Which social media platforms are right for you?

Where is my audience active?

The primary question to ask yourself about social media is where your audience is actually spending time. Which social media platforms are they on?

When answering this question, you have to bear in mind that just because you have followers doesn’t mean that you have an audience. The Next Web reported that between 67.65 and 137.76 million Facebook accounts are fake. Evidently, having a lot of followers doesn’t mean you automatically have a present, engaged audience. For example, there are over 1 billion Google users, but only around 35% of those users are active month-on-month.

However, every minute, people are conducting millions of searches on Google, Twitter, and Facebook. If you are active on these social media platforms, then you have a chance at appearing in social media search results.

When building your online profiles, it’s also worth asking yourself, ‘what would my ideal customer be?’. Create a persona and use that when building your online presence. You can also use the information below to see which sites match your customers:

The big players

Facebook

Facebook is the biggest social media platform, which means that it also has the biggest audience. However, before you use it, it’s worth knowing a few things about the audience, so you know whether it will suit your business and the content you'll want to share on social media:

• 83% of women use the network compared to 75% of men
• 88% of those are 18-29
• Facebook also seems to be the best option for reaching older users on social media when compared to other networks as 62% of users are 65+
• 82% have been educated to college level
• 85% of Facebook’s daily active users come from outside the US and Canada. India, Brazil, and Indonesia have the largest Facebook audiences after the US

With these stats in mind, you could also look at expanding your audience, if it suits you.

Twitter 

Another social platform to consider is the second biggest channel, Twitter - though it does have a different audience to that of Facebook:

• There are a total of 1.3 billion accounts, but only 328 million are active
• 24% of all internet male users use Twitter, whereas 21% of all internet female users do
• 37% of Twitter users are between ages of 18 and 29, while 25% users are 30-49 years old.
• 80% of users view Twitter on their mobile

LinkedIn

Every second, two new people join LinkedIn. Now, with more than 270 million users, LinkedIn is a force to be reckoned with. However, do remember this channel is aimed at businesses and professionals:

• LinkedIn has more than 270 million users
• LinkedIn is the platform for B2B marketing, not B2C marketing.
• LinkedIn proudly touts their user base of professionals. Many of those professionals are connected with companies. 
• As of the third quarter of 2016, LinkedIn had an average of 106.46 million unique visiting members.
• As of the third quarter of 2016, 60% of unique visiting members accessed the online recruiting network via mobile device.
• 3 million LinkedIn users share content on it weekly

So, with Facebook having around 1.71 billion monthly active users and 1.13 billion daily active users, on average, it seems like no matter what sector your business is in, you should be on Facebook. I would also recommend creating a Twitter profile - it’s fast, simple and allows you to get news and updates out into the public domain quickly. You can also ensure your content is seen by exactly the right people thanks to hashtags. Lastly, LinkedIn is the perfect platform for B2B businesses, you can engage with other professionals and also use tools like sponsored InMail to help boost sales. 

Other outlets

In addition to the ‘big four’, there are other social media sites we strongly encourage you to use as well.Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube put the emphasis on visuals and are a great way to bring your business to life, showing that your business has a personality and is approachable. With pictures getting five times higher engagement on Twitter, and photos making up 93% of the most engaging Facebook posts, it’s no wonder these smaller, visual heavy, channels are growing in popularity.

Conclusion

So when it comes to thinking about which social media channels are right for you, have a think about what you want your social media to achieve. If you want to increase sales or awareness with other professionals in your sector, LinkedIn would be perfect. However, if you are more of a B2C business that wants to raise awareness, Facebook and Twitter would be right for you. One thing to remember is that no matter who your target audience is, they need to trust you. As outlined in a previous blog here, social media increases your trustworthiness with consumers, which means that it’s always better to be active on two or more social channels than the one. 

Author: Imogen Dunworth-Warby

Imogen is the social media executive at Ember Television. She's always keen to learn and has wide-ranging experience of working for international clients using different types of media and marketing methods.