Social media is an extensive web that only continues to grow. With new social media platforms popping up regularly, it can be difficult for a business to keep up. Thus, making it overwhelming to someone looking to grow their business through social media marketing. You’re here likely for the sole reason that you want to create this presence, and you might be wondering, “Should my company be present on all social media platforms?”
In general terms, the answer is yes. It’s important that you explore all social media platforms to find what is best for your business. The reality of the situation is, as a business, you need to consider being present on all of the major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Considering your target audience and social media objectives, you’ll be able to narrow down what major social media platforms are best for your business.
While it might be tempting to update each of your platforms every day, that isn’t necessary. Just because you have an account on all the major platforms doesn’t mean that you have to dedicate all your time and energy to maintaining an equal presence on each of them.
We know that it can be challenging to understand where to begin; for this reason, we’ve included common Q&As that will help guide you to be more successful on social media.
- What is your goal for using social media?
Aligning your social media campaigns with company goals can be difficult to decipher and execute. That is because there isn’t a definitive answer for what your social media objectives need to be.
Begin by thinking about the broad objectives. What is the reason your business is active on social media in the first place? After answering this question, you can create an original plan for each of your social media platforms.
Now that you’re in the position to begin creating, consider making a social media content calendar to schedule the media you’ll be posting on the platforms you have decided the best fit for your business.
Keep in mind that your primary goals will probably be to increase your brand awareness, hold your company accountable, effective social customer service, and build a community around your business.
Additionally, using a content marketing strategy to nurture your needs through the buyers funnel can be made easier to understand through a previous blog post, Using Content Marketing to Reach Your Audience,
- Do you have to be present on all social media platforms to be successful?
Each platform is different for two reasons. The way you use it, and the demographics that are known to be on that specific platform. While it isn’t necessary to be present on each platform, you have to acknowledge that you could be missing the opportunity to appeal to a potential customer base by neglecting a presence on any of the major media. Remember that not every platform is a good fit for every business; it ultimately depends on where the customer is most likely to be present.
- Does the same type of content work for all channels?
It’s not that you can’t, but because all social media platforms are so different, you’re likely not going to be sharing the same content across all platforms. The topic may be the same. However, the messaging should reflect the audience on each channel.
On each platform there’s something to remember that is extremely important when posting content and that is; the difference between the display on your personal newsfeed and the newsfeed of a user. Dimensions are key to making sure the content you’re posting attracts more viewers.
Facebook:
The recommended image dimensions for Facebook is an upload size of 1,200 x 630 pixels.
Instagram:
Instagram allows for one to post either rectangular or square images when uploading but keep in mind that when looking at a personal profile, it’s all squares. For this reason it’s easier to simply upload a square image size of 612 x 612 pixels.
Twitter:
Twitter allows for multiple image sizes making it more difficult to decide what is best. When generating content for Twitter it’s best that you keep it at one recommended standard size of 1200 x 675 pixels.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn provides a business the opportunity to grow a professional image, making the literal images you post a crucial part of the process to looking professional. If and when you plan to share an image on LinkedIn be certain you’re posting the recommended image size of 1200 x 627 pixels.
Remember, posting on social media doesn’t have to be time-consuming and stressful. Over time, you’ll monitor analytics to understand better what platform is best for you and your business. It’s important that you take time to do this — in the long run, it will save you even more time. Be patient, embrace trial and error processes to produce content that will better target your audience for each platform. You might find that you have very different audiences on each platform.
- Recommendations on what content is best for each platform.
Check out our previous blog, which provides examples of some of the best types of content for each social media platform for building product manufacturers.
Facebook:
Facebook is the most popular and widely used social media platform. It attracts all age demographics. Every type of content is posted on Facebook, but the content that is most interacted with are short videos, blog posts, and curated content. Curated content is content that has been created by someone else that would appeal to your audience and is worthy of sharing. For this content to be successful, it has to be educationally entertaining.
Instagram:
This platform is widely known as highly visual; it’s a photo and video-sharing social network that attracts an audience aged between 25-35. High-resolution images and videos, along with the newer features, stories, and reels, are most important to focus on when planning your posts for this platform. Everything is about the aesthetic, so it’s important to establish your branding along the lines of being aesthetically pleasing. In the design and construction industry it’s common that content presenting visually pleasing before and after images, videos, and timelapses of renovations are most appealing to trade audiences. These before and afters can be presented in multiple ways. Either through longer format videos such as IGTV and reels, or Instagram stories that provide a sense of live action. Video content is the most valued since it is the most entertaining and easiest to consume.
Twitter:
This micro-blogging platform is commonly used by people who are voicing opinions through short messages, which are known as tweets. The best content for a business to post on Twitter includes news about your company and blog posts. The primary user of Twitter is middle-aged and likely goes to the platform for updates or customer service inquiries.
LinkedIn:
This platform is the world-wide hub for professional connections. Often users go to the platform to find the right job, internship and connect with colleagues to strengthen their overall professional relationship to succeed in their career. The obvious answer here is that LinkedIn users value professional content and company news the most.
If you’re looking to gain exposure online, you’re certainly in the right place. Doing thorough research is important. Especially when it comes to successfully targeting your audience. Creating a social media presence for your business provides your business the opportunity to connect on a world-wide level, leaving you with endless possibilities for brand exposure. By confirming the goals you want to achieve through social media marketing, you’ll be able to choose the right platform for your business and create the type of content that will be the most successful for your audience.
Ready to develop a successful and strategic social media strategy? Contact our team of digital marketing specialists today!