Which Social Media Platforms Should You Use for Your Business?
Boosting your presence on social media can help, BUT… Build your brand where it matters most.
What are the best social media platforms for your business?
It’s important to remember the basics of social media and place yourself in the best position for success and relevant, purposeful growth.
With new apps popping up every day, it can be a challenge to figure out which social media platforms will be most valuable for investing your time and money. Should you go all in on the reliables like Instagram and Facebook? Or should you target younger audiences who consistently use Snapchat and TikTok? Which are the best social media platforms in terms of functionality across web and mobile devices?
Questions like these matter to small businesses and corporate marketing teams alike.
Let’s look at some of the most popular social media platforms…
Use the Table of Contents on the right to jump around between platforms.
The Basics
You should prioritize Instagram within your content marketing strategy if your target audience is under the age of 40, and you run a lifestyle, e-commerce, or otherwise visual-heavy business.
What To Post On Instagram?
Diversity with consistency. Your brand should be recognizable when users are scrolling. Lush photography, engaging graphics, clever and relevant trend usage, and selfie-style videos that speak directly to your audience can all bring in new users to your channel. Keep them there with a cohesive theme and regular content to make the algorithm happy. You should also – and more frequently – post Instagram stories to keep your audience engaged and your content top of feed.
Main Point
Instagram is VISUAL. If your brand does not have a strong, visually appealing nature – avoid this platform.
YouTube
The Basics
If your business could benefit from producing brand tutorials, instructional content, product reviews, or guest interviews, then this social media platform is a must — especially if the payoff is reaching their more than 2 billion monthly users.
What To Post On YouTube?
YouTube is a video-only content platform. Depending on your type of business and what your user demographics are, posting both long-form and short-form video content can work well for your brand on this platform. Most viewers tune in for a combination of education and entertainment, so you should aim for a balance of content to bring in as many people as possible to your channel.
Main Point
You should create content for YouTube if your audience is below the age of 50, and if your customers consume video content for a variety of reasons — like education or entertainment — that reflect your brand or products.
Vimeo is another video sharing platform, but we find this is best used for creatives, professionals, and agencies who are sharing videos with clients and collaborators. Vimeo offers review settings and (limited) internal editing of videos. However, Vimeo can be used and search by anyone! It offers the same embedding and sharing options as YouTube.
Fun Tip: Vimeo also offers screen recording!
The Basics
With nearly 3 billion monthly users, Facebook is inarguably the largest and most popular social media platform in the world. While that level of proliferation ensures at least some of your audience will regularly use this platform and take in your content, Facebook has developed a somewhat negative reputation among younger users who are increasingly turning to alternative sites.
What To Post On Facebook?
Facebook is all about starting a conversation. The most engaging content can also be the most polarizing, thereby more likely to go viral on the site. Focus your content production on short videos and bold headlines to attract an audience. For Facebook groups, interactive content and communal experiences are the way to go; consider live streams and polls to get people interested in what you have to offer.
Main Point
Incorporate Facebook into your brand marketing strategy if your goal is to reach an adult audience and create an online community around your brand or topics related to your business.
The Basics
The popularity of this social media site remains highest with tech-savvy users and is particularly popular in B2B verticals related to business, marketing, and politics.
What To Post On Twitter?
Twitter has become a popular medium to communicate breaking news, digest bite-sized content, and communicate directly with your audience in real time.
Videos and images tend to stand out best when familiarizing new users with your brand, but a well-timed or especially clever tweet works wonders if you’re following along with trending topics and can seize the zeitgeist in time.
Experiment with a range of content types, like educational videos, opinion polls, and discussion threads.
Main Point
Twitter should be a tentpole of your content marketing strategy if your customer base skews toward men aged 30 to 60.
TikTok
The Basics
Today, TikTok consistently has over 1 billion monthly users, which naturally places it among the top-performing social media platforms in the world.
But that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.
What To Post On TikTok?
Video, video, video. Distill the elements of your brand or message into bite-sized pieces that can be laced with musical, comedic, or informative elements to bring users in and keep them entertained. Short-form video content is the only kind of content on TikTok, so it helps to follow the trends of what’s most watched and engaged with and stick to those formats until you can develop your own platform-specific voice. Think fun, catchy content that can be replicated based on what you want your customer base to know about.
Also – fun video-based content doesn’t have to have a direct connection to your products or services and being overly self-promotional on this platform won’t automatically build you a loyal following, so focus on entertainment and engagement first.
Main Point
Make TikTok a key part of your brand marketing strategy to reach and entertain a younger audience and can create high-quality video content regularly.
The Basics
Pinterest is a social media platform that acts as a bookmarking tool for saving ideas and finding creative inspiration for DIY home projects, recipes, sewing patterns, travel plans, interior design, brand marketing, and everything in between. This platform is often cited as a crucial part of the product discovery journey for customers of many different brands.
What To Post On Pinterest?
Vertically formatted images are the norm on Pinterest, due largely to the style of the platform’s feed layout and the users’ browsing experience. Polished visuals with clear copy that convey directly what the user will see if they click through generally perform best, especially if they align with common keywords and popular search terms. Lists and quotes should play a role in your strategy, as these kinds of posts are easiest to digest and share.
Main Point
Plan to acquaint yourself with Pinterest if your audience consists predominantly of adult women, and if your brand is at all related to lifestyle tips, fashion and personal style, decorating, or DIY culture.
Snapchat
The basics.
Despite losing ground to competitor platforms like Instagram and TikTok, Snapchat remains one of the most heavily used apps among people younger than 25 — netting almost 494 million monthly users in 2023.
What to post on Snapchat?
Video-driven storytelling is the core of Snapchat. If you have a knack for creating compelling short-form video content that can amuse or educate a younger audience, then Snapchat will be essential for forming connections with your customers.
You can also use Snapchat to create event-based filters for events – gaining engagement with attendees and providing curiosity for their followers.
Main Point
Snapchat should be worked into your brand marketing plan if your goal is to reach a teenage and young adult audience with bite-sized video content. However — much like with TikTok — don’t expect to turn on your camera and talk about your products in an ad-based-form, as most Snapchat users are there to be entertained, not lectured.
The Basics
LinkedIn has cemented its reputation as a top-tier resource for job opportunities, brand connections, and career advancement among social media sites on the market today.
What To Post On LinkedIn?
LinkedIn, while allowing for Business Pages and posting, is best engaged when being present as an individual. Engaging with fellow creatives, sharing resourceful content, and
Main Point
LinkedIn should factor heavily into your brand marketing strategy if you seek community with other business owners and a network base for reaching potential customers who are hungry for new opportunities.
While there are many platforms to choose from – many not listed above – it is important to remember to stay true to your brand and your goals.
Are you wanting to gain traction to your website? Sell your products? Sell your services? Are you a highly visual brand or a more educational content based brand? What age is your target audience? Are you a highly professional and top industry leader? What resources do you have for creating content? What talent on your team do you have to create content? Are ads a non-negotiable?
Don’t jump the gun and spread your resources too thin. Seeing XYZ business trending on ABC platform does not mean you will see the same success. Stay where your audience is and capitalize on that power.
Still unsure?
Pathfinder is well versed in helping businesses of all niches create a brand marketing strategy. Focusing on strategic storytelling, we focus heavily on connection and purposeful content across all mediums. Reach out to our team today to get started!