So you’ve decided to start social media marketing?
Here’s how we go about picking the right media!
Overview of Social Media Platforms
Different platforms have varying features and formats. They also have different audiences which are used to different content and norms.
Naturally, different types of businesses use different networks.
Here are some mainstream social media platforms to explore:
Facebook is great for reaching lots of people as it’s the most popular platform overall. It mainly consists of lots of blog posts and photos.
Don’t be fooled by what teenagers say! It turns out that older folks (aged 60+) are only a tiny portion of Facebook users.
Half of all Facebook users are 25-45. Facebook is a bit more popular with men, being 55% men and 45% women.
It’s recommended that you post quite regularly on Facebook. Try to make it once per workday.
Facebook is popular with businesses centered around retail, consumer goods, finance, and technology.
Pinterest presents the user with visual inspiration. It’s mostly used for discovering food, DIY, fashion, and home decor and is very popular with artsy crafty folks (middle-aged women).
It’s mostly used by young and middle-aged adults. As we mentioned, a huge portion of Pinterest users are women.
Don’t be afraid to create a lot of posts on Pinterest. More than one a day is recommended.
Pinterest’s new feature, Pinterest Trends, helps businesses understand trending topics and tailor their content strategy accordingly.
Here, users can only share photos and videos. Consider Instagram if you intend to use beautiful visuals to entertain, engage, and spread your content. You’ll have to wow.
Instagram is mainstream for Gen Z and millennials. 75% of millennials have an active account.
It’s also popular in Western Europe, the U.S., and India.
Videos on Instagram are becoming increasingly popular, especially Instagram Reels. Plain old text posts are also picking up in usage.
Instagram also added a new feature allowing businesses to tag products to their posts.
Posting on this network does not have to be very frequent. Around 4 times a week will suffice.
If your business is fashion, travel, food, or art-centered, try Instagram!
X (Formerly Twitter)
A great platform for more personalized interactions with users. Most posts are informative (news or comments), but there are also trends and humor.
It’s mostly used by young adults, as over half of the users are under 35. There are also many more male X users.
X recently introduced X Spaces, an audio chat feature. Businesses are leveraging it for live Q&A sessions and real-time customer feedback.
You must post often if you intend to use X! The minimum is once a day but try and aim for 3.
Industries that commonly use X for marketing are news, media, technology, and finance.
YouTube
YouTube has a wide range of video content. You can find videos from tutorials to challenges to unboxing, it’s all here! Videos on YouTube can be long or short-form.
YouTube watchers are incredibly diverse. It’s a bit more popular with young people, but a substantial amount of people in their 40s or 60s use YouTube as well.
Some YouTube watchers would expect in-depth content like tutorials or guides. Optimize with relevant keywords and organize with playlists for easy navigation.
To ensure that your content is high quality and refined, post one video a week.
Alternatively, create entertaining shorts, mostly for younger people. These are becoming increasingly popular. Recently, there has been explosive growth in trends like ASMR videos and faceless channels.
YouTube Shorts are easier to make, try posting these every day or every other day.
Use YouTube if your business is about tech, gaming, entertainment, or art.
Reddit is the Wild West of forums. It is used to discuss and vote on posts and issues. You can find lots of jokes, news, fun facts, and gaming content.
It’s very popular in the USA and twice as popular with men than with women.
Reddit is most common among 18-30-year-olds and gets less so with age.
Posting on Reddit doesn’t have to be very frequent, every other day should do.
Use Reddit to market technology, gaming, entertainment, or finance.
As the most professional social media platform, it’s great for global and business-to-business marketing and networking. LinkedIn is incredibly popular for everything job-offer-related.
It’s common among people with higher education and high-tech workers.
Over 50% of Americans with a bachelor’s degree use it.
LinkedIn is used primarily by middle-aged people (30-50).
LinkedIn’s latest feature, LinkedIn Stories, allows businesses to share behind-the-scenes content. It helps businesses improve brand transparency and trust.
The network is mostly used by high-tech and finance companies. These companies usually post 4-5 times a week when using LinkedIn.
TikTok
Features short, catchy, and addictive videos. A large chunk of the content is music, dancing or lip-syncing. There are also jokes and DIY and challenge videos. Don’t expect anything too serious or professional.
TikTok is popular with younger generations. Half of TikTok users are aged under 30. It is slightly more popular with women than with men.
TikTok became popular with kids because of its short video format. 10-19-year-olds spend two hours on average on the app per day.
When posting, prioritize spontaneity and authenticity. Engage with trends and use native editing tools for distinctiveness in videos up to 3 minutes, ideal for creative storytelling.
Businesses that use TikTok post pretty often. Try somewhere between every day to a couple of times per day.
Consider TikTok if you intend to market fashion, beauty, or travel.
To Sum Up
| Platform | Format | Content | Audience | Posting Norms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humor, Lifestyle | Varied | Middle-aged | Everyday | |
| Photos, videos | DIY, art, home decor, fashion | Mostly women | At least once per day | |
| Photos and Videos | Humor, lifestyle | Gen Z, millennials | 4 per week | |
| X | Text, images, videos | News, commentary, humor | Under 35 | 1-3 per day |
| YouTube | Long and short videos | Guides and tutorials, | Balanced | 1/3 per week |
| Discussions | Varied | Gen Z | 3 per week | |
| Informative posts | Usually job-related | Middle Aged | 4-5 per week | |
| TikTok | Short music videos | Dancing, lip-syncing, humor | Gen Z, millennials | Everyday |
How Many Platforms Should You Pick?
Tempted to be everywhere? Don’t. Spreading yourself too thin by posting to ten platforms is a recipe for a social media disaster.
This is because every new platform that you add is a new commitment. Continuously running a single social media account takes at least an hour a day. Are you sure you can allocate these resources?
Also, for some platforms, your product is just completely irrelevant. The audience of some social networks might have nothing to do with what you are offering. This results in a waste of resources and in what is called a “dead account”. If an account is dead, just delete it.
Effective social media marketing strategies for small businesses make a presence in a niche space using very few platforms.
Select a few, or even just one platform, and tailor yourself to that audience.
Measuring Success
Understanding the impact of your social media marketing is essential for refining and improving your strategy.
Measure success through key performance indicators (KPIs), these include:
- View count: Tracks the total number of views to gauge initial interest and reach.
- Engagement rate: Measures interactions (likes, shares, comments, and replays) to assess how compelling your content is.
- Watch time: Evaluate how long viewers watch your video, indicating the effectiveness of your content in maintaining audience interest.
- Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of viewers who click on links provided in the video content, which helps measure conversion-driven objectives.
- Conversion rate: Specifically tracks how many viewers took a desired action, such as signing up or making a purchase, directly related to the video.
You can then make decisions to enhance your content.
For instance, optimize posting time, improve content quality, and tailor calls to action.
Takeaways
Different platforms are known for different types of content.
Platforms have different audiences and features that companies take advantage of.
Don’t try and please everyone by posting to too many platforms, stick to a few and create an audience there. Focus your resources on that platform and post as much as needed.
Measure your effectiveness using KPIs and adjust your strategy accordingly.
What’s next? Master a successful SMM strategy!
