When it comes to choosing the best social media platform for your business, this decision can feel overwhelming as many might assume to try and be on all of them at once. However, this can be a big mistake because unless you have major resources, managing all these channels will be too much for one or two people to handle if you want to effectively grow your channel. Therefore, it is important to determine which platform will best suit your needs.
In this article, we will outline some of the key points regarding Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, Quora, SnapChat, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Facebook: to precisely target your audience
Facebook is suitable for:
1. Companies and brands with a natural capacity to produce emotion (fashion, luxury, sport, healthy…).
2. Companies with assets in terms of videos, visuals and photos that can encourage sharing (media, artists, creators, etc.).
3. Companies capable of sharing knowledge and engaging their audience (leaders, experts, coaches, etc.).
4. Companies using Facebook as a channel to distribute special offers, coupons and contests.
5. B2B service providers and businesses with a budget to use Facebook’s advertising platform to target their audience and push their content.
Your business will not succeed on Facebook if:
1. You relay only internet communication or purely promotional content.
2. You don’t have time to develop a community, to create and publish content regularly.
3. Your company has not defined a clear objective and / or does not know how to calculate ROI.
4. Therefore, you will not release a budget to support your action on Facebook.
Youtube: to transmit knowledge and tell a story
Youtube truly is the future of marketing and is suitable for:
1. Companies and brands capable of visualizing themselves and playing the storytelling card.
2. Companies capable of creating videos that create emotions: make people smile, surprise, move, seduce.
3. B2B service providers and companies capable of producing tutorials to address their customers’ problems.
4. Ecommerces: the video (ex: a product test) is an element that reassures the buyer in his research before purchase.
5. The media, music groups, artists, filmmakers, naturally adapted for video.
Your business will not succeed on Youtube if:
1. You make promotional videos.
2. Only videos that create emotions related to your business or answer your customers’ questions will help you reach your goals.
3. You are looking to make “hits”: without subscribers, it is extremely difficult to create a viral video.
4. You do not keep a regular rhythm of diffusion on the length.
Instagram: to convey emotions through images
Instagram is suitable for:
1. Brands capable of developing storytelling and great visual content.
2. Companies with products that naturally arouse emotions: fashion, travel, sport, sexy…
3. Companies capable of disseminating a maximum of micro-content in the form of photos, motivational quotes, and videos in the form of stories.
4. Brands capable of playing with communication codes on Instagram (stickers, filters, snackable content, light content, entertaining, visually satisfying).
5. Ecommerces capable of creating visual content and using the power of the image to enhance their products.
6. Service providers and businesses on a budget to use the Instagram advertising platform to target their audience.
Your business will not succeed on Instagram if:
1. You do not develop a strong visual brand image combining quality, creativity and storytelling.
2. You don’t use all the levers to get out of the crowd: content, partnerships, influencers, advertising.
Pinterest: to target women & online shoppers
Pinterest is suitable for:
1. Companies with high quality visual content.
2. Companies targeting women in particular: fashion, jewelry, crafts, travel, healthy are the most shared topics on Pinterest.
3. E-commerce with products with intrinsic visual qualities: 70% of pins are linked to purchasing intentions.
4. Service providers and companies capable of transforming their expertise into visual knowledge: infographics, diagrams, graphs, etc.
Your business will not succeed on Pinterest if:
- You don’t have quality visuals and photos
Pinterest can be quite complex which is why some outsource their work to an agency.
Linkedin: to reach companies
Linkedin is suitable for:
1. Companies selling know-how and expertise: service providers, consulting firms, agencies, etc.
2. Experts, coaches, leaders capable of distilling advice and storytelling around their know-how.
3. Salespeople looking to prospect potential customers in a professional context.
4. Recruitment firms wishing to connect with profiles and skills.
Your business will not succeed on Linkedin if:
1. You do not formalize your approach on Linkedin.
2. So if you sprinkle your actions without a clear strategy whose results are quantifiable.
Related: LinkedIn’s New Retargeting Options
Twitter: to reach influencers
Twitter is suitable for:
1. Companies and brands with a natural ability to convey emotion (fashion, luxury sport, healthy, etc.).
2. Companies and media with assets in terms of photos, visuals and videos to share.
3. Freelancers, agencies and consulting firms wishing to demonstrate their expertise and know-how.
4. Companies wishing to connect with influencers in their field (journalists, experts, bloggers, etc.).
5. The platform is also great if you want to try and connect with major celebrities and get them involved with your organization.
Your business will not succeed on Twitter if:
1. Your business does not turn into a creator of content capable of engaging your target audience.
2. You are not present daily to keep your account active.
3. You do not put the necessary resources in time and budget from the start to emerge from the masses.
Quora: to share your expertise
Quora is suitable for:
1. Companies selling know-how and expertise: service providers, consulting firms, agencies, etc.
2. Experts, coaches, leaders capable of disseminating precise advice and responses.
Your business will not succeed on Quora if:
1. You do not bring maximum value in each of your answers.
2. You don’t produce enough responses every month.
Related: Quora launches new Public Data program
Snapchat: to communicate directly with your customers
Snapchat is suitable for:
1. Companies and brands wishing to connect to a young population under 25 years of age.
2. Companies capable of disseminating a maximum of micro-content in the form of photos and videos in the form of stories.
3. Brands capable of playing with communication codes on Snapchat (stickers, filters, snackable content) and offering added value through this content: light or entertaining content, special offers, dives into live events, videos showing the ‘back of the sets (of a shoot, a factory, a parade…).
Your business will not succeed on Snapchat if:
1. You do not really add value to your subscribers and do not create an appointment.
2. You are not implementing a strategy to quickly increase the number of your subscribers.
TikTok: to communicate in video + music
TikTok is suitable for:
1. Companies and brands wishing to connect with a young population under 25 years of age.
2. Ecommerces capable of logically integrating their products with video + music content.
3. Experts whose expertise is visual and audio: fitness, dance, art, cooking…
Your business will not succeed on TikTok if:
1. You cannot connect your business with the uses of the platform: you will not sell music banking products.
Summary
Choosing the right social media platform is not going to be easy. But, if you are specific with your goals and prioritize them effectively, then it will become quickly apprant which one is the appropriate one to start with.
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