask yourself, is that you or your business?
This article just outlines a few of the platforms on offer. Remember, social media marketing is about the “Hi! How are you? And creating conversations,” not “this my product/service and you must buy from me”. Don’t be that annoying or arrogant person in a social situation that you meet at a party that you want to turn away from because they are all about them.
The best bit of advice I can give you is to test, measure, then repeat. Try things, and if they don’t work out – try something else!
Catchya later for now!
If you want to know a bit more about me, read who is behind Raasay digital