Advantages of creating a social media platform presence

Virtual connection has never been easier now that all social media apps are a click of a button away on phones and tablets. Creating a social media presence is key because it removes barriers between you and your customers; the only thing separating you, a business owner, from your consumers, is a screen. There are many social media platforms to choose from, so it can be daunting to pick the right one for your particular brand, and the specific audience you want to reach.

Why does demographic data matter?

Understanding what demographic data is and why it’s so important is the first step in creating a meaningful social media presence. Demographic data is statistical data that is collected to measure and research how well a product or service will do within a consumer segment. It’s usually divided into characteristics like age, gender, and professional or social status.

Social media demographics help your business set up a marketing persona and help you understand your audience in greater detail. Understanding these demographics will allow you to you widen your audience, and target those you want to reach specifically. They also show where you need to focus your marketing efforts and content energy the most.

Which social media platforms should you choose for your business?

Once you’ve identified your target audience, the next thing to consider is which social media platform best suits your brand? Some brands are very visual and lifestyle based, whereas others have a plethora of in-depth case studies ready and waiting to meet their new readership online.

Facebook for business

Facebook is probably the most versatile of the platforms, in the sense that it suits all types of content. Think of it as a way to communicate and engage with your audience. You can post everything from informational and statistical content to a special offer or some light-hearted posts. Because of this versatility, creating an account on Facebook is often a good choice.

Facebook is the best platform for sharing content in the form of external links, or guest posts with images and short text. Facebook groups can also be created as a way to stay in touch with customers and create a line of communication between you as a business owner, and your audience.

Facebook is the perfect platform to promote content from your active blog or to share various resources and guides with your readers.

The Facebook algorithm also loves video content, so you might try sharing some behind the scenes videos using your phone.

Twitter for business

Twitter is best used for snappy, quick, and to the point content. Tweets have a much shorter lifespan as the trending page on Twitter refreshes frequently, so it’s the place for industry news and the latest updates. The 280-character limit means shorter and more precise tweets are what work best for shareable content.

The retweet function means that you can share other pages’ content, as well as your own, and promote their content too. Uploading images and designed content, such as posters or infographics, is popular content on Twitter, and short videos can also capture the attention of someone scrolling through their feed. Twitter popularised the use of hashtags to allow users to follow a particular topic, this can be a brilliant technique to help your brand reach a wider audience.

LinkedIn for business

LinkedIn is great for sharing any changes you are making in your business to adapt to a current trend, or to provide unique industry insights.

LinkedIn is mainly used as a professional platform to share newsworthy or work-related content. As such, it’s a good platform for sharing case study stories and content aimed at the working professional. Give your audience an insight into your company culture and share any networking events or awards ceremonies that you attend.

YouTube for business

YouTube is used to share videos globally and videos can be long or short in length, depending on the desired message and the audience you are trying to reach. For example, younger audiences may have a shorter attention span, and skip over a video that is longer than a few minutes, or you might want to make videos about a topic that needs to be much more in-depth. With just a smartphone, it’s easy to share educational content such as how-to videos, as well as product demonstrations.

You can also use YouTube to host short advertisements that play to users before they watch a video, which is great for marketing content.

Instagram for business

Instagram is best for sharing visual content and eye-catching images, essentially functioning as an online gallery. Short videos can also be uploaded daily on Instagram stories to reach your consumers and create a more personal and relatable feel. With more filters and features being added to Instagram Stories every day, there’s always a new way to interact with customers, like question stickers, polls, and more.

Just like Twitter, remember to use relevant hashtags to boost your presence in your industry. Adding a location to your post, or a geo-tag to your stories, is helpful for local discoverability.

Although Instagram works best for lifestyle and visual brands that can benefit from showing off their products or services, any business can have a successful Instagram presence.

Snapchat for business

Snapchat is great for targeting a younger demographic, given its quick time limit on videos with videos usually being posted for 24 hours before disappearing from the platform.

Snapchat is good for on-the-day promotions or one-time offers, and very relevant and current content. It also works well for brands that have a younger target audience. If you want to expand your reach even further, TikTok has emerged as a new favourite for this demographic for sharing short videos.

Choosing the right social media platform for your business

Now you have the necessary information and the demographic stats for all the relevant social media platforms, here are some final pointers to help you pick the best one for your business:

1. Go to where your audience is – don’t set up a Snapchat account if you’re trying to target 50-year-old professionals and executives.
2. Only pick two or three social media platforms and do them really well – there’s no use in spreading yourself thin across multiple platforms and failing to reach your audience on each one.
3. 3. Check out which platforms your competitors are using – get an extra idea of what content goes where and how your target audience is being reached.