What social media channel is best for your business?

We can’t underestimate the power of social media today – especially when there are hundreds of social media platforms at our disposal. In almost all areas of life, each social media channel plays a vital role in expanding how we communicate with each other, and even how we share information. No industry or business nowadays is immune to the impact of social media and many are making use of different social media channels to achieve their own goals in a much easier and faster ways.

So if you’ve just started your business, or even if you’ve been around for a while, you’ll want to use your time and resources effectively and use those social media channels that will connect you with your target audience. This way, you are able to market directly to those people that might be your potential clients and to those that matters most to your business.

What you might have some difficulty with, is that you have to determine which among the social media channels is best for your business based upon your target market. To help you along, we have taken some of the well known social media channels below and outlined how they might be used in your business. Take the time to think of what channel could be the most useful to you:

1. Facebook – this is far and away the most popular social media channel (outside of Youtube). It has more than 15 million users just in Australia alone, with at least half using it on their mobile phones. If you are a retail business (whether online or have a physical shopfront) then I’d highly recommend having a Facebook page as part of your marketing mix.
2. Twitter – can be useful in driving traffic to your website, if you post regular blogs. It can also be useful in live tweeting events and keeping your followers ‘in the know’. Twitter can be great for B2B industries, but make sure you have the time to dedicate to the platform as you do need to post a few times a day to be seen.
3. LinkedIn – this platform is the ‘Facebook’ for the professional world. LinkedIn plays an important role in connecting professionals not only in your own industry, but also can connect you with potential clients, or even referral partners. A word of warning – please don’t spam! If you want to connect with someone, make sure you have a specific reason for connecting with them, and if you do connect, don’t start spamming them with your sales pitch.
4. Instagram – if you have a visual based business, for example, photography, graphic design or food, then this popular photo sharing social media channel could really increase your brand awareness. You can use visual storytelling showcase beautifully crafted photos or videos that demonstrate what you offer, with directly selling your products. This could, for example, be a recipe that include an ingredient you sell.

There are lots of social media platforms you can use. Above are just some of the most popular among them. What you need is to investigate WHERE your target audience is. Meaning, you have to identify if they are fond of using Facebook or Twitter or any other social media channel so you know where to reach them.

Go and discover what channel fits your business best!