Select The Right Social Media Mix For Your Brand

If you’re looking for a great New Year’s resolution for your business, shaping up your social media is the perfect place to start. Strengthen your online presence by finding the right platform mix for your brand.

The need to be active on every social media platform is a myth. It’s more important to know your audience and know where they congregate, in order to optimise reach and engagement and help you to achieve your long-term goals.

Get to know the platforms

In order to choose the best mix for your brand, it’s important to spend time researching the options available and deciding on the best fit. Here’s a brief guide to some of the most popular options:

Facebook

If you’re looking for a large audience, Facebook could be the one for you. With 2.99 billion users worldwide [META], Facebook is the largest platform available. This is enough to encourage most businesses to use Facebook as a key part of their social media strategy. Facebook's advertising options are often the most cost effective with vital targeting facilities available. Even if you’re targeting a younger audience, Facebook shouldn’t be overlooked.

X (Twitter)

X has gone through a lot of changes recently and with the potential introduction of a paid for service, it’s difficult to predict the longevity of the platform. However, brands looking to start a conversation, will find X is a great option. The character limit ensures that your content must be short and snappy. You can also make the most of searchable hashtags that make your business easier to find online. X is popular within the business sphere, making it suitable for B2B brands.

LinkedIn

Another brilliant platform for B2B, LinkedIn is a great place to make connections, find customers and advertise your business. Make the most of your personal LinkedIn network by sharing content from the page.

Instagram

If visuals are your thing, Instagram is the perfect place to promote your business. This Meta owned platform optimises images and short videos, including its new Reels facility. Instagram is the place to go for younger people and therefore ideal if that’s where your target audience sits.

TikTok

Rising to popularity through the pandemic and lockdown, TikTok has transformed video content. While it’s mostly short video that does well on the platform, there is the ability to shoot longer form video. It may not be the best platform for monetisation but can be a great part of the strategy if you’re trying to create a community amongst younger people.

Pinterest, Snapchat and much more!

There are other platforms that are more specific, but it still may be worthwhile doing some research to ensure you’re not missing out on opportunities to reach your audience.

 How to select?

There are many elements to consider when selecting the perfect social media mix for your business. Think of social media as your gym and each platform is a different piece of gym equipment.

Remember what works for someone else might not work for you. If you were concentrating on cardio, you probably wouldn’t spend much time on strength training, so limiting the networks you’re on can help you if you’re short of time. It’s much better to have a strong strategy on one or two networks, than be on five networks with very little content. You can always start with your two strongest platforms and add more in later on.

Here's a few important questions to consider when selecting...

How old are your customers?

Age demographic is a huge guideline for selecting platforms. If you’re focusing on a younger audience, Instagram and TikTok are the place to be. Older audiences are much more likely to congregate on Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

What kind of content do you want to share?

Think about the type of content you’re looking to share. If video is key for your business, the content is likely to thrive on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Is your business B2B or B2C?

X and LinkedIn are often key to B2B strategies, where as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok have the larger audience for B2C.

Next steps:

If your business is brand new to social media, now things get exciting. Do some research to get to know your audience and the platforms available before beginning to assemble your line-up!

You might already have some networks. If you’re worried that they’re not working for you, take a closer look at your customers. Which platforms are they likely to use and reassemble your social media mix appropriately.

The important thing to remember is that alike everything else, the social media world is constantly changing and developing. Ensure that your business grows alongside it by being adaptable and open to change. This time next year we might be talking about completely different networks that your business should be using.

For expert help shaping up your social media marketing - getting your Facebook fitter, lifting up your LinkedIn, invigorating your Instagram, and so much more – contact OCOCO Media today for a complimentary consultation.