There is a seemingly endless number of social media platforms in use around the world, many of which cater to specific regions, ideas and needs.
Even just among the top five or six, you can find varying groups of people, types and styles of content, and ways of communicating. This can be complicated if you are trying to determine which social media platform best suits your brand.
Here we will take a look at how you can approach the different social media platforms to help you decide which the right one is for you…
Table of Contents
Know the different platforms
The first step in determining which social media platform is best suited to you is to know the options available. You need to consider the businesses or people that use it and when, the best times to post content, how you can engage with your audience, and so on. Here is a snapshot of some of the biggest platforms out there so you can get an idea of which may be right for your brand:
With billions of users each month, and hundreds of millions each and every day, Facebook is firmly in the lead for the largest social media platform. More people can mean more leads, but only if your target audience is actually among its many users (and you position your marketing message accordingly).
YouTube
YouTube is the largest platform for video content, with almost as many monthly users as Facebook. It is not as good for written content or pictures, though ads that are shown here can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.
LinkedIn is number 1 for business to business (B2B) communications and marketing. You cannot beat this platform if you are looking to build relationships and build brand awareness among other businesses. It is less popular among the younger generation than other platforms, but is the top choice for professionals with a focus on B2B.
This platform has nearly 1 billion monthly users, and is popular across a number of age brackets as a fantastic place to share photos, videos and interests.
TikTok
Relatively new as a hugely popular social media platform, the short-form content and videos you can post here can be shared at an impressive rate. You can also engage with a younger audience of 1 billion monthly users on TikTok.
Know your goals
Now you know a little more about a few of the major platforms, it is time to think about what you are hoping to achieve. As you can already see, this can play a massive role in selecting your social media platform. If you are looking at building B2B relationships, for example, you may decide that LinkedIn is a better choice than TikTok.
You may also use the various platforms to achieve different goals. YouTube may be an excellent choice for raising brand awareness, while Facebook may give you a better chance to communicate with your customers. Your social media marketing agency in Dubai can help you define these goals, and decide where best to try and achieve them.
Know your target audience
As well as knowing what it is that you want to achieve, you also need to know your audience. There is no point putting in time and effort into an Instagram presence when your audience mainly uses LinkedIn, and vice versa. Try and get as specific as you can, and remember, you can utilise more than one social media platform to reach your target customers.
You will often find that there is no one social media platform that fits all situations. You may well need multiple presences across several platforms for the best chance of growing your business. If that seems a little intimidating, consider hiring a social media marketing agency to do it for you.