“I’ve heard Snapchat is good, should I use that?”… “Is Facebook going to work for my business?” … “Would Twitter work better?”
It’s tough but these are genuine questions many first time start-up owners are asking themselves and others around them. I wanted to dive a little deeper to help small business owners understand social media and choosing the “correct” platform. Let’s go…
So, which one should my business be using?
The best way to answer this and the way we respond to our clients is to say this: A combination of social media networks, utilised efficiently, is the best strategy for growth. However, when it comes to choosing which social media platforms fall into this category, that’s up to you.
Don’t worry, I won’t leave you there. Let’s talk a little about how we figure out the “up to you” part.
Try before you buy
We’ve all heard this saying before, right? The same applies to social media. We strongly recommend trying out various social media platforms before you look at putting some serious investment into them (ie promotions, custom graphics etc). This allows you to narrow down which platforms work and which do not, based on the success from each stream. For example, if you are a small café owner and you’re trying out Twitter but you can’t seem to gain followers or you are struggling with engagements (likes, retweets etc), then Twitter may not be the platform for you.
Seriously, marketing involves a lot of trial and error – don’t be afraid to do this. Too many small business owners are afraid to fail on one platform and give up. STAY AHEAD. KEEP GOING.
No overnight success
Sorry… As much as we would like to say that it’ll only take a night to figure out, that’s just not going to happen. These things take time and you need to make sure you give yourself enough time to allow your account to get off the ground. It’s also important to collect data on each platform and constantly analyse why certain things aren’t working and why others are. Collect data from amount of likes on posts, weekly/monthly growth rate and even little things like the quality of the comments. If you do the same tests on each platform, you’ll soon start to see a clear difference on engagements.
But Facebook is essential, right?
Whilst it’s great to be trying out various social media accounts, we always think it’s great nail the big F (Facebook that is). It’s clear it isn’t going anywhere and not to mention, it’s still the largest social media platform to date.
DigitalDinos top tip:
Not getting engagement from Facebook? Try video and livestreaming events – it’s great to meet your target audience and it’s currently blowing UP right now.
Summary
Okay, let’s sum this all up then. No matter the situation, it’s vital for your business to be using social media to engage with your customers. If you do not have the team around you to trial multiple social media accounts at once (and keep them active) then do it in stages – don’t spread yourself too thin (you run a business after all)! We also suggest some of the following tips:
- Make sure you ALWAYS analyse the data behind each social media platform and ask yourself “why?” things are/aren’t working – this will make you understand a little more
- Watch out for trends on the relevant platforms and join in (remember, if it doesn’t work first time round, analyse why and wait for the next trend)
- This isn’t your pitching platform – remain relevant and entertaining for your followers
- ENGAGE, ENGAGE, ENGAGE!!!!
I hope this has shed a little more light on the current hot topic of choosing the “correct” social media platform your business. If you need any further guidance or would like hot top tips, please do engage and I’ll be happy to help 🙂
