Social media is an essential tool for businesses to establish a brand, gain awareness, find leads, increase sales, and so on. 

Newcomers to social media marketing often make the mistake of creating accounts on every social media platform rather than dedicating resources to just a few. 

With more than 200 social media platforms, it can be confusing to select the most suitable one for your business. And posting unnecessarily everywhere will waste a lot of your time and resources.

If you can’t decide what social media platform fits your brand, don't worry; here are six effective ways to figure out the best social media platform for your business.

1. Identify Your Audience 

In digital marketing, recognizing your target audience is the key. One way to identify your audience is by surveying some of your most engaged customers to find out their age, gender, marital status, household income/residence, etc. 

Once you’ve narrowed down your target audience, look into the demographics for each social media platform. For example, Gen-Z favors TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat, while baby boomers prefer Facebook. 

Similarly, while Facebook is the busiest hub for all social media users, if your target audience prefers using Instagram, posting on Facebook might not be your best strategy. 

Casting a wide net is generally less effective than targeting specific groups of users that share similarities with  your most engaged customers.

2. Analyze Your Company

Not all businesses run well on all platforms. If your business is graphic designing, you might focus more on Pinterest or the niche platforms like DeviantArt. 

On the other hand, if you trade on B2B enterprises, then building a reputable LinkedIn profile is much more important.

In short, if you prefer text-based advertising, then sites like Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn will help you greatly. However, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok would be better suited for video content. 

Not sure where to start with social media marketing? ITJ Group offers free website and social media audits so you can have a better understanding of your brand’s strengths and potential avenues for growth. 

3. Research Your Competitors

A worthy competitor to your business offers the same goods/services to similar demographics and is closeby. 

To study your competitors effectively, find out where they invest their time and effort and what their social media strategy is. Pretty much every business links their socials somewhere on their website.

You can also sign up to their newsletter to see how they are interacting with customers and how they want customers to engage—companies will often link their most active social media accounts in any email marketing. 

On your competitor’s social media accounts, identify content or platforms your target demographic responds well to; this will be in the form of “likes” and comments. 

You can also find brands you admire or aspire to be like and model your strategy after theirs, while testing out some of your own marketing ideas. 

4. Align Your Social Media To Accomplish Your Marketing Goals

Creating a social media account is not enough unless and until you make it worth showing off. So work on your profile, including the latest trends in your posts, and try to collaborate or engage with your audience. 

Your ability to reach people depends on the content you have and how often and where you post. Remember that in general, audiences respond well to authentic content that comes from a real person, so don’t be too afraid to put yourself online. 

5. In-Depth Knowledge of the Platforms and Their Strengths

Each social media platform has a strength; therefore, understanding them is very important. Some platforms promote certain kinds of content while suppressing others, so we recommend staying updated on algorithm changes or platform improvements. 

You can watch informational YouTube videos, take digital marketing courses, or try the platform out yourself to learn how they work. 

6. Don’t Forget About Your Network

While promoting your services via social media can be effective, advertising physically is also important, especially if you are new to the business.

Network with your friends and family and tell them about your services! Your loved ones want to support you and keep updated with your business, so ask them to give your account a “follow”. 

Starting with social media is not as easy as it seems, but following in the right footsteps certainly makes things better. Going through the above points, you can not only limit your choices but also pick the most promising channel for yourself. 

Conclusion

There's no denying that social media is an essential marketing tool for every company to stay current and visible. In fact, 90% of marketers often claim that social media has improved their exposure to a great extent, while the rest assured that it has improved traffic. Therefore, trying to use social media is the best way to turn your business from zero to hero!

Therefore, initially, try to focus on one or two social media platforms. Although you don't necessarily have to spend much time on these platforms, consistency is certainly expected.

 Remember that social media should be fun, so make sure to try out new things and see what your audience responds to. 

Feeling overwhelmed? A social media manager or management team can look after your social media handles, so you can have more time and energy to focus on brand building. 

Need help? ITJ Group offers free consultations and audits for brands looking to grow.