When it comes to starting off your marketing plan for your business, one of the main things you will want to make sure to do is choose your social media platforms and which ones you will use to speak to your audience. Social media is a broad term for many different platforms which are used to communicate ideas and connect with others across the world. You can use social media to make a positive connection with your audience and this can really help you to broaden your audience and your business. So how do you choose which platform to use?
Who is your audience?
The first question to need to ask yourself is who is your target audience? You need to have an idea of who you are trying to contact with your work because this will be what allows you to connect and tailor your content to fit in with their likes and their personalities. Think about who you want to project to and the different social media platforms available and it can soon start to become clear who your niche is. For example, if your audience is young women in their twenties, the perfect social media to target them through is Instagram because most of the Instagram user demographic is made up of women this age. Take your time and research the users of different social platforms to see where you are best placing yourself.
What does your business do?
When it comes to your business, you could be doing absolutely anything. You could be offering courses for marketing master online, making your own shoes or even providing a tour guide service across the city. There are endless possibilities for your business and it is when you know what you are offering that your social media choice will make sense. Let’s take those three examples: if you were offering marketing courses and education, you might be better suited to LinkedIn which is a network specifically for business professionals. A shoemaker could advertise on Instagram and on Facebook, giving special deals and giveaways to their audience. And a tour guide company is best suited to Instagram to share travel photos, and to Twitter where everyone is always online and up for a discussion. Your business will definitely affect the social media which works for you.
What type of content will you share?
What kind of content do you honestly see yourself sharing as a business? There are so many ways to share your message and engage with your audience and you need to think about what you can offer them in order to really be as successful as you can be. For example, a tour guide or a travel company can do wonders sharing videos of places to visit and reviewing local areas of interest. A shoemaker might want to share fashion articles and show off influencers who are wearing their creations, and marketing course providers might want to share a blog with marketing tips and tricks. These all lend themselves to different platforms. Video is best in YouTube and Facebook, images are best on Instagram and Pinterest, and articles can be shared on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
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