Which social media platforms are right for your business?

There are a lot of social media platforms out there, from classics like Twitter and Facebook to relatively new websites such as Snapchat and TikTok.

It seems there is a place for everyone, whatever their passions.

There are millions of people who spend time on social media platforms, socialising with people across the world, meeting their new best friends or making new business contacts.

Meeting future clients, readers or viewers directly has become much simpler with the recent boom of online activity. Despite a great source of traffic at our fingertips, overnight success is not exactly a regular occurrence. Establishing popular social media accounts takes time, effort and personality.

Having hundreds of social media platforms is a great opportunity for budding entrepreneurs, however, as stated in our article named “Building a cutting edge social media marketing strategy”, a common mistake is to create profiles for any platform you can think of.

It will eat up any time having to maintain too many social media accounts.

If you own a small business, start with two or three social media profiles, when your business and staff grow you can think about expanding your online presence.

Choosing the correct platform comes down to two things, what type of business you run and the audience you’re trying to connect with.

This might sound simple; however, underestimation of work ahead can be a downfall, especially to the success of your business.

A common mistake with new or old businesses is blind social media posts, holding onto the expectation that a few online interactions are enough and your audience will find you. This can be true if you already have a large following, have a famous relative or have recently starred in a reality television show. Which is unlikely if you are reading this article or starting from the ground up.

If you are planning to target a younger generation then it would be advisable to set up a Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube Channel.

If you are targeting an older generation then Facebook, Twitter and YouTube make a good mixture of social media profiles.

If you are targeting business customers then LinkedIn is a must.

Here is a little tip: why not go check out your competitors and see what social media profiles they are using? You can even visit their social media pages and examine the content they are posting. Why do all the heavy lifting when someone else has already done the hard work for you!

I do not like to add links to my website going to my social media profiles. My goal is to drive traffic from social media to my website so what sense is there is linking out of my website? However, it is also a good idea to add sharing tools to your website. Why not give addthis.com a try?

Simply contact your web designers and ask them to set up social sharing on your website which can help boost your social media presence.

If you are looking for more useful social media tips then why not check out the awesome infographic created by Slide Genius below?

(Click to enlarge infographic)

Article created by: DCP Web Design London