What's the best social media channel for your business?
- Debs
- Apr 24
- 10 min read
Creating a marketing plan has changed over the years, now your focus is potentially more on social media than any other type of marketing (please don't forget to build your email list though - but that's another blog!).
So how do you choose which social media channels are best suited to you and your target audience?
You have so many decisions to make, do you go to the tried and tested like Facebook or Instagram or do you go the latest upcoming one but has less audience?
In this blog we'll talk about which social media platforms are out there and what content performs best on each channel.
What's the best social media channel for your business?
Like most things in life quality will always trump quantity, it's best to choose the 2 or 3 channels that you can focus on rather than trying to be present on every channel available and not delivering high quality, engaging content.
If you pick a couple of channels it gives you time to interact and engage with your community, the more authentic conversations you can have with your audience the better the chance of turning them into clients.
You should be focussing on the quality of your posts, the messaging and if it's giving value to your clients, if you start interacting regularly it will also lead you to organically post additional content that speaks directly to your audience because they have guided you there through your conversations.
So how do you decide which channels you should be showing up on for your business? There are a few things to consider:
What are you social media goals?
What platforms will you find your target audience on?
Where are your competitors showing up?
What channels are out there and what content does well on them?
What are your social media goals?
Before you start looking at what channels are out there and where you should be showing up you should be setting your social media goals. If you haven't got measurable goals and objectives how can you measure your performance?
What do you want to achieve from your social media channels?
Do you want to increase brand awareness? If you do then consider using a mix of targeted Facebook ads and short-form vertical videos like the ones for reels on Instagram and Facebook and the ones on TikTok
Do you want to generate more leads? LinkedIn is still known as the best platform for B2B marketing.
Do you want to sell a product? If you have an e-commerce shop then consider a visual channel like Instagram or Pinterest, you can use product tags and links through to your shop.
Where are your target audience hanging out?
If you already have social check your existing data to see if it's working. You can check your Meta Insights to see who is viewing and interacting with your content. It's important to find out where your audience is because you don't want to devote time to posting on TikTok if your audience is hanging out on Facebook.
If you are starting your social media journey and have no data to look on then you might have to do some market research. You could ask an AI tool like Chat GPT, it gives some brilliant advice!
In some research based in America but it won't be that much different if you are in Europe.
Pinterest is more popular with women (46%) than with men (18%).
Those with higher levels of education are found on LinkedIn. About half of those adults who have a degree or Masters will be on LinkedIn, 88% of LinkedIn users can also be found hanging out on Facebook.
Spend time working on your short-list of the best channels for your community.
Where are you competitors spending their time?
Why does this matter? Well if your competitor is on Facebook and you can see they are getting engagement then there is a good chance there is an audience there for you to tap into. You can also get an idea of what content works for your niche - DON'T copy their content because you aren't them, it works for them because of who they are, you need to assess what's working and then do your version of it. If short-form videos are working but just pictures aren't then you know you need to make short-form videos.
What resources are available?
It is essential to consider how many social media channels you need to be on in order to achieve your social media goals.
If you are ONLY on Facebook you might not be able to increase your brand awareness.
A couple of other things to consider are your budget and your skill set!
If your budget isn't very big then you might be better off targetting one channel to start with, when your skills increase then you can add another channel in, spreading yourself too thin in the beginning may result in content that isn't as engaging as you would like it to be.
Think about what you can and can't do with your resources, at the end of the day focussing on one social media channel but doing it really well can grow your business faster than using multiple social media channels poorly.
What social media channels exist and what content works?
When it comes to social media channels there are lots to choose from - I would say if you haven't heard of it, then it's highly likely that your community won't be found on there right now - that's not to say they won't in the future.
It won't surprise you to know that the channels that have the most monthly active users usually have the highest engagement too - although this doesn't automatically mean it's the best place for you to spend your time.
Each channel has its pros and cons and also you need to feel confident spending time on the channel and engaging with followers.
So what are the pros and cons?
Facebook has over 2 billion people using it every month. In 2020 there were 10 million users on the advertising platform.
Facebook is an incredible tool for your business, whether you are a B2B or a B2C.
Latest social media trends indicate that creating a community is more important that building your follower count, and with their groups functionality Facebook is the place to be. Business pages aren't getting the traction they used to with algorithm changes, it's getting harder to be seen. Show up in groups and see what types of content your ideal client likes, are they engaging on images, reels, longer videos or lives? Then start using that type within your group. Focus on building the community and not just boosting the numbers within your group.
Another very important channel for businesses, it now has over 1 billion users.
Instagram is very visual, so it's important to post higher quality images and videos that show your brans in the best way possible. Don't forget to add hashtags to your content, but focus on hashtags for your niche, don't go for hashtags that have a high engagement count because these are likely bot engagement, lower count but high quality is much more important.
Short-form video content is THE way to go on Instagram,, they make the most impact and have the best engagement.
Stories - Use stories to engage your audience, use the quizzes, polls, ask questions, introduce them to your story and your businesses story, let them get to know the person behind the business.
Reels - Instagram added reels to compete with TikTok, if your audience is mostly on instagram definitely spend your time creating reels. You can join in on viral trends, create behind the scenes videos or a day in the life of a small business owner, it's your time to show them the person behind the brand as well as how the brand can help them.
