Do I Really Need To Be On Every Social Media Platform?
Most business owners know that having a brand presence on social media is not optional. If you want to stay competitive and run a successful business, you need to actively engage with a variety of social media platforms.
However, many business owners get overwhelmed by the idea of engaging on every platform out there. New social media sites and apps launch all the time. How is one company supposed to keep up with every social media platform out there?
If you’re looking to market your brand successfully, you might be wondering whether you really need to have a presence on every possible platform. You might also be wondering how deeply you should engage with each platform you use. This blog post will explain the honest answers to both of those questions!
Should I Be On Every Platform?
This might not be the answer you were hoping for, but the answer is “all of the biggest ones.” Your brand must be present on any social media site your customers will likely visit. However, that last part gives you a little bit of wiggle room.
Facebook? Absolutely. Twitter? Of course. Instagram? Definitely. However, your brand might not lend itself to some of the more niche social media platforms. For example, if you’re marketing online courses, legal help, or some other service that’s pretty abstract, it might not be helpful to have a Pinterest account. There’s no good reason to avoid any of the big names in social media, but you should choose the smaller platforms that are appropriate for your company.
Don’t Miss Niche Opportunities
On the flip side, it’s important not to simply stick to the big names (like Facebook and Twitter) and ignore niche platforms that are perfect for your brand. For example, if you’re marketing cooking ingredients for a popular diet, it makes a lot of sense to establish a presence on TikTok. TikTok is known to have a lot of great recipes and cooking demos, so if you ignore it, you’ll be missing out. Likewise, if you own a florist business, you would probably be making a mistake if you didn’t display your masterpieces on Pinterest. Pinterest is uniquely focused on visual appeal. If you’re selling visual art, it’s worth the effort to engage with this platform.
Know Your Customers
Understanding your customers is critical to ensuring you’re on all the right platforms. Start with basic demographics. Are you primarily marketing to middle-aged and older customers? You might need to focus your efforts on Facebook. Are you targeting teens and young adults? TikTok will be especially vital for your success. Looking to attract young professionals? Make sure your brand has a strong presence on LinkedIn.
However, it’s also essential to understand the type of content each social media platform tends to specialize in. How does this content specifically relate to your customers? For example, your brand might be marketing textbooks to college students. It might be worth your time to be on a social media site where college students often get connected with new roommates. At the beginning of a semester, your customers might be looking for both types of content on the same day.
A Cost-Benefit Analysis
Before deciding to establish a presence on a new platform, it’s best to perform a cost-benefit analysis. How much will it cost you to effectively engage with customers on this site and monitor their outreach? Will your marketing team be able to handle it, or will you need to contract with additional employees to make it a success? How will engaging on this platform impact your brand’s bottom line? Some platforms might offer a limited benefit to your brand, but if they’re not worth the time and cost it would take to use them, it’s ok to skip them.
How Deeply Should I Engage?
It’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Most social media users get annoyed by excessive marketing posts. As a basic rule of thumb, more than two posts a day might be too much. Twitter is an exception–Twitter users often expect more frequent posting, so three to five times a day might be acceptable.
It’s not just how often you post but also what you post. Social media users won’t hesitate to unfollow you if your posts aren’t adding value to their lives. Are you posting content that makes your users want to take action? Tracking users’ engagement with your posts through click counts will help answer that question.
Some social media platforms have more potential to be intrusive than others. Facebook users tend to get incredibly impatient with posts that are too frequent. YouTube, on the other hand, doesn’t tend to annoy users as easily.
How Do I Interact With Customers On Social Media?
It’s important to help your customers feel connected with your brand through social media. Don’t just highlight all your product’s great features–your customers want deeper engagement than that. Giving them a behind-the-scenes glimpse into your company is a great strategy. How did you come up with the vision for your brand? What makes your team take pride in your brand? What does your warehouse or office space look like? Customers often love getting answers to these “personal” questions.
You should also be careful not to let customer outreach on social media go unnoticed. If customers are engaging with your posts, they’ll be disappointed if you never respond to them. Especially if customers are commenting on your posts to complain or ask questions, responding effectively is crucial. If you’re not taking the time to interact with your customers, they might see your social media presence as insincere or hypocritical. This doesn’t mean you have to respond to every single comment, but you should have a strategic plan for fielding customer outreach.
Do you have more questions about social media platforms and your brand? Do you need some help making the most of your social media presence? The pros at Personalized Creative can help. Our team of creative, experienced, and highly skilled professionals is ready to help leverage the power of social media for your brand. Contact us today to get started!