How to choose the right social media channels for your business
The modern world is all about connecting with people. With social media, you have the opportunity to connect with customers, prospective customers, and other people who could be interested in your business. Which social media channels are right for your business? Which ones give you the greatest return on investment? How do you decide where to focus your time? These are some of the questions that businesses face when trying to decide which channels are worth their time and energy—and which channels aren’t worth it at all.
We’re going to take a deeper look at what’s available, so you have the information you need to decide what’s right for your business.
Choosing between Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google and TikTok
There are many options when it comes to choosing which platform you should be investing in. While your personal preference will play a large role in that decision, there are several other factors you'll want to consider as well. For example, which platforms will best fit with your existing content? And if you're looking to drive traffic or conversions, make sure each of those platforms offers all of those opportunities (yes - they do!). This guide walks through all of these considerations and more.
Pros
Facebook’s advertising platform is a great way to reach a large number of prospects. Facebook lets you target users by geography, demographic information, interest and pages they like—all on an extremely granular level. You can target users who live in a specific region, within a certain radius of your business location and even on streets where they live. This targeting feature allows you to design ads that will only be seen by those most likely to convert into customers. The great thing about using Facebook Ads is it's pretty intuitive once you get it up and running.
Cons
It can be expensive. According to a survey conducted by Social Media Examiner, Facebook is considered a slightly better option than LinkedIn (and a lot less expensive). However, they found that Facebook still had a high cost of entry, especially for certain objectives. On top of this, you will be needing to spend a lot of time developing content for ads and long-term engagement plus the setting up of the ad campaigns themselves. Ultimately, you’ll have to weigh whether or not the above benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
A word on Instagram
Did you know that Instagram ads are run out of the Facebook Ads Manager platform? Instagram is easily one of the most popular platforms, has a huge community, and may be especially effective if you’re looking to attract new customers. It’s also relatively inexpensive. Instagram Ads are available for anyone with an Instagram account but cost only 1-2 cents per engagement (that’s a like or a comment). That means you could pay as little as $5 or $10 to get someone’s attention if they weren’t already familiar with your brand. And don't underestimate time—potential customers spend 2x longer on Instagram than other platforms. This makes it one of the best places to build brand recognition by getting people to notice you over and over again across different posts.
Pros
The world’s largest professional networking platform is also arguably one of its most valuable social networks, at least from a marketing perspective. In addition to its ability to drive traffic and conversions from prospective customers, LinkedIn Ads offers small-business owners a powerful opportunity for lead generation. Beyond paying per click or impressions, LinkedIn Ads lets you set a budget and target specific geographies, demographics and interests—all while segmenting by industry, job titles, functions and more, features the likes of Facebook don't offer, at least not to the same level of detail.
Cons
LinkedIn has recently made it’s ads platform much more intuitive, which is awesome. However, it’s still difficult to learn how to create successful campaigns quickly. It can be frustrating and time-consuming at first, but after you get it down it becomes easier every time. For that reason, LinkedIn is not a great place to start if you don’t have any experience using Facebook Ads or Google Adwords; there are so many similarities between them that starting on one makes understanding all of them easier than learning each platform individually. One last note, LinkedIn ads are typically a lot more expensive than those on Facebook or Google and thus may be avoided if you're on a tight budget looking for maximum impact.
Pros
Google ads are an incredibly effective way to advertise online. You can get inexpensive clicks through Google's search-engine marketing (SEM), and get visitors from other sites by advertising on Google's AdSense network. The search engine giant also has a popular display-advertising platform that is perfect for brand advertisers. Additional features include Google Shopping which will target customers while they're shopping online. The interface is detailed and caters to every need —and thanks to its targeting abilities, it offers a lot of opportunities.
Cons
Google Ads is one of many powerful online advertising platforms. Unfortunately, it’s not always an ideal solution for small businesses because it’s rather complex and requires a lot of set-up time. It does offer many flexible options when it comes to targeting your desired audience—just make sure you know how best to use them before diving in. If you are looking for some guidance on how Google Ads work, there are plenty of resources available online.
TikTok
Pros
TikTok is very popular among young users, especially those who haven’t yet developed loyalty to other apps. The app’s minimalist interface is attractive and easy to use. TikTok specializes in short-form video, so it works well for audiences who value brevity or even who are uninterested in consuming long-form content online. After posting videos, many brands have found success hosting live Q&As with fans on TikTok where they can connect with them directly.
Cons
TikTok can be extremely time-consuming and isn’t meant for one-off uploads or stories; you need consistency to really reach people. Like most things, more views on TikTok come from more followers. And of course, gaining new followers can be slow work if you don’t already have an established presence on social media.
Choosing the Right Tools
Whether you’re an established brand or just getting started, you need to know where you should be posting. The reality is that no one channel has universal appeal—you’ll have to do some research on your target market, and then try out a variety of different platforms.
What you should be posting
Posting too much of anything will eventually wear on even your most loyal followers. That said, it’s important to find a balance between posting at regular intervals and keeping your content fresh. A great rule of thumb is once per day, five days a week. This may vary by industry though; if you run a B2B company, posting more than once or twice per day might be acceptable.
Need further help?
At the Attention Agency, we offer a full suite of services across all of the named channels and more. Need help with your strategy, implementation, and optimisation, or perhaps you need someone to help you tell your story through thoughtfully crafted content. That can be us, feel free to contact us here and we will be in touch to help.