Saturday, March 17, 2018

Social Media Platforms - Which Ones to Use


Why post on Social Media?  To create visibility and awareness about you, your products, and/or services.
Which platforms should I use?  It depends on your target market and demographics.  In order to know where to post, you have to know who your best clients are.  Who can use your products or services?  And don’t say anybody, everybody, anyone, everyone, because not all those folks have money to buy your products or services even if they could/should use it.  So, think in terms of age group, locale, industry, income, interests, etc.  The better you can narrow this down, the better you will know which platform to use for Social Media.
Let’s look at the major ones – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat.
According to a recent report by http://www.pewinternet.org, Facebook is still the leader with 68% of Americans having Facebook accounts.   74% of those with Facebook accounts say they check their accounts at least once per day.  51% say they check their accounts more than twice per day.
While not a traditional social media platform, YouTube is used by 73% of U.S. adults and 98% are 18 – 24 year olds.
For younger adults 18 to 24, Instagram is viewed as the platform of choice with 71% and 45% using Twitter.  And for this age group 78% use Snapchat.
Pinterest is substantially more popular with women at 41% and men at 16%.
LinkedIn remains popular with college students and high-income households at 50%.
The bottom line is seven of 10 Americans use some form of social media.  Defining your target market for your products and services will determine where to focus your social media efforts. 
Below are two sites with a more in depth look at the numbers/reports.
Fact Sheet from 2017 on Social Media use: http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/social-media/
My questions when determining which platforms to use:  Which ones do you currently use?  You’re probably interacting with friends and like-minded people already, so it makes it easier to post and manage.  If you can link other accounts to what you already use, that’s like getting a freebie.  For instance, linking Facebook to Twitter and/or Instagram to Facebook.  I say use what you can easily post to and don’t rule any out any just because the numbers may say differently.   
And/or if you’re outsourcing your social media, cover as much and as many as your budget will allow.  Personally, my favorites are Facebook (link it to Twitter), YouTube if you like to do/can and want to do videos, Instagram if you have a visual product/service, and LinkedIn to post your professional resume. 
I hope you have found this to be helpful.  Your comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Annette
‘Helping You and Your Business Look Good’

 

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