Stop Wasting Time & Money: Know Which Social Media Platforms are Best for Your Business

Most business owners understand the importance of having a social media presence to engage with customers and prospective customers, gather positive reviews, and build not only brand awareness, but fierce brand loyalty. With so many social media platforms out there, you may be unsure of which ones are best for your company and which ones are a waste of your time and money. I wish I could give you a definitive list of the which social media platforms are best for your business, but because this answer varies between companies and industries, there is no one-size-fits-all portfolio of social platforms. However, I can share with you three key questions that will guide you in identifying the best social media platforms for your specific business.

Factors that Influence Which Social Media Platforms Are Best for Your Business

When considering which social media platforms in which your business should invest, there are several factors that should influence your decision. The combination of these factors indicate which mix of social media platforms are best for your business.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

As with every strategic business decision, you must consider your target audience and — more specifically — your buyer personas. Pretend you’re trying to date someone. What do you do? You try to “conveniently” show up wherever the person you’re interested in frequents. The same concept applies to your social media strategy. If your target audience regularly uses a certain social media platform — especially as an information resource — you should probably be there too, waiting for them with a bouquet of red roses. Just kidding. Kind of. Keeping your target audience at the core of your social media strategy helps you effectively allocate resources, such as time and money, where they will bring you the greatest return.

Are My Competitors on This Site?

There’s nothing wrong with taking cues from your competition, especially if they are well-established. Go to your competitors’ websites, and click on the social media icons they have displayed. Do they have a large following? Are people engaging with their content? If yes, then take that as a sign that you should develop a presence on this platform. If they post every day and still only have fifteen followers, maybe your time is better allocated elsewhere. However, this factor is secondary to your target audience. If you know that your target audience is on a certain social media platform and your competitor is not, go ahead and beat your competition to the punch.

How Much Time Do You Have to Invest in Your Social Strategy?

Before you create profiles on every social media site that could potentially drive business, consider how much time you are able to allocate toward this initiative. If you single-handedly run your company, you likely don’t have the time to manage fifteen social profiles — and manage them well, I might add. Always prioritize quality over quantity. Having a presence on three social media sites and posting on them several times a week is much more valuable than having tons of social profiles and never sharing new content on them. On the other hand, if you have a marketing team and employ someone dedicated to managing your social presence, you can be less selective about which platforms in which you choose to invest time.

In our next blog article, we’ll take a look at the ten most popular social media platforms for businesses and discuss which ones your company should be on, based on your industry and target audience.

Olivia Deputy is the Director of Content Marketing at Xponent21. Our company engineers digital experiences that delight, drive revenue, and increase operational efficiency. If you’ve found this article helpful but still need more guidance to determine which social media platforms are best for your business, reach out to us.