I bet you are thinking stuffy corporate business people swapping CVs and looking for a better job? I promise you it's evolved from that, yes job vacancies are still posted, but you can now share posts and articles and creative native videos and do lives.
It's still mostly B2B, but according to some research carried out by HubSport LinkedIn is 277% more effective for generating leads than Facebook. More traditional posts are popular on LinkedIn, talking about your business, talking how it can help and sharing small bits behind the scenes, it's less about the person behind the business - although this is also changing!
X
Unlike other channels unless you are a Premium or Premium+ member of X your posts are limited to 280 characters (premium and Premium+ have 25,000).
Does it have a place in your marketing? A lot of small business have moved away from X, so that depends on how you feel about it, it's a great place for sharing thoughts and asking questions, promoting events and creating polls for market research, but if you only feel you can do a couple of channels, then maybe X isn't the place for you - in my experience it's also the place where you get trolled more than any other channel!
TikTok
The app was created for sharing short-form video content anything from 3 seconds to 3 minutes - you can also live stream on it. Are you still thinking it's a young persons app and not somewhere you should be for your business?
It currently has over 1 billion monthly users, out of the 4.4 billion social media users 22% use TikTok regularly. It is the most engaging channel with average sessions lasting nearly 11 minutes. Although it was originally just GenZ using TikTok, older users are using it more and more, with a 2:1 ration of female to male.
When the world shut down during the pandemic TikTok grew massively, people had more time to scroll social media and TikToks creative expression allowed the older generation to find a safe space away from what was happening in the world. There are a lot of trends on TikTok and as long as they feel authentic for your business and you are confident following them jump on them and have fun.
Shoppers are heading to Pinterest for inspiration and spend two times more per month on Pinterest than any other channel, 64% of shoppers say they go to Pinterest to find a product or service that they trust, shoppers spend 40% more per month on Pinterest than any other channel, they are 66% more likely to be open to new brans while shopping on Pinterest over any other channel.
The best style pin is a tall vertical one (use a 2:3 aspect ratio), although you can use other pin formats, the tall vertical pins appear better on mobiles. You can also reach your audience and the wider community with promoted pins and shopping ads.
YouTube
The second most popular channel and the second largest search enging after Google! If video is a key part of your marketing strategy then you need to get used to showing up on YouTube.
People of all ages are using YouTube and enjoy watching videos online, the average users spends about 22 hours a month watching videos, over 70% of these are watching on a mobile device.
Videos vary in length, but are often much longer than ones on Instagram and TikTok.
Snapchat
I haven't mentioned Snapchat much because most of the people I work with don't use it, it was created as a messaging app, and the businesses that use it do so to create a more personal connection with their audience. It's ideal for sharing behind the scenes glimpses into the life of your brand, product creation or services.
Like SnapChat WhatsApp started out purely as a messaging app for family and friends but has now been geared to help businesses as well.
The business app is ideal for small business to interact with customers, there are tools to automate, sort and quickly respond to messages.
Facebook Messenger
Originally called Facebook chat, it has been a stand alone app since 2011.
Messenger will allow you to connect with business/clients directly in a more personal manner. Integrate with an automation app like ManyChat and you have a very powerful messaging tool that you can send images, voice note and short videos directly to your clients inbox
Is a social news platform where users can submit content including links, text posts and images. You post your content in relevant sub reddits (think of them like directories) other Reddit users then vote your post up or down.
You can remain completely anonymous on Reddit - obviously not something you would want to do if you are talking about your business but something to think about when it comes to building a community and engaging with the other people on there.
How does Reddit work? The best performing posts have titles that are under 120 characters. Video as a way of reaching the audience has exploded on Reddit recently, you can create native videos of up to 15 minutes. Play around with questions depending on your audience they may or may not work, this one is hard to judge. The most frequently used phrase in a title is "if you have" so try that and see how it works with your audience. Like Snapchat and X, if you are only using a couple of channels then maybe leave Reddit alone until you have got comfy with the others.
Tips for Creating Effective Content Ideas for Social Media
Hashtag Holidays - at the start of each month ask Google or ChatGPT or something like that what holidays are happening this month and if they align with the values of your business use the hashtag. There are lots of calendars online that you can use, Awareness Days is a pretty good one.
Repurpose your content - don't be scared to reuse your own content. If you have a shared a long video, try cutting it into smaller pieces of content, or take the top tip from it and create an infographic, then just reshare across your channels, even if people have seen the long-form content it will hit differently being in some kind of short-form.
Behind the scenes - People buy from people, we've all heard that haven't we? People want to know who they are buying from, introduce yourself and your team, show behind the scenes of how the business is run, a day in the life of a small business owner that type of thing, just make sure you are being authentic.
Testing - you won't build your presence overnight and what works for your audience will probably be different to what works for your friends business, it's all about what hits with your community. Use your insights to see what conent your audience likes, also check out what time you posted, do you get more engagement posting in the morning or the evening? By checking your insights you will learn a lot about your audience and the best way to talk to the,
Show love to your customers - Turn your customers feedback into social media posts (with their permission if you want to use their names), tag them, share pictures if you have them, people again love to see people and see who else is buying from you.
It's over to you now to choose the best social media channels for you and my top tip is experiment with your content, you will have successes and you will have failures but they will all be lessons on what content your audience likes to see, and can then inform you on how best to speak to your audience moving forward. If you need any help then just drop us a message we'd love to have a chat with you.
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